In the last week, Bahrain’s treatment of its citizens and their right to free expression has been repeatedly in the news. Sara Yasin reports on a spate of developments that raise questions about the Bahraini government’s commitment to free speech.

Blogger and activist Ali Abdulemam has been granted asylum in the United Kingdom. Abdulemam’s two years in hiding began shortly after the start of Bahrain’s political unrest in February 2011. He was sentenced in absentia to fifteen years in prison on charges of attempting to overthrow the monarchy.

Abdulemam is the prominent founder of Bahrain Online, a site that created an online space to criticise and discuss the country’s regime in 1998. Initially, he wrote anonymously, but he began to write in his own name in 2001. Public dissent in Bahrain comes at a price: the blogger was first arrested in 2005 and then once more in 2010.

News of Abdulemam’s heroic escape did not amuse Bahrain’s government:

Ali Abdulemam was not tried in court for exercising his right to express his opinions. Rather, he was tried for inciting and encouraging continuous violent attacks against police officers. Abdulemam is the founder of Bahrain Online, a website that has repeatedly been used to incite hatred, including through the spreading of false and inflammatory rumors.

The statement goes on to say that the country “respects the right of its citizens to express their opinion”, but makes a distinction between expressing an opinion and “engaging in and encouraging violence.”

Back in 2010, Abdulemam was jailed, tortured, and accused of being a part of a “terrorist network.” The real threat he posed to the state, as fellow activist Ala’a Shehabi put it last year, was that “his forum offered dissidents a voice.”

So what does “incitement” look like in Bahrain? For documenting a protest on Twitter last December, Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) member Said Yousif, was jailed and charged with “spreading false news.” According to the country’s laws, “the dissemination of the false news must amount to incitement to violence.” As Human Rights Watch’s Middle East director, Sarah Lea Witson put it:

If Bahraini officials believe that an activist is inciting violence by tweeting a picture of an injured demonstrator, then it’s clear that all the human rights sessions they’ve attended have been wasted.

The jailed head of the organisation, Nabeel Rajab, is currently serving a two year sentence for organising “illegal protests.” BCHR released a statement today expressing concerns that Rajab has been transferred to solitary confinement. He has been unreachable since relaying to his wife an account of young political prisoners being tortured earlier this week. Rajab was requesting a visit from the International Committee of the Red Cross, to document the case.

Still, Bahrain insists that freedom of expression is something that it upholds — in fact, it has gone so far as prosecuting individuals for supposedly abusing it. Just yesterday, year-long sentences were handed to six Twitter users for making posts insulting Bahrain’s King Hamad. For hanging a Bahraini flag from his truck during protests in 2011, a man was handed a three-month jail sentence today.

Looks like it might be time for Bahrain to reevaluate how it understands freedom of expression.

More Coverage >>>

• British embassy in Bahrain gets World Press Freedom Day wrong
• In Depth: Bahrain

The post What free speech means to Bahrain appeared first on Index on Censorship.

Government officials, as well as members of different political societies were represented at the first meeting on Sunday.

Bahrain’s King Hamad re-opened the door for dialogue in January this year, calling on “representatives of the political societies and independent members of the political community.”

The fresh round of talks, however, has been met with scepticism from some activists.

“The level of distrust between the rulers of the country and the people is so vast, the history of broken promises, and the false pledges of reform make it very difficult to take any state initiative seriously,” campaigner Ala’a Shehabi told Index.

Bahrain has previously made elaborate promises to reform, through initiatives like the Bahrain Independent Commission for Inquiry (BICI), an independent commission initiated by the king to investigate human rights violations following the start of unrest in 2011.

Such efforts, however, have been condemned by rights groups and activist for being more about repairing Bahrain’s shattered international reputation — tarnished by a brutal clampdown on dissent — than it is about an actual interest in reform. Making it no surprise that a renewed call for dialogue has not quelled plans to protest on 14 February.

Maryam Alkhawaja, acting head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (which won an Index on Censorship Free Expression Award in 2012) Maryam Alkhawaja told Index that she worries that the dialogue will be used as a PR move, when “there’s going to be a heavy crackdown on the anniversary or before the anniversary.”

Abdulhadi  AlKhawaja and Nabeel Rajab of BCHR are both currently serving jail sentences for their part in protests against the regime.

According to a report released by the Project on Middle East Democracy, only three of the BICI report’s 26 recommendations have been fully implemented.

Ali Al Aswad, a former member of Bahrain’s parliament and member of opposition party Al-Wefaq party, told Index that “the country will not be stable without real reform”, and emphasised the importance of the government putting into place “confidence building measures.”

Shehabi said that “a serious dialogue would be preceded by the release of political prisoners”, and would involve the removal of the country’s Prime Minister (who has been in power for more than 40 years), as well as “the dissolution of Parliament” in order to “discuss how to form a representative body to write a new democratic constitution.”

Al Aswad emphasised that the results of the dialogue “shouldn’t only be an agreement on paper it should also be reflected in the constitution”. He also said that any constitutional changes should be voted on with a referendum.

Still, human rights violations, according to local human rights organisations, are still ongoing in the troubled gulf kingdom. BCHR says that there have been 87 deaths at the hands of security forces since the start of unrest; compared to the initial 30 documented in the BICI report.

For Alkhawaja, human rights “should not be seen as a part of the negotiation” emphasising that human rights “should not be used as a bargaining chip at all”,

While human rights groups will not be a part of the dialogue, US-based organisation Human Rights First emphasised that “Bahrain’s ongoing crisis must be anchored in full respect for human rights”.

According to the state-owned Bahrain News Agency, meetings will be held twice a week, and no high-level government officials have been named as participants in the process.

Sara Yasin is an Editorial Assistant at Index. She tweets from @missyasin.

The post Doubts over Bahrain “dialogue” as teenager protester killed on anniversary of uprising appeared first on Index on Censorship.

When confronted with the facts of its own brutal crackdown on popular protests and human rights defenders, Bahraini officials usually stick to a routine. They hide behind tired lines of denial and hype supposed reforms. The actual situation on the ground continues to deteriorate — and inaction from the international community has emboldened the government. Most astounding is the silence from one of Bahrain’s greatest allies: the United Kingdom.

The UK government has made countless pledges to push on Bahrain to implement supposed reforms, but has yet to push forcefully on its partner where it counts. Almost a year after the Bahraini government publicly accepted the grim picture of human rights painted in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report and its recommendations, the country continues to perpetuate flagrant human rights violations.

It is more important than ever for the United Kingdom’s legislators to question Britain’s relationship with Bahrain — and to place pressure on the government to demand real reform. Bahraini officials like Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who was a VIP guest at the London Olympics despite the numerous allegations he tortured protesters, should be shunned by British mandarins. UK legislators must also push on Bahrain to follow through on promises of transparency and accountability; many of those involved in the crimes committed in the past year and half, have either remained in their positions or been promoted.

The United Kingdom’s silence places it in danger of being seen as complicit in Bahrain’s human rights abuses, particularly when the UK has a direct method of influencing Bahrain: through its economic relationship. If it doesn’t halt arms sales, the United Kingdom is ostensibly giving permission to the Bahraini government to violently silence its people. A serious commitment to human rights from the United Kingdom means that a serious conversation about economic and diplomatic sanctions is necessary and important to do.

Political prisoners jailed on trumped up charges need the United Kingdom to press on its friend on the international stage. It is shameful that the UK and the US refused to sign onto a joint-statement issued by 27 countries this year, condemning human rights violations. Despite damning evidence that continues to mount both countries have been shamefully silent on this topic — and this must change.

This isn’t about regime change, or a chaotic dialogue about political reform. It is about something very simple: human rights. Silence from such an important trade partner spells out permission, casting a shadow on the UK’s commitment to free expression and human rights. Bahrainis have started saying that the UK and USA are to Bahrain what Russia is to Syria — enablers.

Maryam al-Khawaja is acting President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights Deputy Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights. Twitter @MARYAMALKHAWAJA

The post Bahrain is Britain’s shame appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post Bahrain: Verdict in trial for 13 activists postponed appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post Bahraini activist acquitted of Twitter charges but remains in prison appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab re-arrested appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab released on bail appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab granted bail, but remains in prison appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post Bahrain: Four protestors sentenced to death appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post Bahrain: CNN News team arrested outside activist’s private residence appeared first on Index on Censorship.