Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab (Photo: The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy)
The trial of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was adjourned to 31 December for a technical report on his tweets.
Rajab faces up to 15 years in prison on charges related to his tweets exposing torture in a Bahraini prison and criticising the humanitarian cost of the war in Yemen. In September 2017, a new set of charges were brought against Rajab related to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access. Rajab also faces a fourth set of charges related to a letter he penned to the New York Times in September 2016. In July 2017 he was sentenced to two years in prison for “spreading false news”, the appeal of which is expected to conclude on 22 November 2017.
The hearing was today adjourned to 31 December in order to hear from the expert who wrote the technical report. It is not expected to be the last hearing. The court brought back a forensic expert, who was asked about the IP address of Rajab’s Twitter account. The technical expert admitted to the court that he is unable to identify the IP Address, unless Twitter provides it.
The public prosecutor requested to call on the officer who confiscated Nabeel’s electronics devices for another case but will be examined for this case. This request was granted.
The forensic expert’s testimony did not last long. The court had another witness from the criminal investigation directorate (CID) who was not brought forward, though the reason for this was unclear. Rajab was bearded and in high spirits.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: “Bahrain’s horrific rights record has hit a new level after being blacklisted by the UN for being part of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Persecuting Nabeel for advocating peace is heinous crime added to the catalogue of abuses by Bahrain’s rulers, The continued; unethical support of the UK and the US to Bahrain fosters the culture of impunity.”
Rajab, the founder of President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested on 13 June 2016 and has been detained ever since. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.”
In early April 2017, Rajab was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital for a necessary surgery. He was transferred back to police custody just a day later, before having recovered from his operation, and his health deteriorated significantly; from there he was transferred to the Ministry of Interior Clinic (Al-Qalaa), where he remains to date. Between April and August 2017, Rajab was unable to attend court, which held numerous hearings in his absence, including his sentencing. Rajab was transferred back to Jau Prison in October.
The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.
In response to a parliamentary question, the UK Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, said: “We continue to closely monitor the case of Nabeel Rajab and have frequently raised it with the Bahraini Government at the highest levels. The UK Government continues to emphasise the need to respect the rights of all citizens, including freedom of expression.”
In the US, the Trump Administration this year removed Obama-era human rights conditions on arms sales, one of which was the unconditional release of Rajab. In September, the Trump Administration approved the sale of F-16 jets worth $3.8 billion.
Nabeel Rajab’s appeal against a two-year sentence for “spreading false news” is to conclude on 22 November, after a Bahraini appeals court today ignored the defence’s final arguments and denied Rajab bail. Rajab, an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award winner is one of Bahrain’s highest profile human rights campaigners and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was sentenced in July 2017.
Rajab faces another trial on 19 November in relation to his social media posts on twitter, for which he faces up to 15 years in prison, for a total of 17 years.
Rajab’s lawyers submitted video evidence of journalists and researchers denied entry into Bahrain which would dispute the charge that he “spread false news” by, among other things, stating the Bahraini government bars reporters and human rights workers from entering the country. However, the court, led by Judge Bader Al-Abdulla, today refused to play the evidence in court. Judge Al-Abdulla set 22 November as the final court hearing, when its judgement is expected.
Nabeel Rajab was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison on charges of “spreading false news” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code. His appeal began in September.
He is currently serving his sentence in Jau Prison, where he was transferred to on 25 October, after over six months in the Ministry of Interior Hospital. Rajab has been held in humiliating conditions and isolated from other inmates.
On 8 Nov, Rajab was transferred to the Appeals Court in a vehicle which prison officers told him was used to transfer people sentenced to death, as opposed to the regular transfer bus. Rajab was photographed throughout the transfer and was kept in a suffocating heat in the vehicle, in which he struggled breathe. There are currently 16 people on death row in Bahrain, the majority of them sentenced to death in 2017. In January, three torture victims were unlawfully executed; the UN condemned the killing.
Rajab’s brother was barred from attending the court. Observers from the British, American and German embassies were present at the trial.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “Nabeel has been subject to humiliating treatment by Jau Prison’s administration and the appeals court continues to deny him a fair trial. Bahrain continues to deny journalists and NGOs access. This is a fact, which Bahrain has imprisoned Nabeel for stating. The Government of Bahrain’s zero tolerance policy to human rights defenders is appalling, and yet instead of condemnation, Britain whitewashes the abuses while the US approves new arms sales to Bahrain.”
The campaign of judicial harassment against Nabeel Rajab must end. Index on Censorship demands that Bahrain’s government drop all charges and release him unconditionally.
The charges relate solely to TV interviews Rajab gave in 2014 and 2015. Without irony, prosecution papers from the criminal court proceedings, seen by BIRD, state that Rajab is being prosecuted for stating that the Bahraini government “derogates from freedom of opinion and of expression.” Bahrain’s prosecution has treated Rajab as a criminal for speech acts such as: “accusing the ruling system in the Kingdom of following a policy of repression” and of “arresting those opposed to the regime”; or alleging “the commission by responsible [government] bodies of crimes of killing and torture.” In the prosecution’s account Mr. Rajab has also made statements accusing the Bahraini government of “evasion of responsibility”; engaging in “sectarianism”; and “suppressing opposition and violating international agreements and covenants.”
Rajab was arrested on 13 June 2016 and has been detained ever since. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.”
In early April 2017, Rajab was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital for a necessary surgery. He was transferred back to police custody just a day later, before having recovered from his operation, and his health deteriorated significantly; from there he was transferred to the Ministry of Interior Clinic (Al-Qalaa), where he remains to date. Between April and August 2017, Rajab was unable to attend court, which held numerous hearings in his absence, including his sentencing. Rajab was transferred back to Jau Prison in October.
Rajab faces a concurrent trial on 19 November in which he faces up to 15 years in prison on charges related to his tweets exposing torture in a Bahraini prison and criticising the humanitarian cost of the war in Yemen. In September 2017, a new set of charges were brought against Rajab related to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access. Rajab also faces a fourth set of charges related to a letter he penned to the New York Times in September 2016.
The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.
The UK’s Middle East Minister Alistair Burt was in Bahrain in October, where he met with senior officials and expressed support for the government’s reform programme – a programme which only Bahrain and the UK claim exists. He said “The UK will continue to support Bahrain to deliver its ambitious reform initiatives, with a particular focus on rule of law and human rights.” There is no indication that they specifically raised Nabeel Rajab’s case.
In the US, the Trump Administration this year removed Obama-era human Rights conditions on arms sales, one of which was the unconditional release of Rajab. In September, the Trump Administration approved the sale of F-16 jets worth $2.78 billion.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1510147997421-a1204285-8982-7″ taxonomies=”3368″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The Bahraini authorities on Monday 30 October sentenced the mother-in-law, Hajer Mansoor Hasan (49), and brother-in-law, Sayed Nizar Alwadaei (18), of UK-based human rights defender Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei to three years in prison in reprisal for his work.
Mansoor Hassan and her son Sayed Nizar Alwadaei were not in court for the sentencing in a trial criticised by UN experts and Amnesty International for fair trial violations, including torture, and as a reprisal against his human rights work. Hajer and Nizar each received three years in prison on fabricated charges of planting a “fake bomb” in January 2017, while Mr Alwadaei’s maternal cousin, Mahmood Marzooq (30), was acquitted from the “fake bomb” case but sentenced to a month and half in prison and charged a 100 Bahraini dinar fine for obtaining a dagger.
The three family members of Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), were arrested in Bahrain in March 2017. After days in detention, during which they were ill-treated and tortured into signing false confessions, they were presented with terrorism charges. During the interrogation, Mr Alwadaei’s family members were questioned extensively about his work in the UK.
Public prosecution evidence papers, seen by BIRD, found no physical evidence — DNA, fingerprints or otherwise — tying the Alwadaei family to the “fake bomb” they were alleged to have planted in January 2017. Their prosecution has depended entirely on confessions extracted under conditions of torture.
In September, six UN human rights experts expressed “grave concern” over the allegations of arbitrary arrest, detention, death threats and torture in relation to Mr Alwadaei’s family. The UN experts also expressed grave concern that the actions were intended to “intimidate and impair the human rights activities” of Mr Alwadaei. The UN Committee Against Torture has also raised significant concern over the “widespread acceptance by judges of forced confessions”.
The reprisals against the Alwadaei family began in October 2016, when Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei protested King Hamad of Bahrain’s arrival at 10 Downing Street to meet the British Prime Minister. Within hours of that protest, Mr Alwadaei’s wife, Duaa Alwadaei, who was travelling from Bahrain to the UK, was detained at Bahrain International Airport, interrogated for seven hours, barred from leaving the country and threatened. As reported by Human Rights Watch, an interrogator asked her, “Where shall I go first, shall I go to his family or your family?” Duaa Alwadaei was able to leave Bahrain following international pressure and the intervention of the US embassy in Bahrain. Five months later, her mother and brother were targeted for reprisals.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy of BIRD said: “The lowest the Bahraini monarch can go is to come after my family because I protested his presence in the UK and dedicated my work to exposing his government’s horrific rights abuses. I was distraught to see my family suffer torture, persecution and interrogations about my activities. The judge relied on coerced confessions extracted under torture to convict them. I will not rest until they are freed and will do whatever I can to hold the perpetrators to account.”
Husain Abdulla, Executive Director, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain: “The ‘fake bomb’ charge is absurd, and today’s proceedings show how far Bahraini courts are willing to go to in jailing innocent people. The United States has encouraged this behaviour. When the Trump Administration drops human rights conditions and approves multi-billion dollar arms deals to Bahrain, they are saying that this abuse is acceptable in their eyes.”
Joy Hyvarinen, acting head of advocacy, Index on Censorship, said: “We call on the Bahraini government to immediately overturn its conviction of the family members of Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei as punishment for his work as an activist and a critic of the regime. These are reprisals for nothing more than peacefully holding opinions.”
Hajer Mansoor Hassan
Hajer Mansoor Hassan did not attend today’s court hearing, as the authorities failed to transfer her from detention to the courtroom. Since March, she has been held in the Isa Town Women’s Prison. On 24 October, Hajer announced a hunger strike along with three other women prisoners, demanding more humane treatment and the removal of a new glass barrier in the visitation centre. The hunger strikers’ demands were met yesterday, 29 October, when they ended their strike after six days. Hajer was repeatedly hospitalised in the past week as her health faltered in the course of the hunger strike.
International Outcry over Alwadaei ’s family reprisals; UK Responds Noncommittally
Hajer was sentenced on 30 October, alongside her son and nephew, in a political trial which has been described by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and six UN experts as a reprisal against the human rights work of BIRD’s Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei.
Last week, 16 NGOs sent letters to 11 state bodies, including the United Kingdom, United States and the European External Action Service, calling on them to take action ahead of the trial. Their voices are joined by 40 Members of the European Parliament, who have made similar calls to the European Union.
27 cross-party parliamentarians also wrote to the British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, stating “Despite this attack on his human rights campaigning here in Britain, our government has taken no discernible action to support Mr Alwadaei or his family.” They added, “The UK must not condone the flagrant human rights violations committed by the Bahraini authorities against innocent civilians for human rights campaigns that take place on British soil.”
The UK’s Middle East Minister Alistair Burt was asked whether the Foreign & Commonwealth Office had raised this case with the Government of Bahrain. He stated that “we continue to follow these cases closely” but did not state whether the British government had indeed raised the case.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”HOW TO HELP” h4=”Write to your representatives” style=”custom” css=”.vc_custom_1509363600769{background-color: #b7b7b7 !important;}” custom_background=”#919191″]Tell them to call on the Bahraini authorities to release Hajer Mansoor Hasan and her son Sayed Nizar Alwadaei and to unconditionally drop all charges against them. The right to free expression must be upheld and there must be no reprisals.
Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Office of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA
Tel: 020 7219 5206
Email: [email protected]
Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 4682
Email: [email protected]
Simon Martin, British Ambassador to Bahrain
21 Government Avenue, Manama 306, PO Box 114 Manama, Bahrain
Tel: + 973 17574100
Email: [email protected][/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”91128″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Bahraini authorities yesterday transferred human rights defender Nabeel Rajab from a clinic to the notorious Jau Prison despite severe medical risks, subjecting him to humiliating treatment on arrival.
Prison officials have imprisoned Rajab in the very same cell in which he spent his previous two-year sentence. On arrival in Jau Prison, guards immediately searched him in a humiliating manner and shaved his hair by force. They further punished him by confiscating his books and clothes. Last night, guards raided his cell and began shouting; the prison officials also repeated their search of him in the middle of the night, in an apparent move to punish and humiliate the human rights defender.
One of Rajab’s charges is that he spoke out about the degrading treatment in Jau Prison, which he now endures himself. Yet Rajab is isolated from other prisoners convicted for speech-related crimes; he is instead detained in a cell with people convicted of being transgender, which is considered a criminal offence in Bahrain.
Yesterday Rajab’s wife had a call from Bahrain’s Criminal Investigative Directorate (CID) to tell her that her husband was to be transferred and she needed to collect his belongings, as he would no longer require them. This is the second week that prison officials have cancelled family visits with no explanation.
In early April 2017, Rajab was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital for vital surgery. He was transferred back to police custody just a day later, before having recovered from his operation, and his health deteriorated significantly. From there he was transferred to the Ministry of Interior Clinic (Al-Qalaa).
The previous month, in March 2017, Mohammad Sahwan died of sudden cardiac arrest in Jau Prison, the country’s largest long-term male detention facility. Sahwan was a victim of excessive use of force by police in 2012, and was the first political detainee to die in Jau Prison since 2011.
In early 2017, the Government of Bahrain intensified restrictions on inmates at Jau Prison, particularly targeting political prisoners and prisoners of conscience for increased abuse. Prison officials subjected the remaining eleven members of the “Bahrain 13” to severe deprivation of medical care.
Nabeel Rajab’s Charges
Rajab is currently serving a two-year prison sentence, after having been sentenced in absentia on 12 July to two years in prison on charges of “spreading false news” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code. His appeal began in September, but was this week postponed to 8 November for final arguments.
Rajab has been detained since his arrest on 13 June 2016. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.”
Rajab faces a concurrent trial in which he faces up to 15 years in prison on charges related to his tweets exposing torture in a Bahraini prison and criticising the humanitarian cost of the war in Yemen. In September 2017, a new set of charges were brought against Rajab related to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access. Rajab also faces a fourth set of charges related to a letter he penned to the New York Times in September 2016. The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1509026477209-453af21c-bd2e-0″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The Bahraini authorities on Monday 30 October sentenced the mother-in-law, Hajer Mansoor Hasan (49), and brother-in-law, Sayed Nizar Alwadaei (18), of UK-based human rights defender Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei to three years in prison in reprisal for his work.