SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Updated as of May 2011
In 2010-2011, several defenders were arrested and prosecuted under the Anti-Terrorist Law or were the target of defamation campaigns. In addition, while several NGOs still did not obtain legal recognition, other human rights and labour and unions were subject to obstacles to their freedom of association during the repression of a peaceful protest movement in 2011. Moreover, men and women who denounced human rights violations committed during the repression of this movement were subjected to arbitrary arrests, threats and acts of intimidation and even acts of torture that led to the death of one of them in custody.
Political context
In the run-up to the municipal and parliamentary elections on October 23, 2010, the authorities carried out a vast repression movement that began on August 13, 2010, based on the anti-terrorist legislation, targeting the opposition and leading to the arrest of nearly 300 citizens, including 76 children. The persons arrested were also allegedly victims of torture and ill-treatment1.
This repressive climate intensified from February 14, 2011, when the security forces brutally repressed the peaceful rallies that erupted throughout the country, calling for political reforms, the release of all political prisoners, fair distribution of wealth and an end to torture. The police used tear gas, live and rubber bullets, causing several deaths and hundreds of injured2. On February 23, 2011, King of Bahrain Hamad ben Issa al-Khalifa ordered the release of about 250 political prisoners, including many human rights defenders, and carried out a government reshuffle. However, these measures did not stop the demonstrations, which continued to be brutally repressed by the army from March 14, with the support of troops from Saudi Arabia and the Emirates3. On March 15, a three-month country-wide state of emergency was decreed and on March 17, 2011, the police arrested eight of the principal political opponents without warrants4. Altogether, over 900 people were arrested for being suspect of having supported, organised or taken part in the protest movement, or denounced the human rights violations committed by the authorities5. These demonstrators were tried by the National Security Court created under the law establishing the state of emergency and presided over by a military judge, with no respect for guarantees of a fair trail6. Several demonstrators remained also disappeared as of the end of April 2011. Furthermore, a huge wave of job lay-offs would have affected over 2,000 workers in reprisal for their presumed participation in the protest movement7.
In this context, freedom of expression deteriorated considerably. In particular, several websites that published political news or information on the human rights situation were blocked from August 13, 20108. On September 19, the Ministry of Information also censored the publication of two opposition group newsletters, on the grounds that they were not “in accordance with the procedures and laws governing publications and the press”9. The Ministry used the same reasons to suspend the activities of the al-Jazeera channel on May 18, 2010 after the broadcast on May 17, 2010 of a documentary about poverty in Bahrain10. Since the start of the protest movement, more than 68 journalists have been the target of acts of intimidation and harassment due to their coverage of the peaceful demonstrations11. On March 28, 2011, the Military Prosecutor General published Decree No. 5 banning the publication of any information relating to investigations carried out by the military courts.
On April 23, 2010, the King of Bahrain set up the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) by royal decree. Several human rights NGOs denounced the institution’s lack of conformity with the “Paris Principles” of the United Nations, especially in view of the King’s prerogative to name the members of the institution by royal decree12. In September 2010, the President of NIHR resigned his post in protest against the latter’s silence concerning the wave of arrests in August and September 201013.
Reprisals against human rights defenders who documented the repression of peaceful rallies
Demonstrators and defenders who documented, denounced or bore witness to the repression of the peaceful demonstrations that took place from mid February to mid March 2011 throughout the country were subjected to arbitrary arrests, threats and intimidation, and even acts of torture that caused the death of one of them. As an example, on April 9, 2011, Mr. Zakariya Rashid Hassan, a blogger and moderator of the al-Dair village forum, who denounced human rights violations against the inhabitants of the village, died in detention following his arrest on April 3 for “incitement to hatred”, “spreading false information” and “attempting to overthrow the Government”. His body bore traces of torture and ill-treatment14. In the middle of the night of the same day, agents of the security forces brutally arrested Mr. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, former Middle East Region Coordinator for Frontline and former President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), and two of his sons-in-law. He was still being held incommunicado at the end of April 2011. Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of BCHR and FIDH Deputy Secretary General, was also the target of acts of intimidation. On April 10, 2011, the Ministry of Interior announced that the Military Prosecutor General was opening a judicial investigation against Mr. Rajab, who was accused of having published, on April 9, 2011, so-called “faked” photos showing torture marks on the body of a victim. The investigation was still ongoing at the end of April 2011. On March 20, Mr. Rajab had already been arrested by masked policemen in the middle of the night, questioned, threatened and beaten, before being released a few hours later. During the night of April 15, 2011, Mr. Mohammed Issa al-Tajer, a lawyer representing several activists who were being prosecuted by the Military Prosecutor General because of their participation in the protest movement, was arrested at his home by around twenty members of the security forces. Some of them were masked. At the end of April 2011, Mr. Mohammed Issa al-Tajer was still being held incommunicado and the charges brought against him were still unknown.
Union members and medical staff were also the target of arrests, threats and acts of intimidation because of their denunciation of the repression of the protest movement, or for helping injured victims. On March 29 and 30, 2011, five board members of the Bahrain Teachers’ Society (BTS), Ms. Jaleela al-Salman, Mr. Anwar Abdul-Aziz Akbar, Mr. Salah al-Bari, Ms. Afrah al-Asfour and Ms. Sana Abdul-Razak, were arrested at their homes without a warrant by members of the security forces, for having called an indefinite strike on March 13, 2011 to protest against the brutal expulsion of demonstrators who had gathered on the same day near the commercial port of Bahrain. At the end of April 2011, they had still not appeared before a court and were still being detained incommunicado with no information concerning the charges brought against them. Similarly, Mr. Abdul Ghaffar Abdullah Hussein, one of the founders of the Bahrain Union Movement and President of the Bahrain Petroleum Company Union, was dismissed from his job on March 31, 2011 for having “called for workers to take part in the general strike”. Furthermore, on April 6, 2011, the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs published a decree ordering the dissolution of the BTS and the board of the Bahrain Medical Society (BMS). The Ministry of Health also suspended 30 doctors and nurses, whose files were transmitted to an “investigating committee” set up by the Ministry, whose mandate is to investigate medical personnel who treated victims injured during the demonstrations. In addition, on April 4, 2011, Ms. Rulla al-Saffar, President of the Bahrain Nursing Society (BNS), who treated victims injured during the demonstrations, was summoned to the Adliya Criminal Investigation Department, where she was arrested by the security forces. As of the end of April 2011, she was still being held incommunicado.
Moreover, several human rights defenders were dismissed from their positions for their assumed participation in the demonstrations or for their human rights activities. For example, on April 17, 2011, Mr. Abdulla Alderazi, Secretary General of the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS), received a letter from the University of Bahrain, informing him of his suspension from his position as a lecturer in the English department until final decision. As of April 2011, he remained without further news about this sanction15.
Recourse to anti-terrorist legislation to prosecute 11 human rights defenders
In August and September 2010, a wave of arrests carried out on the basis of anti-terrorist legislation, targeted several opponents including 11 human rights defenders16, accused of having “taken part in setting up a group that resorts to terrorism to achieve its objectives”, a charge punishable by life imprisonment (Article 6 of Law No. 58 of 2006 on Terrorism). They were also prosecuted for “incitement to overthrow the regime and the political system” and “incitement to hatred of the regime”, making them liable respectively to five and two years in prison. During the first trial hearing, which opened on October 28, 2010 before the Manama High Criminal Court, the defendants who were held incommunicado and deprived of access to their lawyers until their provisional release on February 23, 2011, complained of ill-treatment and torture during their interrogations. Faced with the Court’s refusal to order an investigation into the allegations of torture, the defence lawyers decided to withdraw from the case on December 9, 201017. The Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs appointed new lawyers during the following hearings, from November 2010 to January 2011. After the defendants refused to be represented by the new team of lawyers, the latter also decided to withdraw from the case, in accordance with Article 20 of the Constitution, which stipulates that “every person accused of an offence must have a lawyer to defend him with his consent”. However, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs decided to defer 24 of these new lawyers before a disciplinary committee for their refusal to comply with Ministry orders. The lawyers risked sentences ranging from a verbal warning to being struck from the bar. On February 2, 2011, during a meeting between the Bar President and the King of Bahrain, the latter announced his decision to annul the disciplinary proceedings against the lawyers. Similarly, all the activists charged in the “terrorist network” case,were released on February 23, 2011 following a ruling by the King. However, at the end of April 2011, the charges against them were still pending.
Continued obstacles to freedom of association
In 2010-2011, human rights organisations continued to be the target of harassment by the authorities. As an example, after several years of legal proceedings for “operating an unregistered association before a registration license was issued”, Mr. Mohamed Abdul Nabi al-Maskati, President of the Bahrain Youth Human Rights Society (BYHRS), was sentenced by the Bahrain Criminal Court to a fine of 500 dinars (around 950 euros) on May 6, 2010. In 2005, Mr. al-Maskati had requested approval from the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs to register the BYHRS and proceedings against him had been ongoing since 2007, while Law No. 21 of 1989 on Associations makes the prior approval a requirement for any association activity, with the authorities’ silence signifying that the request is rejected (Article 11). In 2010, other human rights organisations were obliged to carry out their activities without being registered, in particular the National Committee for the Unemployed and BCHR18.
Furthermore, the authorities also used the Law on Associations to control the activities of existing associations. On April 29, 2010, the BHRS received a letter from the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs, refusing authorisation to hold a workshop on the situation of political prisoners, which was due to be held from May 27 to 29, 2010, on the grounds that the workshop was in violation of Article 18 of the Law of 1989 banning associations from carrying out political activities. On September 8, 2010, the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs published a ministerial decree ordering the dissolution of the BHRS board, the dismissal of its Secretary General, and the appointment, under Article 23 of the same Law19, of an employee of the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs charged with administering BHRS affairs until a new board was elected20. This ruling came after BHRS organised a press conference on August 28, 2010 denouncing the detention conditions of political prisoners arrested in mid August and accused of belonging to a terrorist movement. On September 19, 2010, the members who had been dismissed from BHRS started judicial proceedings against the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs. The case was brought before the Urgent Matters Commission to rule on the legality of the suspension ruling. As of the end of April 2011, no judgement had been pronounced. In addition, the authorities carried out the de facto closure of the BNS on March 23, 2010 and changed the association’s door locks. On the same day, the BNS organised a reception in honour of the release on March 21 of Mr. Ibrahim al-Dimistani, the association’s Secretary General. He had been arrested on March 17, 2010, together with Mr. Abdul-Aziz Shabeeb, a doctor at Salmaniya hospital, for having “hidden and lodged a fugitive”, after treating a demonstrator who was severely injured during a demonstration in the village of Karzakan on March 14, 2010. As of the end of April 2011, BNS premises were still closed de facto.
Reprisals following the publication of an HRW report on torture
In 2010, the authorities took various reprisal and intimidation measures after the publication on February 8, 2010 by Human Rights Watch (HRW) of a report on the use of torture in Bahrain. A defamation campaign fed by the media and government representatives was launched against several human rights defenders, including Messrs. Nabeel Rajab, Mohamed al-Maskati and Abdulghani Ali Issa al-Khanjar, who were thanked in the report for their support in its preparation and production. On February 16, 2010, during a live radio broadcast on Bahrain public radio, they were accused of “relations with foreign Governments”, of “committing acts of violence using Molotov cocktails” and inciting “young people to violence against the State”21. These accusations were repeated in the local electronic press, especially The Gulf News, al-Watan News and Bahrain Voice. In addition, in its editions of September 1 and 3, 2010, al-Watan published photos of Mr. Rajab and Mr. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja to illustrate an article on a local terrorist network. The article accused them of “publishing erroneous reports” intending to “tarnish the image of the country”. Mr. Nabeel Rajab was accused in particular of belonging to a terrorist network in a press release jointly published on September 4, 2010 by the National Security and the Bahrain National News Agency. Furthermore, on March 28, 2010, Messrs. Sadeq Jawad Ahmed al-Fardan, a member of the National Committee for the Unemployed, Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan Alaoui, a member of the Committee Against Tax Deduction of One Percent, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor, a member of the Committee Against High Prices, and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor, a member of the Committee for the Release of Political Detainees, were sentenced in the last resort by the Court of Appeal to three years in prison for the “premeditated murder of a policeman”, the “attempted murder of two of his colleagues” and “rioting”, although the High Criminal Court had found them not guilty of the same charges on October 13, 200922. This ruling was handed down after the publication of a report by HRW that included testimonies from the four defenders. Messrs. Adnan Alaoui, Habib Ashoor and Ahmed al-Fardan were again arrested respectively on April 4, June 29 and November 25, 2010. As of the end of April 2011, they were still being held by the Bahraini authorities and the police was still looking for Mr. Mohamed Ashoor.
Obstacles to human rights defenders’ freedom of movement
In 2010-2011, restrictions were placed on several human rights defenders’ freedom of movement. As an example, on September 18, 2010, Ms. Laila Dashti, a BYSHR member, was prevented from leaving the country to take part in a United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva (Switzerland). Similarly, on September 26, 2010, Mr. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was prevented from taking a plane to Barcelona (Spain) where he was due to take part in a seminar on transitional justice. These decisions were made although there was no official ban preventing these two defenders from leaving the country23. Additionally, after the state of emergency was introduced, dozens of defenders such as Mr. Nabeel Rajab were still banned from travelling at the end of April 2011.
1 See Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) Report, Children in Bahrain, victims of physical and sexual abuse, abduction, arbitrary detention and unfair trial, November 20, 2010.
2 See BCHR.
3 Between February 14 and May 2, 2011, 31 demonstrators died. See BCHR. The doctors who were at the main rally site in Manama to help the wounded were also targeted on several occasions by the security forces. The latter also took control of the main hospital, preventing help from getting through to wounded demonstrators. See BCHR Press Releases, February 25 and March 16, 2011, and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) Report, Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients, April 22, 2011.
4 See BCHR Press Release, March 18, 2011.
5 As of the end of April 2011, only 94 of them had been released and four had died in detention, including two journalists and one blogger. Several were subjected to torture and ill-treatment. See BCHR Press Releases, April 12, 13 and 29, 2011.
6 On April 28, 2011, during a hearing held in camera, the National Security Court sentenced four demonstrators to the death penalty and three others to life imprisonment for the death of two policemen who were crushed by a vehicle during a demonstration in Manama on March 16, 2011. These sentences were based on confessions by the accused that had been obtained under torture. During their trial, the latter denied the accusations made against them. See BCHR Press Release, May 2, 2011.
7 The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), which represents 60 unions, noted 1,300 cases of dismissal only in the private sector, on the grounds of their participation in the demonstrations.
8 See BCHR Press Release, 4 September 2010.
9 See BCHR.
10 See BCHR Press Release, May 23, 2010.
11 See BCHR Press Release, May 3, 2011.
12 See Bahrain Youth Human Rights Society (BYHRS) Press Release, May 9, 2010.
13 See al-Wasat and BCHR Press Release, September 7, 2010.
14 The authorities put forward medical reasons for his death, but his body showed the traces of blows and injuries caused by torture. See BCHR Press Releases, April 12 and 13, 2011.
15 See BHRS.
16 These were Mr. Abduljalil al-Sengais, in charge of the human rights unit of al-Haq, an unauthorised political organisation, who had just attended a seminar organised on August 5, 2010 at the House of Lords in the UK on human rights in Bahrain, Mr. Abdulghani Ali Issa al-Khanjar, Spokesperson for the National Committee of Martyrs and Victims of Torture (NCMVT), Mr. Jaffar al-Hessabi, an anti-torture activist, Mr. Mohammed Saeed, a BCHR member, Mr. Ali Abdulemam, a blogger and administrator of the online forum bahrainonline.org, Messrs. Salman Naji and Hassan al-Haddad, members of the National Committee for the Unemployed, Mr. Suhail al-Shehabi, an activist with the National Committee for the Unemployed and the Committee of the Relatives of Detainees, Messrs. Ahmed Jawad al-Fardan and Ali Jawad al-Fardan, members of the Committee of the Relatives of Karzakan Detainees, and Mr. Abdul Hadi al-Saffar, President of the Committee Against High Prices and an activist with the Committee of the Relatives of Detainees.
17 Other reasons given were: arrest of the defendants without a warrant by members of the national security forces, their incommunicado detention for nearly two months, the defamation campaign against the defendants led by the media and Government representatives, and the impossibility for some lawyers to communicate with their clients.
18 The BCHR was dissolved in September 2004, following a ruling by the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs.
19 This article allows the Minister of Social Affairs to appoint an interim director or a temporary board when an association commits irregularities that justify the decision, without these irregularities being specified and defined by the law.
20 The BHRS was accused of irregularities, in particular the defence of one specific category of citizens at the expense of another. It was also charged with publishing statements by illegal bodies on its website.
21 These accusations were made against them by Mr. Faisal Fulath, a member of the Shura Council, Mr. Adel al Mghwdah, a member of Parliament, and Mr. Mohammed al-Shooruqi, the programme facilitator.
22 They had been arrested by the Special Security Forces in April 2009 along with 15 other activists, and prosecuted for “setting fire to a police vehicle”, after taking part in a peaceful demonstration on April 9, 2009 to denounce a wave of arrests in December 2007, of which several human rights defenders were the target. They were released on October 13, 2009 by the High Criminal Court after forensic evidence proved their innocence.
23 They questioned the authorities as to whether such a measure existed.
Extracts from the Annual Report 2011 of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT)