27 Sep 16 | Bahrain, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured
On Sunday 25 September Nabeel Rajab was transferred from the West Riffa Police Station to solitary confinement in the East Riffa Police Station ahead of his sentencing next week.
“It’s been over a hundred days since Nabeel was arrested and charged and am very worried about his well-being. He has been treated harshly and sent back to a place where he suffered complete isolation in facilities not fit for purpose,” Sumaya Rajab, Nabeel’s wife, said.
The last time the 2012 Index on Censorship award-winning Rajab was held in East Riffa, he required urgent medical care after two weeks of isolation in deplorable conditions. The president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights faces up to 15 years in prison on 6 October on three charges related to his posts on social media.
Rajab is currently being held in a filthy cell. He has not been given a reason for his transfer, and when he tried to ask a police officer, he was screamed at and insulted. When his family delivered clothes and toiletries to the station, officers dirtied them with water and soil before giving them to Rajab. The police officers refused the family’s attempt to give Rajab a radio.
Rajab’s continued detention in police stations is extraordinary. Male detainees are normally only held in police custody until formal charges are brought against them; they are then transferred to the Dry Dock Detention Centre for pre-trial detention. Police stations do not have the facilities for long-term detention. Rajab, who was charged a day after his arrest, has requested multiple times for his rightful transfer to Dry Dock, as has his lawyer. These requests have all been denied.
Rajab has been held in pre-trial detention since his 13 June 2016 arrest. He was initially held in East Riffa. After 15 days in solitary confinement – which the UN’s top expert judges may amount to torture – he required urgent medical attention. Rajab was rushed to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital with breathing difficulties, an irregular heartbeat and a weak immune system.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “Nabeel Rajab’s prosecution is part of the Bahraini monarchy’s expansion of authoritarianism and his imprisonment emboldens dictatorship. The US and UK need to step up and criticise this ally, which they have supported with arms and assistance despite the crushing of peaceful critics.”
After being released by the hospital, and police transferred him to the West Riffa police station. His treatment improved at that facility: Rajab was no longer kept strictly in solitude and allowed more regular phone calls.
His family are concerned that his health will decline again and think that this latest transfer suggests a harsh prison sentence will be handed down in October.
Rajab faces multiple charges of “insulting a statutory body”, “insulting a neighboring country”, and “disseminating false rumors in time of war”. These are in relation to remarks he tweeted and retweeted on Twitter in 2015 about torture at Bahrain’s Jau prison and the humanitarian crisis caused by the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Since 2011, Rajab has faced ongoing judicial harassment and prison sentences for his vocal activism. He was placed on a travel ban in 2014 and has been unable to leave the country.
More about Nabeel Rajab:
Who is Nabeel Rajab?
Prince Charles to visit Bahrain: Here are some things he should consider
Bahrain: Prominent rights activist charged for New York Times letter
Index award winners and judges call for release of Bahraini campaigner
21 Sep 16 | Bahrain, Bahrain News, Middle East and North Africa, mobile, News and features
Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab (Photo: The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy)
Prince Charles is to make an official visit to Bahrain in November despite the escalating human rights crackdown in the country. This endorsement comes after Queen Elizabeth sat next to the king of Bahrain at her 90th birthday celebrations this summer.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein expressed grave concerns about the country: “The past decade has demonstrated repeatedly and with punishing clarity exactly how disastrous the outcomes can be when a government attempts to smash the voices of its people, instead of serving them.”
Today, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, told The Times: “The timing of Prince Charles’s visit suggests that the major human rights violations in 2016 are not in the British monarchy’s mind.”
Here are just a few things Index on Censorship would encourage the prince to keep in mind ahead of his trip:
1. The treatment of Nabeel Rajab
Human rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab, who has been arrested multiple times because of his peaceful activism, has been detained since 13 June for comments he made on Twitter. Charges brought against him for his tweets, and even retweets, include spreading “false or malicious news, statements, or rumours”, “offending a foreign country” and “offending a statutory body”.
Rajab was also recently charged with “defaming the state” after a critical op-ed he wrote appeared in The New York Times.
Just last week, the UK government was urged by a group of 50 NGOs to put pressure on Bahrain over Rajab’s treatment. With news of the state-sanctioned Prince Charles visit, it appears these calls have of fallen on deaf ears.
Rajab is expected to be sentenced at his next court hearing on 6 October. He faces more than 15 years in prison.
2. The detention of critics
The Bahraini government has repeatedly used prison as a weapon to silence its critics. Opposition activist Zainab Al-Khawaja was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2014 for “insulting the king” after she ripped up a picture of him. Though she has now been released, her father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, a human rights activist and a member of the Bahrain 13, remains in prison along with over 3,500 other prisoners of conscience.
On 22 June 2011 a military court sentenced all members of the Bahrain 13 to between five years and life in prison, on trumped-up charges of attempting to overthrow the regime, “broadcasting false news and rumours” and “inciting demonstrations”. All but two of them remain behind bars.
Last year, the Liberties and Human Rights Department of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society recorded a total of 1,765 arrests by security services for reasons related to the opposition political movement, including the detention of 120 children and five women.
3. Rendering critics stateless
Another abusive tactic used by the government of Bahrain is to revoke the citizenship of many of its critics. This is illegal under several international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Regardless, 208 Bahrainis were rendered stateless in 2015 alone.
Since amending its citizenship law in 2014, Bahrain’s judges can strip citizenship from anyone convicted under anti-terrorist laws. However, the law does not properly define “terrorism” and several of those subjected to this fate in 2015 were convicted under vague terms such as “inciting and advocating regime change” to “defaming brotherly countries”.
Most of those rendered stateless have been deported, along with their families.
4. Censoring the internet
Named by Reporters Without Borders as an “enemy of the internet“, Bahrain has been busy clamping down on the web over the last few years. Despite being one of the best-connected countries in the world from a technical perspective, Freedom House gives the country an online freedom rating of 72, with 100 being the worst possible score.
News, human rights and opposition websites are routinely blocked, with estimates putting the total number at over 1,000. Social media users have been arrested and had posts forcibly removed, including those of the satirical account @Takrooz whose only post is now: “They tortured me in prison.”
The government is also working on a new Russian-inspired default search engine that would allow it to filter results without the cooperation of Western-based companies such as Netsweeper, which was exposed by the Associated Press as a facilitator of Bahrain’s censorship program.
05 Sep 16 | Bahrain, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
Nabeel Rajab, right, Bahrain Center for Human Rights – 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
Bahrain’s Public Prosecutor today charged prominent human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, after the New York Times published his letter from prison. Mr. Rajab has been held in detention on charges related to his online freedom of expression since 13 June and is already facing 15 years’ imprisonment. The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Index on Censorship condemn all the charges against Mr. Rajab and call for his immediate release.
On 4 September, the New York Times published a letter by Mr. Rajab, written during his time in detention. In the letter, he states that he was threatened into silence after being released from detention in July 2015. He also exposed how a meeting with the US Secretary of State John Kerry led to him being interrogated by Bahrain’s cyber crimes unit.
Mr. Rajab was called into interrogation by the Criminal Investigations Directorate on 4 September and questioned by officials regarding the article. He was further interrogated today by the Public Prosecutor. He was denied access to a lawyer on both occasions.
A statement published by the Public Prosecution Office today announced that Mr. Rajab has been charged with “intentionally broadcasting false news and malicious rumours abroad impairing the prestige of the state”. The charge could lead to an additional one-year prison sentence.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the Director of Advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said, “Anyone can read the words of Nabeel Rajab on the New York Times to see how pathetic this charge–which is completely contrary to the principle of free expression–is. During a time where authorities are punishing anyone with a contrary opinion, its attacks on the most basic universal freedoms have only caused further instability”.
The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy spoke to Mr. Rajab’s lawyers who stated that the Public Prosecution refused to allow them to attend the interrogation. Despite inquiring about the interrogation at the Public Prosecution office, while Mr. Rajab was there being interrogated, officials denied that he was being questioned. The lawyer was not informed of Mr. Rajab’s interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Directorate.
Jodie Ginsberg, the CEO of Index on Censorship said, “Index on Censorship is appalled at this latest move by Bahrain to suppress Nabeel Rajab’s free speech. Bahrain’s allies – especially the United Kingdom – need to speak out now, publicly condemn this charge and call for Nabeel’s immediate release.”
Since 2011, Mr. Rajab has faced multiple prosecutions and prison sentences for his vocal activism. He was placed on a travel ban in 2014 and has been unable to leave the country. He faces other charges of “insulting a statutory body”, “insulting a neighbouring country”, and “disseminating false rumours in time of war”. These are in relation to remarks he tweeted and retweeted on Twitter in 2015 about torture at Bahrain’s Jau prison and the humanitarian crisis caused by the Saudi-led war in Yemen. He may face up to 16 years in prison if convicted. His trial was postponed again today to 6 October 2016 for ruling and the judge refused renewed requests to release him. At the court Rajab informed the sitting judge that he considered the charges against him “malicious” and that his arrest came as consequences of his meeting with John Kerry.
Husain Abdulla, the Executive Director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain said, “The entire case against Nabeel Rajab has been a sham from the start, and this new charge further shows it to be nothing but an attack against free peaceful expression. Its time for Washington to send a strong message to its ally that it will not tolerate such blatant repression by suspending all arms sales with the Al Khalifa regime”.
As a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Bahrain has an obligation to uphold individuals’ rights to freedom of expression. This includes free expression online. Everyone accused of crimes must also be afforded the right to a fair trial including access to a lawyer. Access to justice is a basic principle of the rule of law and all persons should be entitled to access a lawyer of their choice at all stages of judicial proceedings.
Recent coverage of Nabeel Rajab’s case
Bahrain delays court date for human rights campaigner for third time
Bahrain: Protesters celebrate Nabeel Rajab’s birthday and call for his release
Index award winners and judges call for release of Bahraini campaigner
Groups urge Bahrain to release prominent human rights defender
Who is Nabeel Rajab?
05 Sep 16 | Bahrain, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Middle East and North Africa, mobile, Statements
Nabeel Rajab during a protest in London in September (Photo: Milana Knezevic)
On Monday, 5 September a Bahraini court delayed the trial of Index award-winning human rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab for a third time. The new trial date is now 6 October 2016.
“Once again, Bahrain’s repression of freedom of expression is on display for all the world to see. Nabeel has committed no crimes. He is held for expressing opinions that people around the world take for granted. We ask Bahrain to end its judicial harassment of Nabeel and renew our call for UK Prime Minister Theresa May to urge Nabeel’s release,” Jodie Ginsberg, CEO, Index on Censorship said.
Rajab faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of spreading “false or malicious news, statements, or rumours” under article 133 of Bahrain’s penal code; a further two years imprisonment if convicted under article 215 of the penal code for “offending a foreign country [Saudi Arabia]” for tweets related to the Saudi-led war in Yemen and an additional three-year sentence if convicted of “offending a statutory body” under article 216 of the penal code for comments criticising conditions in Bahrain’s Jau prison.
In addition to these charges, he may also face a trial on charges of “spreading false news” for similar statements made during televised interviews last year. That case has not yet been referred to court, but is believed to have served, among others, for his arrest on 13 June.
Arrested on 13 June 2016 at his home, Rajab was held in filthy conditions and solitary confinement that have exacerbated heart and other health issues. Originally scheduled to appear in court on 12 July, the case was moved to 2 August when it was rescheduled for 5 September.
Recent coverage of Nabeel Rajab’s case
Bahrain: Protesters celebrate Nabeel Rajab’s birthday and call for his release
Index award winners and judges call for release of Bahraini campaigner
Groups urge Bahrain to release prominent human rights defender
Who is Nabeel Rajab?
