Posted on 2010/06/16
A de facto travel ban remains in place against human rights defender Mr Abdul-Redha Mohammed, who is being prevented from leaving Bahrain to meet his family in London.
Posted on 2010/06/16
A de facto travel ban remains in place against human rights defender Mr Abdul-Redha Mohammed, who is being prevented from leaving Bahrain to meet his family in London.
Abdul-Redha Mohammed is a consultant for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.
On 1 June 2010, human rights defender Abdul-Redha Mohammed was prevented from leaving Bahrain en route to London to meet his children. He was informed by the passport office at Bahrain airport that he had to report to the National Security Apparatus (NSA). The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, however, was reportedly informed on 2 June 2010 by the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General that no official travel ban had been imposed on Abdul-Redha Mohammed.
According to Front Line’s sources, throughout the last four months Abdul-Redha Mohammed has repeatedly been pressured to meet with the Minister of National Security Sheikh Khalifa Al-Khalifa. This has reportedly included telephone calls to both Abdul-Redha Mohammed and his brother Mr Ali Mohammed – a former high ranking official who served as a consultant in the Ministry of Information – threatening to set the family house on fire, and the house being placed under continuous surveillance.
On 1 May 2010, security agents wearing plain clothes arrived at the family house looking for Abdul-Redha Mohammed, but he was not there. His brother Ali Mohammed was summoned by the Minister of National Security on 12 May 2010 and held responsible for not being able to persuade Abdul-Redha Mohammed to “cooperate” with the NSA. Two days later, Ali Mohammed received a dismissal notice via a phone call from the Ministry of Information.
Front Line believes that the ongoing harassment and travel ban against Abdul-Redha Mohammed are directly related to his activities in the defence of human rights in Bahrain. Front Line is also seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Abdul-Redha Mohammed and sees this as an infringement of the guarantees of freedom of movement contained in Bahrain’s domestic law and the international human rights treaties and standards to which Bahrain is party.