The case against Nazeeha Saeed was filed based on a Ministry of Information Affairs complaint that Saeed was reporting for an international press body without a license. Saeed applied to renew her foreign media work permit in March 2016, in accordance with the Bahraini press law. The Ministry of Information Affairs rejected Saeed’s license renewal without providing legal grounds.
Saeed has been charged under the “publishing crimes” chapter, in Article 88 of Law 47/2002, under which all Bahraini journalists working for foreign news agencies are prevented from freely conducting their work without first acquiring a license from the Ministry of the Information Affairs, which must be renewed annually. The law provides no criteria or definitive timelines for the renewal process, nor does it provide any means for transparency of the process.
Saeed is a torture survivor. Describing her torture in police custody in 2011, Saeed said she was blindfolded, kicked, punched, and slapped. Her hair was pulled, she was whipped with plastic tubing, had a shoe forced into her mouth and her head dunked into a toilet. An unknown, caustic liquid said to be urine was poured onto her face, she was repeatedly insulted and mentally abused and asked to make a false confession. Although she had three independant medical reports – two of them issued by Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior – and she was also able to identify her five torturers, no one was held accountable for her torture. During June and July 2016 Saeed faced further harassments the government imposed a travel ban on her without any explanation. The ban was later lifted.
In addition to Saeed, the Ministry of Information Affairs has denied license renewals to at least three other Bahrain-based reporters for Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press. Since 2011, Bahrain has placed extensive restrictions on foreign media access to the country, having denied over 100 journalists entry to the country in an effort to stop international media coverage of the ongoing political and civil unrest.
Bahrain’s actions to prosecute and silence foreign correspondents is in violation of the freedom of expression as protected under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
We therefore express our deep concern about the Government of Bahrain’s continued efforts to undermine the right to freedom of expression and call on the government to:
- Drop all charges against Nazeeha Saeed;
- Allow all journalists and reporters to conduct their work freely and independently, and to fully respect their right to freedom of expression.
Signed,
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
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We, the undersigned, express our deep concern with the Bahraini Public Prosecution’s decision to charge Nazeeha Saeed, correspondent for Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya and France24, with unlawfully working for international media. We consider this an undue reprisal against her as a journalist and call on Bahrain’s authorities to respect fully the right of journalists to practice their profession freely.
Nazeeha Saeed is an award-winning journalist and correspondent for Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya and France24. She has previously reported on the protest movement in 2011, and has reported on the mounting dissent against the Bahraini government for the last several years.
On Sunday 17 July 2016, the Public Prosecution summoned Nazeeha Saeed for interrogation based on a legal complaint from the Information Affairs Authority (IAA). The prosecution charged her under article 88 of Law 47/2002, which regulates the press, printing and publication. Article 88 states that no Bahraini can work for foreign media outlets without first obtaining a license from the Information Affairs Authority (IAA), which must be renewed annually.
Prior to the expiration of her license, Nazeeha Saeed applied for a new one at the end of March 2016, at which point, the IAA refused a renewal. This is the first time she has received such a rejection. Following this, Saeed continued to work as a correspondent for France24 and Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya. She now faces trial in the civil courts and a fine of up to 1000 Bahraini Dinars (USD $2650) if found guilty.
This is not the first time Nazeeha Saeed has been subjected to harassment by the Bahraini authorities. In May 2011, during a state of emergency imposed in response to Arab Spring protests, police summoned Saeed to the station and detained her there. For her coverage of events in Bahrain – Nazeeha Saeed witnessed police killing a man at a protest and rejected the government narrative of events – police allegedly subjected her to hours of torture, ill-treatment and humiliation, which only ended when she signed a document placed before her. She was not allowed to read it. Despite complaining to the Ministry of Interior and the new Special Investigations Unit, the body under the Public Prosecution charged with investigating claims of torture and abuse, in November 2015 the authorities decided against prosecuting the responsible officers on the basis of there being insufficient evidence.
In June 2016, Bahrain’s authorities placed Nazeeha Saeed on a travel ban, preventing her from leaving the country. The ban was applied without informing Saeed, who only discovered it after she was refused boarding on her flight. The police officer at the airport was unable to explain the reason for this travel ban, and officials from the immigration department, the public prosecution and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), told the journalist that they were not even aware of its existence. Saeed is one of approximately twenty individuals known to have been banned from travel in Bahrain since the beginning of June 2016. Other journalists working for international media face similar threats and have also reported facing increased pressure from the government in the last year, making their work difficult. RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists both list Bahrain as one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world. One of them, Sayed Ahmed Al-Mousawi, was stripped of his citizenship by a court in November 2015.
As organisations concerned with the right to freedom of expression, we call on the Government of Bahrain to end the reprisals against Nazeeha Saeed, lift her travel ban and drop the charges against her. We also call on the authorities to stop arbitrarily withholding license renewals and to allow journalists to report with full freedom of expression as protected under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Signed,
Adil Soz, International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech
ACAT
Albanian Media Institute
Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain
ARTICLE 19
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
Bahrain Press Association
Bytes for All
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Cartoonists Rights Network International
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Committee to Protect Journalists
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
English PEN
European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
Foro de Periodismo Argentino
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Free Media Movement
Front Line Defenders
Gulf Centre for Human Rights
Hisham Al Miraat, Founder, Moroccan Digital Rights Association
Human Rights Network for Journalists – Uganda
Independent Journalism Center – Moldova
Index on Censorship
Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information
Instituto de Prensa y Libertad de Expresión – IPLEX
International Press Institute
Justice Human Rights Organization
Maharat Foundation
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Media Watch
Norwegian PEN
Pacific Islands News Association
Pakistan Press Foundation
Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms – MADA
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
Social Media Exchange – SMEX
Vigilance pour la Démocratie et l’État Civique
18 July 2016 – The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy is extremely concerned after Bahrain’s Public Prosecution yesterday charged Nazeeha Saeed, correspondent for France24, with illegally reporting for foreign media. It is the latest crackdown in a series of repressive measures being undertaken against the country’s civil society. Saeed now faces a fine of up to 1000 Bahraini Dinars (GBP £2000).
Nazeeha Saeed was called to the Public Prosecution on Sunday 17 July for interrogation and later charged under article 88 of Law 47/2002, which regulates the press. The regulation states that no Bahraini can work for foreign media outlets without a license. Licenses, which are granted by the Information Affairs Authority (IAA), last for one year, and their renewal can be arbitrary. When Saeed’s license expired earlier in 2016, the IAA refused its renewal.
Bahrain’s authorities have also put Saeed on a travel ban, which she only discovered after attempting to board a flight in June. Saeed is one of approximately twenty known individuals who have been banned from travel since the beginning of June.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “Bahrain is making real journalism impossible. Nazeeha Saeed is a leading reporter, and that is why they are trying to silence her. Bahrain’s international allies, the UK and US, must condemn this regressive assault on the fourth estate.”
Nazeeha Saeed has reported for Radio Monte Carlo for 12 years, and for France 24 for seven years. She was fully licensed throughout. When her last license expired earlier this year, the Information Affairs Authority refused to renew it, however she continued her work as a correspondent until yesterday’s events.
Other journalists working for foreign press have also privately told BIRD that they are facing increased pressure in the last year.
Press freedoms are very constrained in the country. Freelancers and citizen journalists are not considered journalists under the law and can be fined for practising without a license. It is a criminal offence to spread “false news” or news which “offends” the Government of Bahrain or members of the ruling family. Last year, the only independent newspaper, Al Wasat, was barred from publishing for two days, though the ban was later lifted.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported in December 2015 that there are five journalists in prison in Bahrain, all of them freelancers.
These attacks on Bahrain’s civil society are unprecedented in scope and scale and have not been seen since the March-June 2011 period of martial law. The Government of Bahrain is purposely closing the door on political and human rights reform by silencing its critics and imprisoning the leading politicians and human rights defenders. We, the undersigned, unequivocally condemn the repression of civil society.
Death Penalty
There are currently 10 individuals on death row in Bahrain. Eight are considered prisoners of conscience, and two have exhausted all legal appeals. In the current context of civil society repression, the risk of death row inmates being executed has increased.
On 31 May 2016, an appeals court in Bahrain upheld the death sentences of three individuals – Sami Mushaima, Abbas Al-Samea, and Ali Abdulshaheed Al-Singace – and the life sentences of six others. It upheld the stripping of citizenship of eight of them. The death sentences continue to be upheld despite documented coercion, torture and ill-treatment against the defendants.
The defendants were arrested over two years ago, on 3 March 2014, by security forces in house raids, on charges of allegedly using improvised explosive devices which led to the killing of three police officers, one of them an Emirati citizen. On 26 February 2015, the High Criminal Court convicted them of all charges and issued their sentences. All defendants denied the charges against them, and pleaded innocent.
According to reports, security forces subjected the detainees to more than a week of enforced disappearance, during which they were allegedly tortured. Sami Mushaima, who is one of three individuals sentenced to death for his alleged planning of the bombing, has claimed that the security forces tortured him to force his confessions by beating him in his genital area, and keeping him handcuffed at all times, even in his prison cell. They also forced him to stand for hours and limited his access to a toilet. Abbas al-Samea also alleged he was subjected to various forms of torture, including electric shocks, sleep deprivation and sexual assault. Other defendants in the case have reported being subjected to the same forms of torture.
Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society
Nabeel Rajab
On 13 June 2016, Bahraini authorities arrested President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab at his home in Bani Jamra. The prosecution charged him with “spreading false news.” He was kept in solitary confinement for 15 days – an act which may amount to torture – and was urgently transferred to the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital after developing heart problems in detention. His family states these health issues are unprecedented for Rajab.
This recent round of reprisals against Nabeel Rajab dates back to 2014. After spending two years in prison between 2012 and 2014, Rajab took an advocacy tour, visiting the European Parliament, several European capitals, and participating in the September 2014 UN Human Rights Council session. Upon his return to Bahrain in October 2014, police arrested him at the airport and charged him with “insulting statutory institutions.” Rajab received a travel ban in November 2014, and in January 2015 a criminal court sentenced him to six months in prison.
Rajab posted bail and remained out of detention until his re-arrest on 2 April 2015. The prosecution charged him with “spreading rumours in war time” and “insulting a statutory body”. The charges were used to hold Rajab for an extended detention period, but were never tried in court. In July 2015, Rajab received a pardon clearing him of the charges lobbied against him in January 2015, however those issued in April and his travel ban remain in place. The threat of re-arrest stifled his ability to work.
On 26 June 2016, Rajab’s lawyers received notification that he is scheduled to appear in court on 12 July 2016 in connection with the charges issued in April. The more recent charge of “spreading false news” continues to be investigated. Rajab was held first at the East Riffa Police Station and was recently transferred to the West Riffa Police Station. His detention conditions have been poor, and his health has deteriorated as a result.
Further information can be found here.
Zainab Al-Khawaja
Human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja was forced into exile on 7 June 2016, after the Danish Consulate in Bahrain informed her of threats they had received from a high-level government official that she would be re-arrested and held indefinitely if she remained in the country. Al-Khawaja and her family have fled to Denmark.
Zainab Al-Khawaja and her infant son were released from prison a week earlier after serving two months of her 37-month sentence. Al-Khawaja was sentenced to a total of three years and one month in prison and a fine of 3,000 BHD on several charges related to her exercise of freedom of expression and her peaceful dissent against the Bahraini government. On 2 February 2016, the court of appeal upheld a 9-month prison sentence against Zainab for trying to visit her father, human rights defender Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, in Jau Prison when he was on a hunger strike in August 2014. In December 2015, the court amended a prison sentence against Al-Khawaja to one year and four months instead of three years and three months on charges related to tearing up a picture of the king and allegedly insulting a public officer during a peaceful protest in Bahrain. In October 2015, the court reduced her sentence to one year in prison instead of three years over the same charge of insulting the king.
In an open letter Al-Khawaja wrote and smuggled out of prison, she wrote “My cause is the cause of my people. If nothing changes for the people of Bahrain, then my staying in jail or release is not of great consequence.”
Travel Bans
Three human rights defenders and the parents of an extra-judicially killed protester were denied travel to Switzerland on 12 June 2016, in violation of their right to free movement as protected under article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The activists were travelling to participate in the 32nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council. The government had placed the activists on travel ban only days earlier.
Two of the human rights defenders, Ebtisam Al-Saegh and Hussain Radhi, were participants in UN human rights workshops recently held in Bahrain. Another activist, Dr Taha Al-Durazi, was barred from travelling to the United Kingdom on 10 June.
On 29 June, journalist Nazeeha Saeed was banned from boarding a flight, without reasons presented. According to Saeed, the Ministry of Interior, Public Prosecution and Immigration Offices all confirmed that she had no travel ban, but she was turned away again when trying to cross the Bahrain-Saudi Arabia causeway.
The Government of Bahrain frequently employs two types of travel bans. The first travel ban type is imposed during the criminal investigation procedure. This type of travel ban was placed on Nabeel Rajab in November 2014, during his investigation on charges of ‘insulting statutory bodies’, for which he received 6 months. The ban was never listed.
The second type, seen regularly in the past month, is the secret travel ban. These can only be discovered by the traveller when attempting to exit the country. As in Nazeeha Saeed’s case, government authorities sometimes deny that the person is banned from travel if asked, despite the reality of being denied movement.
Political Societies
Sheikh Ali Salman
On 30 May 2016, an appeals court increased the prison sentence of Sheikh Ali Salman, the General Secretary of the Al Wefaq political society, from four years to nine. The appeal was launched by the Public Prosecution, challenging the criminal court’s decision to acquit Sheikh Ali Salman on charges of ‘attempted overthrow of the regime.’ Sheikh Ali Salman was initially sentenced on the lesser charges of inciting hatred in June 2015.
The increased sentence is the latest reprisal against the leader of the country’s largest opposition society. In January 2015, Human Rights Watch reviewed Sheikh Ali Salman’s speeches and found there was no basis for the severe charges. The government’s prosecution of Sheikh Salman violates his right to the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. The case underscores the authorities’ repeated efforts to conflate peaceful criticism with a threat to national security, and thereby justify the use of harsh punishments for opposition activists.
On 28 December 2014, Bahraini security forces arrested Sheikh Ali Salman – just two days after his re-election as the society’s Secretary General – when he delivered a speech calling for reform of the country’s political system.
Six months later, on 16 June 2015, the Criminal Court sentenced Sheikh Ali Salman to four years in prison for “publicly inciting hatred, inciting civil disobedience of the law, and insulting public institutions” in his speeches and acquitted him of “attempting to overthrow the regime”. Although the main evidence on which the court based the conviction was Sheikh Ali Salman’s speeches, the judge refused the defense team’s request to present supporting evidence, including the recordings of the very speeches for which he was being prosecuted.
In September 2015, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) declared that Sheikh Ali Salman had been arbitrarily detained by the Government of Bahrain. The decision, which cites both free expression and due process concerns, requests that the Bahraini government release Sheikh Salman immediately, and provide him with an enforceable right to compensation against the government.
Al Wefaq’s Dissolution
On 14 June 2016, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs shut down Al Wefaq, the largest political society in the country and the leading opposition group. Following the ministry’s request, a court ordered the expedited closure of Al Wefaq, the freezing of their assets, and the suspension of all activities. The court also placed Al Wefaq’s headquarters under the control of the Justice Ministry.
The Bahraini government rationalized its decision by asserting that al-Wefaq supported a sectarian political platform that countered national unity, owed allegiance to “foreign religious and political” entities, supported terrorism and extremism that threaten the state, and called for foreign intervention. The court arrived at its decision without allowing al-Wefaq’s attorneys to present their defence.
The Government is now in the process of fully dissolving the political society through expedited court proceedings. An initial September court date was moved forward to 28 June, with a second court hearing on 4 July. Al Wefaq’s lawyers state they have not been granted adequate time to prepare and withdrew from the legal proceedings in protest.
Read more here.
Stripping of Citizenship
Sheikh Isa Qassim
On 20 June, the Ministry of Interior stripped Sheikh Isa Qassim of his citizenship. The religious cleric, who has the rank of Ayatollah, is the spiritual leader of the majority Shia citizen population of the country. A statement from the Ministry of Interior said, “he exploited the religious pulpit for political purposes” and aimed to incite violence.
Sheikh Isa is not only a highly regarded cleric, he has also been a vocal critic of the Government of Bahrain. He was an integral opposition figure during the 2011 protests. The cleric has also long served as a leader in the subsequent pro-democracy movement.
Other Cases
Between 30 May and 30 June, the government has issued nine separate denaturalization orders, leading to 61 individuals stripped of citizenship, including that of Sheikh Isa Qassim, above. The majority are likely to have been rendered stateless.
Of these nine cases, six were related to protests and tried in court under counter-terrorism laws. Due to the excessive powers granted to them under the terrorism laws and a systematic reliance on coerced confessions, Bahraini courts regularly violate due process and fair trial procedures.
In one incident, a Royal Decree signed by the King of Bahrain stripped the citizenship of three officers in the Bahrain Defence Force. Additionally, a court stripped 13 persons affiliated with the terrorist group ISIS of citizenship under the counter terrorism law.
Recommendations
We, the undersigned, therefore call on the Government of Bahrain to:
- Immediately release Nabeel Rajab from detention, drop all charges and lift his travel ban.
- Commute all sentences against Zainab Al-Khawaja.
- Lift travel bans from all activists.
- Commute the sentence of Sheikh Ali Salman, free him, and release all prisoners of conscience,
- Reverse the dissolution of Al Wefaq and allow all political societies to exercise their freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.
- Reinstate the citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qassim.
- Reinstate the citizenship of all persons unfairly stripped of citizenship, especially those made stateless.
Signed:
- Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
- Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
- European Center for Democracy and Human Rights
- Justice Human Rights Organization