BCHR | Bahrain: Human Rights Defenders are Targeted by the Government
 

14-02-13 09:34 AM

http://bahrainrights.hopto.org/BCHR/...el_Kh_Emam.jpg
Photo: Nabeel Rajab (left, in white) and Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja (right, in blue) at a protest in 2011.
14 Feb 2013
On the second anniversary of the Bahraini uprising for human rights and democracy, The Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) renew their calls for the immediate release of all the detained human rights defenders in Bahrain. We call for the immediate release of the co-founder of both the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who worked for years locally and on the international level to promote and defend human rights in the MENA region, and Bahrain in particular. We call also for the immediate release of the President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and the newly elected –while in prison– General Secretary of the GCHR Board, Nabeel Rajab, who has been targeted for his peaceful human rights activities especially after the crackdown on protesters during February and March 2011. We call as well for an end to the ongoing crackdown on all other human rights defenders and activists who are either in jail, in exile, in hiding or awaiting trials that are likely to result in politically motivated prison sentences against them. On February 14th, 2011, the Bahraini people took to the streets demanding freedom, human rights recognition, and democracy for their own country. The peaceful protesters were met with severe repression that included the use of excessive force against them, resulting in many innocent citizens who lost their lives or were severely wounded. From 16 March until the end of May 2011, the country was placed under a state of emergency status, and some human rights defenders such as Nabeel Rajab played vital roles in reporting, documenting, and publishing information about the massive human rights violations in Bahrain and the indiscriminate attacks on people. By talking directly to the media, using social media networks when banned from travel, communicating with international human rights organizations and the UN, Nabeel Rajab and his colleagues were able to maintain an international focus on Bahrain and expose the violations to the world, which resulted in a sufficient amount of pressure that succeed in both ending the emergency status and the establishment of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) by order from the King of Bahrain himself.
Leading human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was a target for the authorities' crackdown from the very beginning due to his extensive human rights work over the years, including the foundation of the BCHR. On 9 April 2011, Al-Khawaja was violently arrested and knocked unconscious. He was bleeding due to deep cuts close to the left eye and suffered a number of fractures in the jaw, cheek and nose that required a four-hour surgery immediately after his arrest in order to treat his injuries. He was later subjected to severe torture that was documented by the BICI report, and which was described in detail to the Court of Appeal in May 2012 . He was put on a military trial and received a life sentence in June 2011 on the alleged charges of “attempting to overthrow the Government by force" along with another 20 human rights defenders, political leaders, and activists. In January 2013, the Court of Cassation upheld the sentences despite the evidence that demonstrated the torture Al-Khawaja was subjected to, and that he still suffers from his jaw injury. Between February and May 2012, Al-Khawaja went on a hunger strike that lasted 110 days to protest his wrongful imprisonment. However he was eventually force-fed by the authorities, which led him to end his hunger strike after he succeed in shedding light on the on going human rights violations happening in Bahrain. Today, Al-Khawaja is going through another hunger strike started on 2 February 2013 demanding the removal of all the illegal restrictions imposed on the on communications between the detained activists and their families and lawyers. Al-Khawaja has been awarded the 2012 Freedom Award from Freedom House along with his two daughters Maryam and Zainab. As well, the Danish newspaper Politiken awarded him their own Freedom Award, which honours "exceptional individuals or organisations struggling to defend or win freedom under hazardous conditions".
In much the same way, Human Rights defender Nabeel Rajab has paid a heavy price for his determination during the period of the highest repression and beyond to defend the people’s right in Bahrain to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. He was briefly arrested in March 2011, his house was attacked twice in April and May 2011 with tear gas canisters that endangered the lives of his family and sick mother who passed away last year. He was taken to be interrogated by the military in May 2011 for his tweets which documented human rights abuses, and the security forces physically attacked him during a protest in Manama in Jan 2012. The authorities then prepared a large set of lawsuits against him, in which all charges were directly linked to his peaceful and legitimate practice of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. Nabeel Rajab was eventually sentenced to 3 months in prison in July 2012 for a tweet, and then to 3 years in prison for participating and calling for peaceful protest; his sentence was later reduced to 2 years. Nabeel Rajab has been in prison since 9 July 2012, in isolation from the rest of the prisoners of conscience; he has reportedly been ill-treated during his detention. Nabeel Rajab is a winner of the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award in 2011, presented annually by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC. And he is a winner of the British Silbury Prize in 2011 for his humanitarian and human rights activities. The BCHR, led by Nabeel Rajab, won the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Advocacy Award in 2012 to "recognize campaigners or activists who have fought repression, or have struggled to challenge political climates and perceptions."
Several other human rights defenders are facing trials and possible prison sentences including Zainab Al-Khawaja, who currently has with at least 7 active cases against her and Said Yousif Al-Muhafdha who is on trial for a tweet.
The most prominent Bahraini blogger, and the internet pioneer, Ali Abdulemam, owner of the most popular website bahrainonline.org where the first calls for the Feb 14 protests emerged, is still missing today after his disappearance on 16 March 2011. Abdulemam was previously detained between Sep 2010 to Feb 2011 and was subjected to severe torture which he has later exposed to the media (watch minute 09:20 of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...dyiK-Z5Do#t=3s ) but since the crackdown on protests in March 2011 his whereabouts become unknown. He has a military sentence against him of 15 years in prison for the alleged charges of involvement in a group that aimed to overthrow the regime. It’s believed Abdulemam was targeted mainly because of his work to promote freedom of speech through his website.
The GCHR and the BCHR believe that the Bahraini authorities are targeting these human rights defenders solely for their role in exposing the massive human rights violations and communicating them to the world. Many governments and rights organizations have reported on the government's lack of political will to initiate real reforms in the country after more than a year has passed since the publication of the BICI recommendations. The human rights defenders who worked tirelessly to document and report on the massive violations are the ones imprisoned and prosecuted today while the perpetrators are free to walk the streets without fear of being held accountable for their actions.
The GCHR and the BCHR call on the Bahraini government to immediately and unconditionally release all the detained human rights defenders and drop the charges against them. We also call on the government of Bahrain to meet its obligations according to the international human rights treaties to which the Bahraini government is a signature, particularly in relation to the protection of human rights defenders.

The GCHR and the BCHR respectfully remind the government of Bahrain that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. We would particularly draw your attention to Article 6 (b and c): “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (b) As provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms; (c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”, and to Article 12 (1 and 2): “(1) Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. (2) The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.”
References:
1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...dcsDJzjoc/edit
2. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5338
3. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5587
4. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5639
5. http://cphpost.dk/news/international...-freedom-prize
6. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/3825
7. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/4144
8. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/4160
9. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/4949
10. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5352
11. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5387
12. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5599
13. http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5615


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