17 Oct 2014 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns, Press Releases, United Kingdom
Nine human rights organisations called on the British government on Friday to speak out publicly in the case of activists currently being detained in Bahrain. Prominent human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab, Zainab Al-Khawaja and Ghada Jamsheer have all been arrested and face lengthy prison sentences in Bahrain for cases of peaceful expression.
Nabeel Rajab, the President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and Deputy Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), was arrested for a tweet in which he expressed his view about the role Bahrain security institutions play as “incubators of ISIS ideology”. Mr. Rajab had travelled to Bahrain from the United Kingdom following a European advocacy tour that included a panel at the UK House of Lords. In an open letter to UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, rights groups Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, English PEN, Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Index on Censorship and Reprieve urged the United Kingdom to add its voice to these universal calls.
“As a close ally to Bahrain, the UK has influence that could result in steps to release human rights defenders and political prisoners in Bahrain,” the groups said in the letter. “As a close ally to Bahrain, the UK has influence that could result in steps to release human rights defenders and political prisoners in Bahrain”.
Last month, the UK signed a joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council, which urged the government of Bahrain “to release all persons imprisoned solely for exercising human rights, including human rights defenders some of whom have been identified as arbitrarily detained.”
The open letter to Philip Hammond can be read here.
More information about Nabeel Rajab and Zainab Al-Khawaja
17 Oct 2014 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Middle East and North Africa, News and features
Nine human rights organisations called on the British government on Friday to speak out publicly in the case of activists currently being detained in Bahrain. Prominent human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab, Zainab Al-Khawaja and Ghada Jamsheer have all been arrested and face lengthy prison sentences in Bahrain for cases of peaceful expression.
This echoes the message from Maryam Al-Khawaja, a prominent Bahraini activist and co-director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, earlier this week.
You can imprison a human rights defender, but you can’t stop the human rights cause, Al-Khawaja told a packed press conference in London on Wednesday, organised by Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).
She urged UK authorities to speak out about rights abuses in her country, which she said is being run like a business by the ruling Al-Khalifa family. This comes after the arrest of her colleague, 2012 Index advocacy award-winner Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) president Nabeel Rajab. He is facing charges of insulting government institutions on Twitter. His trail opens on 19 October.
Also on Wednesday, her sister Zainab Al-Khawaja, who is 8 months pregnant, was sentenced to seven days’ detention for publicly insulting King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa by ripping up a picture of him in court. She was in court over charges connected to her previous human rights campaigning.
Al-Khawaja, a dual Danish and Bahraini citizen, was herself recently released on bail after being arrested at Bahrain International Airport when trying to enter the country to see her father. She said: “I was stopped at the airport where I was told falsely that my citizenship had been revoked.”
She was then assaulted by police at the airport, and is still recovering from a torn muscle in her shoulder as a result. The police officer who assaulted her later filled charges against Al-Khawaja, presenting a scratched finger as medical evidence.
Al-Khawaja spoke of her time in Isa Town women’s prison, where she spent 19 days; she described poor sanitation and said there were no nurses or doctors available at night and it took 45 minutes for ambulances to reach the facility.
Al-Khawaja’s father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, the founder of 2012 Index award winner BCHR, is serving a life sentence after playing a prominent role in the country’s 2011 pro-democracy protests.
Al Khawaja described how changes could be implemented in Bahrain, saying there is a need for pressure from countries such as the UK and US, who have the capability to make sure the government respect human rights.
“Reform can be implemented and enforced by accountability,” she said.
Nominations are now open for the Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2015. Put forward your free expression heroes here.
Nabeel Rajab Arbitrarily Detained
Please ask your MP to support the campaign by writing to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. (This web app will take you to the website of the Bahrain Institute of Rights and Democracy)
Maryam Al-Khawaja spoke about her arrest, Nabeel Rajab’s case and more in her opening statement
She also described conditions inside Isa Town Prison, where she was held for 19 days
Videos via Truthloader
This article was originally posted on 15 October 2014 and updated on 17 October 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
17 Oct 2014 | Lebanon, Middle East and North Africa, News and features
A play about censorship in Lebanon has unexpectedly been approved by the country’s Censorship Bureau — the body featuring heavily in the work.
La 3younak Sidna is the latest play by renowned Lebanese playwright and director Lucien Bourjeily and free expression organisation MARCH. Last year, his play Bto2ta3 aw ma Bto2ta3 (Will It Pass Or Not?), which deals with the restriction of free expression at the hands of the bureau, was banned. The new play tells this story and includes large parts of the script of the original piece. On Thursday, it was announced that it has been given the green light by authorities.
“After a long battle with the censorship authorities, we are excited to announce that the sequel of the censored play “Bto2ta3 aw ma Bto2ta3”, “La 3younak Sidna” produced by MARCH and directed by Lucien Bourjeily was approved by General Security!” read a Facebook statement from MARCH, which is producing the play.
“Here’s to hoping this is the first of many victories in the anti-censorship struggle in Lebanon, and that the General Security’s Censorship Bureau continues with this open-minded approach to the issue of freedom of expression,” the group added.
The ordeal surrounding Will It Pass Or Not saw Bourjeily nominated for an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award in 2014. An extract from the play was published in last year’s winter edition of Index on Censorship magazine.
In May, he again ran into trouble with the General Security Directorate, the agency under which the Censorship Bureau operates. When trying to renew his passport ahead of a trip to London, it was confiscated with the message “You know what you did”. It was returned following huge media attention and an intervention by Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk.
Bourjeily yesterday posted a jubilant statement through his Facebook profile: “This resounding Public Pressure success proves one thing: is that many times in Lebanon we’ve given up on our homeland just moments before we reach a better country… just moments before we succeed in breaking the chains of oppression and corruption… this time we won’t & we shouldn’t!! … THANK YOU… each & everyone of you for standing up against censorship & supporting freedom of speech! One small strategic battle WON: hopefully many others will follow!!”
Nominations for the 2015 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards are open. Nominate your free expression heroes.
This article was originally posted on 17 October 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
16 Oct 2014 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns, Statements
The Azerbaijani authorities should immediately lift the travel ban imposed on Khadija Ismayilova and cease all legal proceedings against her. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented crackdown on civil society, Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest on criminal defamation charges seems imminent and would confirm the authorities’ intent to silence all critical voices in the country.
As part of the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA), APC, ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, the European Federation of Journalists, Freedom House, Freedom Now, the Human Rights House Foundation, International Media Support, the Media Diversity Institute, PEN International and Reporters without Borders, call on the international community, and in particular Council of Europe member states to immediately and publicly condemn the ongoing harassment and politically motivated criminal charges against Khadija Ismayilova. With the next court hearing taking place on Friday 17 October, at 11.30 in Binagadi district court in Baku, Council of Europe member states should publicly request to attend and send a representative to monitor the hearing.
IPGA members believe that Khadija Ismayilova’s attendance at the most recent session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg triggered the latest string of harassment, including a five hour search upon arrival at the airport following her trip, the criminal defamation charges and the imposition of a travel ban.
“Those who raise concern about the existence of political prisoners in Azerbaijan at the Council of Europe are themselves specifically targeted by the authorities, and such reprisals are incompatible with international human rights standards the Azerbaijani authorities claim to adhere to,” said David Diaz-Jogeix, Director of Programmes of ARTICLE 19.
“The ongoing harassment of one of Azerbaijan’s most outspoken critics follows an unprecedented wave of arrests of human rights defenders, civic activists and journalists in Azerbaijan who have dared to publicly criticise the authorities. Those who have spoken about the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan at PACE have been particularly targeted.” said Florian Irminger, Head of Advocacy and Geneva Office at the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF).
“We are deeply concerned by the increasing persecution of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan and, in particular, continued attempts to stifle free expression through intimidation and harassment of journalists like Khadija Ismayilova and Arzu Geybulla. The international community – and especially the Council of Europe of which Azerbaijan is part – needs to speak out loudly and firmly against the crackdown in Azerbaijan,” stated Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship.
“Khadija Ismayilova is one of the most recognized investigation journalists in Azerbaijan. Harassing her is sending a clear signal of intimidation to the entire media profession,” Reporters Without Borders deputy programme director Virginie Dangles said.
These six human rights defenders, pictured above from left to right here are:
Zohrab Ismayil: forced to leave Azerbaijan, his NGO, Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy, paralysed
Emin Huseynov: unable to work in Azerbaijan, due to legal action against his NGO, Institute for Reporters Freedom of Safety, subject to travel ban
Gulnara Akhundova: forced to leave Azerbaijan, no longer able to represent her NGO, International Media Support from within the country
Rasul Jafarov: in pre-trial detention on politically motivated charges
Intigam Aliyev: in pre-trial detention on politically motivated charges, unable to take his cases at the European Court for Human Rights forward
Rashid Hajili: forced to stop working as human rights defender, his NGO, Media Rights Institute seized operating
The IPGA calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to cease its harassment of Khadija Ismayilova and stop the silencing of its critics through imprisonment and politically motivated legal actions. Member states of the Council of Europe, the main human rights institution in Europe, need to speak up and hold Azerbaijan to account for failing to implement its human rights obligations. With Azerbaijan as chair of its Committee of Ministers until 14 November, the integrity and accountability of the institution is at stake.
For further information about Khadija Ismayilova, also see the recent IPGA report Azerbaijan – when the truth becomes a lie.
