Posts Tagged ‘Bahrain’
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
December 3, 2012
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Most posts in this blog are of a serious nature, but this one is close to comical if anyone has bothered to read previous posts on Bahrain. Just some excerpts:
 Manama, Dec. 3. – His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman asserted that the Kingdom of Bahrain and the High Commissioner for Human Rights share the same goal and mission of protecting human rights and respecting human dignity.
“Bahrain is a democracy, reform and popular participation hub where rights are protected and liberties are respected,” HRH Premier said as he met here today a delegation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), led by Frej Fennich, Middle East and North Africa Section Chief.
HRH Premier pointed out that “Bahrain is a one-family society and we do not accept that one of our compatriots’ basic rights are abused or dignity undermined,” noting that the government’s main interest is to protect the Bahraini citizens’ rights, including the right to live in security and stability, without intimidation or terrorism.
The Premier emphasized that freedoms are guaranteed in Bahrain by the force of the Constitution, but, he added, when they are used as a pretext to undermine the security of individuals and destabilize countries, jeopardize their economies and pose a threat to their cohesion and civic peace, the matter goes beyond the natural exercise of freedom and becomes “terrorism”, and therefore should be confronted decisively.
………
HRH Prime Minister added that there has been injustice inflicted on the kingdom because of the misleading and incoherent information disseminated by some sides, explaining that Bahrain has invited international organisations in order to allow them to be informed on reality within total transparency.
Perhaps not totally unexpected: the source is the Bahrain New Agency |
Posted in human rights | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, human rights, Manama, Middle East, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR
November 21, 2012
In various parts of the world human rights defenders brave legal harassment, arbitrary detention, ill treatment, torture and sometimes death, in seeking to secure freedom and dignity for all. In challenging serious abuses of State power, many such defenders find themselves behind bars;
FIDH works endlessly to secure the release of these (and other) human rights defenders, mainly through the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – its joint programme with OMCT.A recent summing up by FIDH of their (local affiliate) in
Bahrain,
Belarus,
Iran,
Turkey and
Uzbekistan makes sobering reading:
Check out the steps that led to their detention:
The Bahrain Centre or Human Rights is one the 2012 nominees of the Martin Ennals Award.
- In BELARUS :Ales Bialiatski, President of the Viasna Human Rights Centre and FIDH Vice President
Since his election in 1994, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, has installed an authoritarian regime that represses freedom of expression, assembly and association. The human rights situation in Belarus markedly deteriorated on 19 December 2010 when riot police brutally dispersed demonstrators protesting against the unfair handling of the presidential election. This event marked the beginning of an unprecedented wave of repression, which continues to this day. Prominent human rights defender, Ales Bialiatski was arrested in Minsk on 4 August 2011 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on trumped up tax evasion charges. He remains in prison to this day.
- In IRAN :Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, founding member of Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and human rights lawyer
Abdolfattah Soltani, founding member of DHRC and human rights lawyer
Mohammad Seifzadeh, member of the DHRC and human rights lawyer
Nasrin Sotoudeh, member of DHRC and prominent human rights lawyer known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience, human rights activists and child victims of abuse; she is lso a 2012 MEA nominee
- In TURKEY :Muharrem Erbey, IHD Vice Chairperson and former Chairperson of Diyarbakır branch
Arslan Özdemir, Executive, IHD Diyarbakır branch
Şerif Süren, Executive, IHD Aydın branch
Orhan Çiçek, Executive, IHD Aydın branch
Reşit Teymur, Executive, IHD Siirt branch
Abdulkadir Çurğatay, Executive, IHD Mardin branch
Veysi Parıltı, Executive, IHD Mardin branch
Şaziye Önder, representative IHD Doğubeyazıt (Ağrı)
Mensur Işık, former Chairperson, IHD Muş branch
Hikmet Tapancı, Executive, IHD Malatya branch
Ali Tanrıverdi, Chairperson IHD Mersin branch
Osman İşçi, IHD General Headquarters (Ankara) former worker and member of IHD
Hanim Koçygit, Executive, IHD Sakarya branch
Bekir Gürbüz, former Chairperson, IHD Adıyaman branch
FIDH notes in this respect: Despite Turkey’s considerable human rights progress since 2000, those expressing ideas on “sensitive” human rights related issues continue to be targeted and criminalised by the public authorities. So-called “sensitive” questions include the promotion of alternative identities to the Turkish mainstream (e.g. asserting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, especially Kurds, as well as the rights of sexual minorities). It also encompasses any criticism of the State and its institutions, including institutional functioning, judicial independence, and impunity for human rights violations. Members of NGOs, lawyers, trade unionists, journalists, intellectuals, academics, conscientious objectors, the families of victims of serious human rights violations, and others have been targeted by State policies that consider their expression of their views to be a threat. Fourteen members of the Human Rights Association (IHD), a Turkish FIDH member organisation, are currently being held in preventive detention under an anti-terrorism law that criminalises legitimate expression of opinion.
- In UZBEKISTAN :Zafar Rakhimov, member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) Kashkadarya regional branch
Nasim Isakov, member of the HRSU Djizak regional branch
Yuldosh Rasulov, member of the HRSU Kashkadarya regional branch
Azam Formonov, Head of the Sirdarya regional branch of the HRSU
Gaybullo Jalilov, member of the HRSU Karshi regional branch
Uzbekistan has the highest number of human rights defenders serving lengthy prison sentences in Eastern Europe/Central Asia. These sentences are usually served in penal colonies where the regime is extremely strict. Harsh conditions and ill treatment have caused the health of incarcerated defenders to deteriorate quickly. These inhumane and degrading conditions are currently the reality of several members of FIDH member organisation, the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan.
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Tags: Bahrain, Belarus, detention, FIDH, harassment, human rights, Human rights defender, International Federation for Human Rights, Iran, MEA, Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, OMCT, Turkey, Uzbekistan
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.
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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.
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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
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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 7, 2012
On 2 October 2012 the Cairo Institute for Human Rights (CIHR) published its overview of the last session of the UN Human Rights Council. It concludes that many Arab governments have started a kind of ‘counter-revolution’ by harassing human rights defenders, especially those that engage with the UN:
“Reflecting the ‘counter-revolutionary’ repression we have witnessed being carried out by many Arab governments against democracy and rights activists over the last year and a half, this session of the Council witnessed multiple human rights defenders from Sudan, the United Arab Emirates UAE and Bahrain subjected to attacks by their governments or government-affiliated actors for engaging with the United Nations,” said Mr. Ziad Abdel Tawab, Deputy Director of CIHRS. “We urgently call on the UN and its member states to increase efforts to provide protection for these brave defenders and others like them. Such reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN not only constitute rights violations, but also represent an attack on the UN itself and its ability to function properly.”
via ‘Counter-Revolution’ at the United Nations Human Rights Council? Arab states respond to unprecedented scrutiny with attacks on rights defenders and standards | Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Arab region, Bahrain, Cairo Institute for Human Rights, Geneva, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, Sudan, UAE, UN, UPR
September 27, 2012
Every day all over the world, unsung heroes are risking their lives to call attention to injustice and to fight for human rights. On Tuesday October 2nd, one of them will honored with the Martin Ennals Award. The Martin Ennals Award is chosen by a Jury of ten leading Human Rights organizations including: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First and others (see www.martinennalsaward.org). Thus, this prize represents the expression of the whole Human Rights movement.
The winner will be selected from three nominees, who personalize wider issues in their home countries and allow these issues to be represented through individual cases:
- Venerable Sovath Luon: sometimes referred to as the “Multimedia Monk”. He challenges the widespread eviction of poor people from land they have long held but without title, often due to the destruction of records during the Khmer Rouge period.
- Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian Lawyer serving a 6 year prison sentence in Iran for “… the offences of “acting against the national security”, “propaganda against the regime” and “membership of Human Rights Defenders Centre” – an organisation presided over by the Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.
- Bahrain Center for Human Rights: Currently high on the world media agenda. Two of the main founders: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab are serving jail sentences. Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested for demonstrating against the government, while other members are regularly arrested and abused.
The ceremony is hosted by the City of Geneva in Victoria Hall. Short films commissioned by the Martin Ennals Foundation. Those who cannot attend in person may want to follow it on the internet (www.martinennalsaward.org) starting at 18h00 Geneva time.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 3 Comments »
Tags: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, award, Bahrain, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Cambodia, ceremony, event, Geneva, HRDs, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights movement, internet, Iran, Luon Sovath, Martin Ennals, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, Nabeel Rajab, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Shirin Ebadi, streaming, video
September 27, 2012
On 26 September Human Rights First (HRF) reports that a Bahraini court sentenced Zainab Al-Khawaja to two months in prison for publicly tearing a picture of Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. It notes that the ruling confirms Bahrain’s reputation as a volatile place without due respect for the rule of law.
“The Bahraini regime seems locked into a spiral of imprisoning human rights leaders and it is unable to tolerate freedom of expression. This is not the reform the king promised” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley ”
Zainab Al-Khawaja, a well-known activist, is the daughter of prominent Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison after being arrested, tortured and given an unfair trial in a military court for taking part in the pro-democracy protest. Throughout the uprising in Bahrain, Zainab Al-Khawaja has worked to bring to light abuses committed by the Bahraini regime. Through her blog and twitter account, @angryarabiya, Zainab has urged to world to show its support for the Bahraini people.
“In 18 months, Bahrain has rocketed from obscurity to international fame as a place where doctors were tortured and human rights activists are jailed for peaceful dissent. Zainab’s sentence reinforces this image of a regime addicted to targeting its human rights defenders, and only able to respond to dissent with repression,” Dooley concluded.
Zainab Al-Khawaja’s verdict comes just one day before another prominent human rights leader, Nabeel Rajab, is scheduled to hear the verdict in his appeal of a three-year prison sentence for his part in what the government calls “illegal gatherings.” Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), an organization selected by Human Rights First to receive the 2012 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty and also one the three nominees for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders 2012 which will be decided on 2 October in Geneva.
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Tags: award, Bahrain, Brian Dooley, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, Nabeel Rajab, twitter, Zainab Al-Khawaja
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 