On May 28, 2012, Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and FIDH Deputy Secretary General [1] , was released on bail after spending three weeks in detention. The three different sets of charges against him (“illegal gathering”, “calling others to gather” and “defaming the government” via twitter) are yet to be dropped, and he is banned from travelling.
Despite this positive development, the Observatory remains concerned at the very repressive climate faced by human rights defenders in Bahrain. On May 25, 2012, the President of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council made a statement calling on the Government of Bahrain not to expose the human rights defenders who participated in the Universal Periodic Review of Bahrain in Geneva last week to reprisals. Indeed, the Bahraini local press has led a harsh campaign against human rights defenders who attended the Universal Periodic Review, calling them “traitors” and demanding “their prosecution”. Furthermore, on May 26, the Ministry of Interior released a statement in response to the statement made by the President of the UN Human Rights Council, stating that the Ministry “will examine all complaints filed by members of the civil society who claim to have been threatened in accordance with the law” [2] According to the latest information, the delegation of Bahraini human rights defenders who were present in Geneva were summoned for interrogation by the Ministry of the Interior.
In addition, another prominent human rights defender, Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, announced on May 28 that he had ended his 110-day hunger strike. Mr. Al Khawaja, GCHR founder, former MENA Director at Front Line and former BCHR President, appeared before the court on May 22 for his appeal session, where he denied all charges against him. He told the court about the human rights violations he had been subjected to, including but not limited to: physical assault during arrest, arbitrary arrest, solitary confinement, unfair trial, physical and psychological torture since his arrest on April 9, 2011 [3] . His daughter, Twitter activist Zainab Al-Khawaja, also remains in detention on charges of “disrupting the traffic” and “insulting a police officer”. She has been in prison for more than a month.
The Observatory has repeatedly called on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and other human rights defenders detained for the legitimate exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Observatory calls upon the authorities of the Kingdom of Bahrain to guarantee the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression of human rights defenders, to guarantee in all circumstances their integrity, and to order an immediate, effective, thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned violations faced by human rights defenders, in line with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights instruments ratified by Bahrain. The Observatory considers that the ability of human rights defenders to operate without fear of harassment and attacks, and the need to ensure accountability for any such attacks are vital to prevent a further escalation of the situation.
Background:
On May 5, 2012, Mr. Nabeel Rajab was arrested at Manama airport upon arrival from Lebanon, on charges of “offending the statutory bodies”. The charges related to tweets he had posted on his Twitter account which were deemed “offensive” to the Ministry of Interior. On May 20, Manama’s Lower Criminal Court agreed to the request to free Mr. Rajab on 300 BHD (800 USD) bail, with a travel ban, and rescheduled the next hearing for May 23. On May 23, the hearing was adjourned to June 17, pending further investigation. However, Mr. Rajab was kept in detention for other charges.
On May 12, Mr. Rajab was again presented before the Public Prosecutor, who informed him of a new case against him on charges of “calling for and participating in an illegal gathering” relating to a protest organised in February 2012 in Manama. Based on information provided by the police administration to the prosecutor, Mr. Nabeel Rajab is alleged to have made speeches during rallies, calling for the use of force by demonstrators against police forces. Mr. Rajab refused to answer the questions of the judge and declared that the investigation was a conspiracy. The Public Prosecutor remanded Mr. Rajab to detention for an additional seven days in relation to this case, with the explanation that the investigation was still pending.
The third case is in relation to charges of “participating in an illegal gathering” and “calling others to join the gathering”, relating to a protest organised on March 31, 2012 in Manama to denounce the detention of human rights defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. On May 22, 2012, the hearing for this case before the Lower Third Criminal Court was adjourned to May 28, 2012 for the plea.
For more information, please contact:
· FIDH: Karine Appy/Arthur Manet: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18
· OMCT: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39