Index calls on Bahrain government to free Nabeel Rajab

March 28th, 2013

Index on Censorship has called upon the Bahraini government to release 2012 Index  Freedom of Expression Award winner Nabeel Rajab and other prisoners of conscience, and honour its promises to uphold freedom of expression.

Index’s Chief Executive Kirsty Hughes said:

“The continued imprisonment of Nabeel Rajab and other activists shows that Bahrain is not serious about reform. The targeting of human rights activists and imprisonment of prisoners of conscience shows that government commitments to reform are for now meaningless.

“Index calls on the Bahrain government to respect  the right to peaceful protest and the right to free speech, to end its violations of these rights and to implement fully the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission for Inquiry (BICI).”

According to the Project on Middle East Democracy, the government of Bahrain has only succeeded in fully implementing three of the 26 recommendations made by the Bahrain Independent Commission for Inquiry (BICI) report in November 2011.

Members of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) have faced repression from Bahrain’s regime for their tireless work documenting human rights violations committed by the government, since popular protests began on 14 February 2011. According to BCHR, there have been 89 deaths since the start of the country’s uprising.

In March 2012, accepting the Index on Censorship Advocacy award on behalf of BCHR, human rights activist Nabeel Rajab said that the international community heard little about uprisings in Bahrain because “we have oil”. He is currently serving a two-year sentence for organising so-called “illegal gatherings”. The founder of BCHR, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, is on hunger-strike to protest his ill-treatment in prison. Alkhawaja is currently serving a life sentence for allegedly plotting to overthrow the ruling regime. His daughter Zainab is also on hunger strike and serving a three-month jail sentence.

In April, international attention will once again turn to Bahrain when it hosts the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Last year, the Bahraini government attempted to use the race to gain positive international attention while continuing to clamp down on protesters who are critical of the regime.

Bahrain: Verdict in trial for 13 activists postponed

December 3rd, 2012

Bahrain’s Court of Cassation today postponed issuing a verdict in the appeal of 13 opposition activists, including well-known human rights activist and Bahrain Center for Human Rights founder Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. The verdict will now be issued on 7 January, a request to release the activists pending the verdict was rejected. The activists, who are all serving sentences between five years and life, were first sentenced by a military court in June 2011 for their role in the country’s ongoing unrest.

Index award winner released from Bahraini prison

May 29th, 2012

Index on Censorship welcomes yesterday’s release of prominent rights activist and Index 2012 Award winner Nabeel Rajab, and calls for all charges against the activist to be dropped (more…)

Bahrain: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja ends hunger strike

May 29th, 2012

Prominent Bahraini rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja ended his hunger strike yesterday (28 May), according to his lawyer, Mohammad Al-Jishi. Alkhawaja, who was on hunger strike for 110 days, started his hunger strike on 8 February saying that he would strike until “freedom or death”.  The former head of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) was brought to a hearing last Tuesday in a wheelchair, where he told the court about being force-fed during his hunger strike. He is currently serving a life sentence for his involvement in anti-government protests last year. Al-Jishi used the social networking site Twitter to announce the end of the strike, saying that it had “generally achieved its results to shed the light on the case of the detainees in Bahrain”.

Time to stop doing business with Bahrain

April 26th, 2012

Bahrainis still suffer with human rights abuse, torture and political imprisonment, says Sara Yasin. Despite its supporters’ “astonishment”, it’s no wonder that the world was “hostile” to its Grand Prix  

This article was originally published in The Telegraph.

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Bahrain: Blood on the track

April 20th, 2012

UK: Activists climb Bahrain Embassy to protest human rights violations and Grand Prix

April 17th, 2012

Two activists climbed to the roof of the Bahrain embassy in London yesterday. Prominent opposition activist Ali Mushaima was joined by Moosa Abdali  to protest human rights violations in Bahrain, ahead of this weekend’s controversial Grand Prix. The pair scaled scaffolding on a neighbouring building in Belgrave Square. Mushaima claimed he was protesting in solidarity with two of the country’s political prisoners, his father Shi’a politician Hassan Mushaima, and prominent activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. The activist criticised the decision to allow the Grand Prix to go ahead at the weekend, saying by doing so, Formula 1 supports “dictatorship, torture and repression.”

Bahrain Grand Prix should not proceed

April 12th, 2012

 This letter was originally published in today’s issue of The Financial Times. 

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