14 Dec 16 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured
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Protesters from Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Index on Censorship and English Pen called for Nabeel Rajab’s release outside 10 Downing Street.
Parliamentarians today joined in calling on the UK government to call for the release of jailed activist Nabeel Rajab.
Twenty-three Members of Parliament have penned a joint letter to the Foreign Secretary calling on the UK government to demand the “unconditional release” of Nabeel Rajab from prison, and for the charges against him to be dropped.
The letter signed by a cross-party group of MPs from the Conservatives, Labour, Scottish National Party, DUP, Liberal Democrats, Green and SDLP, urges the UK Government to follow the lead of the US State Department, the European Parliament, and the United Nations, in calling for Bahrain to release Mr Rajab.
The letter said: “We urge you, in advance of the trial tomorrow, to make it clear to Bahraini officials that the United Kingdom wishes to see his unconditional release from prison, and for the charges brought against him, which are related to his right to freedom of expression and freedom of speech, to be dropped.”
Margaret Ferrier, a Scottish MP who chairs Westminster’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, commented:
“This is a matter of freedom of speech and expression. Nabeel Rajab is highly-regarded as a prominent human rights activist, and these charges are little more than an attempt by Bahraini authorities to silence a dissenting voice. I find it concerning that Mr Rajab is facing such a lengthy prison sentence, particularly given that his health has already begun to deteriorate as a result of the time he has spent behind bars already. The Foreign Office has given assurances that they have repeatedly raised Mr Rajab’s case with Bahraini officials, and whilst this is welcome, we are calling for it to go one step further and urge its key Gulf ally to release him unconditionally and to drop all charges.”
Their calls are echoed by Tom Brake, Foreign Affairs Spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. He said: “With Nabeel’s trial imminent, now is the right time for the UK government to call openly and loudly for his immediate release. Anything less will be spineless and destroy the UK Government’s credibility globally on human rights.”
Also today, rights groups including Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy protested outside Downing Street and delivering a letter to the Prime Minister.
Theresa May was in Bahrain last week to set out her new “bold vision” for British-Gulf relations. Human rights was not mentioned in her speech to Gulf leaders, nor by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who was also in Bahrain for a separate security conference.
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and Index on Censorship, along with three NGOs also wrote a letter to the Prime Minister: “There is nothing bold in silence over clear human rights violations, and we urge you to now make a public call for Nabeel Rajab’s immediate and unconditional release.”
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “We have seen how Theresa May lashed Boris Johnsons over his comments on Saudi. Nabeel Rajab criticised Saudi Arabia and Bahrain over their bombardment in Yemen and is facing prison for it. If May or her government fail to publicly call for Nabeel’s Rajab release, Bahrain will take it as a green light for their repression.”
Nabeel Rajab is facing up to 15 years in prison on charges related to his Twitter activity. He faces an additional one year charge following a letter he wrote to the New York Times. He has been held in pre trial detention since June 2016. His next court date is tomorrow, 15 December.
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13 Dec 16 | Bahrain, Bahrain News, Events
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Nabeel Rajab, BCHR – winner of Bindmans Award for Advocacy at the Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2012 with then-Chair of the Index on Censorship board of trustees Jonathan Dimbleby
Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, an Index award winner, has been imprisoned for tweeting about the Bahraini government, and could face up to 15 years in jail. Rajab was taken from his home the morning of 13 June 2016 and has been awaiting trial ever since.
His trial has been postponed four times. The first date, intended to be 2 August was postponed to 5 September, then 6 October to 31 October, and now the trial is currently set for 15 December. Rajab has faced cruel conditions while awaiting his trial and even had to be hospitalised after being held in solitary confinement.
Nabeel Rajab is the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and has been targeted by the Bahraini government multiple times over the years for his activism.
Index on Censorship will be taking part in a vigil for Nabeel Rajab at 10 Downing Street. This is because the UK continually supports Bahrain despite the violation of human rights displayed by its government. Come gather in front of 10 Downing Street to remind the UK that opinions are not crimes.
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When: Wednesday 14 December 12:30pm
Where: 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA
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04 Dec 16 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Middle East and North Africa, Statements
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Theresa May
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
Cc: Boris Johnson
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
December 4, 2016
Dear Prime Minister,
The undersigned organisations are writing to you in advance of your trip to Bahrain on 6 December to express our concerns over the deteriorating human rights situation in the country and the UK government’s abject failure to exert any positive influence in this regard.
After your meeting with King Hamad at 10 Downing Street on October 26, 2016, when he invited you to be the “guest of honour” at the Gulf Cooperation Council Leaders’ Summit, your office issued a statement referring to “the progress that had been achieved through the King’s ongoing domestic reform programme.”
Unfortunately, there is no evidence to support any claims of progress where human rights are concerned. In fact there has been a marked deterioration in the human rights situation in Bahrain since June 2016, when the authorities dissolved the main political opposition group, al-Wifaq, jailed the country’s leading human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, and harassed and prosecuted Shia clerics who peacefully protested the arbitrary revocation of the citizenship of al-Wifaq’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Isa Qasim.
In November, authorities charged Ebrahim Sharif, a prominent political activist, with “inciting hatred of the political system” after he criticised Bahrain’s government and a state visit to Bahrain by Britain’s Prince Charles, which was undertaken at the request of the British government. Although authorities have reportedly dropped these charges against Sharif, Nabeel Rajab remains detained on spurious charges and the government has denied his requests to be freed on bail while judicial proceedings continue. He faces charges that on the face of it solely relate to his peaceful criticism of Bahraini government policies, including Bahrain’s participation in the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen and alleged torture of prisoners in the country’s largest prison. It is extremely disappointing that the UK has not called for Nabeel Rajab’s release, or indeed the release of any dissidents who are in jail solely for expressing their rights to free expression and assembly.
In response to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy in April 2015, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that the UK has provided the Bahraini authorities with a package of technical assistance, funding, and training, “focused on strengthening the oversight mechanisms responsible for investigating allegations of torture and mistreatment and supporting the reform of detention procedures in Bahrain.” However, as a November 2016 report by Amnesty International and a 2015 report by Human Rights Watch made clear, authorities have made little progress in holding officials accountable for the mistreatment and torture of detainees.
According to Amnesty International, “the UK government’s portrayal of the Ombudsman and the Special Investigations Unit as model institutions is utterly disingenuous”. We also have concerns that Bahrain may soon break a five-year de facto moratorium on the death penalty. Mohammed Ramadan and Husain Ali Moosa are both facing the death penalty despite the fact that their convictions hinge almost entirely on confessions that they retracted and which they claim were extracted after torture. In the case of Mohammed Ramadan, an investigation by Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy demonstrated that the Ombudsman sent misinformation to the FCO, claiming not to have received torture complaints, a false claim that FCO Minister Tobias Ellwood then repeated in response to a written question from Tom Brake MP.
Your status as the guest of honour at this summit is a clear reflection of the close alliance that the UK government now enjoys with the government of Bahrain and the other Gulf Cooperation Council states.
The Bahraini authorities’ orchestrated attack on the rights to free expression, assembly and association, has seriously undermined the prospects of a political solution to Bahrain’s domestic unrest. If your government is serious about its commitment to encouraging reform and dialogue, you should use this influence to press the government of Bahrain to put an immediate stop to this repression. We urge you in particular, as part of this trip, to urge your Bahraini hosts to release Nabeel Rajab and other the political detainees without whom no process of dialogue will be possible.
Yours,
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
Campaign Against Arms Trade
English Pen
European Centre For Democracy and Human Rights
Gulf Centre for Human Rights
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
Redress
Reprieve
Wales Pen Cymru
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