Posts Tagged ‘Bahrain Centre for Human Rights’
March 12, 2013
In a case that was followed closely in this blog, a Bahraini human rights defender accused of sending out twitters with ‘false information’, there is finally some good news: a Bahraini court has acquitted Said Yousif Al-Muhafdah of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR – 2012 Final Nominee of the MEA). “It’s a great relief that Said Yousif was acquitted today, bringing an end to three months of judicial harassment. Let’s hope this means the courts are beginning to show a better understanding of what freedom of expression means,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley. Al-Muhafdah was arrested in December 2012 for “spreading false information on Twitter.”
His case is one in a string cases stemming from the Kingdom’s ongoing judicial harassment of human rights defenders. It followed last year’s jailing of Nabeel Rajab, President of the BCHR, and of human rights activist Zainab Al Khawaja in February 2013. “This is a small victory, but unfortunately there are many other cases of judicial harassment that continue to wind their way through Bahrain’s judicial system,” Brian Dooley noted. On March 21, the appeal of 23 medics, each sentenced to three months in prison after treating injured protestors in 2011, will continue. A verdict is expected at a date soon after. Dooley, who has authored four reports about the ongoing crackdown in Bahrain, has been forbidden access to the nation for more than a year. “This is not how a nation that wants to trumpet its human rights record treats monitors” Dooley added.
via Acquittal in Bahrain Twitter Case Comes as Dooley Denied Access Again | Human Rights First.
Posted in HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: acquittal, Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, BCHR, Brian Dooley, HRF, Human right, human rights, human rights activist, Human rights defender, Human Rights First, illegal detention, judicial harassment, MEA 2012 nominee, Middle East, Nabeel Rajab, Said Yousif Al-Muhafdah, trial observation, twitter, Zainab Al-Khawaja
March 4, 2013
Several NGOs continue to follow closely the development in Bahrain, sadly the subject of may posts in this blog. Here HRF’s and Frontline’s recent statements:
Human Rights First (HRF) says that this week will see a series of high profile court hearings in Bahrain, exposing the authorities continued use of judicial harassment against human rights defenders and activists. On Sunday March 3, Halima Abdulaziz al Sabag is due to hear an appeal verdict. She is a dental assistant and was sentenced to a year in prison after she was convicted for allegedly taking first aid material from the hospital where she worked to treat injured protesters. On Monday March 4, the Bahrain government will continue to press a case against leading human rights defender Said Yousif Al Muhafda of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights for information he tweeted about police using birdshot against protesters. On Tuesday March 5, the appeal of 23 medics is due to return to court. They have all been convicted and sentenced to three months in prison after treating injured protesters in 2011. “This continuing crackdown in the courts tells us more about the reality of what’s happening in Bahrain than the speeches its officials are giving to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva this week,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley…….. Other prominent human rights leaders, including President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab, remain in jail. Please contact Brenda Bowser Soder at bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org or 202-370-3323. 
via Bahrain’s Targeting of Civil Society with Judicial Harassment Continues | Human Rights First.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Front Line, HRF, human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, bahrain government, Brian Dooley, Front Line Defenders, Human right, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First, illegal detention, judicial harassment, Manama, medical, Middle East, Nabeel Rajab, NGOs, persecution, Said Yousif Al Muhafda, Zainab Al-Khawaja
February 17, 2013
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), published on 14 February 2013 a report, which presents the findings of a judicial observation mission conducted on the trial in appeal of prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab. The report concludes that a series of violations of the right to fair trial marred the judicial process and that Nabeel Rajab is suffering judicial harassment (and was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment) for merely advocating for and exercising the right to peaceful assembly in Bahrain. The report is available in English and Arabic.
Nabeel Rajab is President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), Deputy Secretary General of FIDH, and the BCHR was 2012 nominee for the MEA. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | 6 Comments »
Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, Gerald Staberock, human rights, International Federation for Human Rights, Manama, MEA 2012, Middle East, Nabeel Rajab, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, religion, Souhayr Belhassen, trial observation, World Organisation Against Torture
January 21, 2013
In an earlier post of 18 December I reported that Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafda was detained (again). After the arrest of most leaders, he was one of the few left to continue the work of the courageous group, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, and came to Geneva in October last year to represent the NGO as 2012 nominee of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
A court in Bahrain on Thursday released him on bail pending trial for charges of spreading false news to harm security, according to Amnesty International. Al-Muhafda is scheduled to appear in court on January 29 2013 when witnesses are expected to testify. In view of earlier experience with HRDs on trial in Bahrain one should not expect too much.
Posted in AI, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Geneva, illegal detention, judicial harassment, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, Non-governmental organization, release on bail, Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafda, Sayed Yousif Almuhafda
December 18, 2012
Several NGOs on the Jury of the MEA (including Front Line Defenders and Human Rights First) have reported on the arrest and detention of Mr Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha, a human rights defender who spoke on behalf of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights at the MEA 2012 ceremony in Geneva on 2 October.
On 18 December 2012, the Public Prosecution Office ordered human rights defender Mr Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha to be detained for a period of seven days following his arrest the previous day after he attended a protest in Manama. He was arrested on charges of spreading false information over Twitter. He is currently being held in Hooth Al-Jaff prison in the Governorate of Muharraq.
The arrest took place on the eve of a visit to Bahrain by a delegation of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) with a focus on human rights issues. This is the second time Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha has been arrested in the last two months. The previous occasion was on 2 November 2012 in the village of Diraz, where he was arrested on charges of rioting and participating in an illegal gathering. The charges related to a protest that took place in the village that day and in which the human rights defender denied having participated. He was released without charge on 14 November 2012.
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2012/12/17/prominent-bahraini-human-rights-defender-among-dozens-arrested-today-in-manama/
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20797
Bahrain: Free Human Rights Defender, Says HRW (eurasiareview.com)
Posted in human rights | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Front Line, Front Line Defenders, human rights, Human rights defender, Human Rights First, Manama, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, members of the european parliament
November 8, 2012
Many organizations have called on the Bahraini authorities to immediately release the human rights activist Sayed Yusuf al-Muhafadha and drop all “illegal gathering” charges against him. On October 30, 2012, the government issued an indefinite ban on public protests. Security forces arrested al-Muhafadha, acting vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), in al-Diraz, west of Manama, on November 2. Al-Muhafadha was taken into custody after he tried to photograph an injured protester at a protest against the ban. Earlier in the day he had tweeted photos of security forces attacking protesters with teargas in the village of Bilad al-Qadeem, the Washington Post reported. The day after he was arrested, the public prosecutor decided to hold him in detention for a week pending investigation on charges of “illegal gathering of more than five people.”
Sayed Yusuf al-Muhafadha is acting vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and represented them at the MEA ceremony on 2 October in Geneva. For images see the website: http://www.martinennalsaward.org, summary of the 2012 ceremony.
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, freedom of assembly, Human rights defender, Manama, MEA, Sayed Yusuf, Sayed Yusuf al-Muhafadha, tweet
October 18, 2012
The situation in Bahrain continues to deteriorate and judicial harassment goes on unabated:
On 16 October 2012, human rights defender and president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights Mohamed Al-Masktai has been summoned for interrogation at Al-Naem police station. On 17 Oct 2012 he was released. Human rights defender Mohamed Al-Masktai has been active in documenting and reporting the violations committed by the Bahraini authorities in recent months. In September 2012 he has been subjected to intimidation campaign as he received more than a dozen anonymous phone calls threatening his life and the safety of his family, which followed an oral intervention he delivered at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, during a panel discussion focused on intimidations and reprisals, where he informed the (HRC) about the massive intimidation campaign against him.
On 16 October 2012, human rights defender Nader Abdulemam was summoned for interrogation at the public prosecution office. At the time of writing this appeal (17 Oct) Nader Abdulemam has not appeared at the public prosecution office as yet.
In addition to her previous 13 plus lawsuits, activist and human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja was summoned again for a new case that includes the charge of “insulting a police officer”. The case goes back to 6 May 2012, however it has been activated just now and a trial was scheduled on 17 October 2012, but postponed to 2 November 2012 in order to summon Al-Khawaja. Al-Khawaja was recently released on 3 October 2012 after she spent two months imprisonment sentence on the charge of “ripping photo of king of Bahrain”. She is expecting verdicts on several cases in the coming weeks.
On 16 October 2012, the court refused to release leading human rights defender Nabeel Rajab; during a session of his appeal trial against 3 year imprisonment sentence which has he received on charges of “participating in illegal gatherings” and “calling for gatherings over social media”.
In addition, the court refused to provide assistance to allow foreigner witnesses to enter Bahrain and testify on behalf of Rajab. On 15 October 2012, Stephanie David, a representative from FIDH has been denied entry to Bahrain to testify for Rajab, as she was required to provide an authorization from the court.
Bahrain: Judicial crackdown continues on human rights defenders and activists.
Posted in FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, FIDH, harassment, Human Rights Defenders, human rights violations, independence, Nabeel Rajab
October 10, 2012
Nabeel Rajab May 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Martin Ennals Foundation would like to express its growing concern regarding the upcoming hearing on October 16th concerning the appeal of Nabeel Rajab’s conviction.
Mr. Rajab is appealing a three year sentence handed down by the Bahraini Courts. This sentence is widely viewed as an attempt to block his freedom of expression and prevent him from supporting peaceful protests.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights was one of three Finalist Nominees for the Martin Ennals Award, which was handed out in Geneva on October 2nd. The Martin Ennals Award is selected by a Jury of ten leading Human Rights organizations and aims to publicize the work and protect a Human Rights Defender. Regrettably, Mr. Rajab was not able to attend the ceremony due to his detention.The Martin Ennals Foundation supports the widespread calls for his release made by many leading Human Rights Organizations including members of our Jury. We urge the Bahraini Courts to release Mr. Rajab.
from : http://www.martinennalsaward.org
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, freedom of expression, human rights, Human rights defender, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab, trial observation
October 2, 2012
This morning the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award for human rights Defenders (MEA) came together in Geneva to decide who will ultimately be the Laureate of the MEA 2012. I was there and know the result but it stays under wraps until approximately 18h45 Geneva time when the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will make the announcement during the ceremony which can be followed live on http://www.martinennalsaward.org as from 18h00.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: award, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, ceremony, Geneva, Human rights defender, human rights movement, laureate MEA, Luon Sovath, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nasrin Sotoudeh, nominees 2012, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, streaming
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 