Only 2 weeks after Banning Seminar on “Political Neutralization:
Bahraini Authorities Ban Public Seminar with Threats and Security Blockade
Fear of Excessive & Disproportionate Penalties for Activists
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
Ref: 06091600
Only 2 weeks after Banning Seminar on “Political Neutralization:
Bahraini Authorities Ban Public Seminar with Threats and Security Blockade
Fear of Excessive & Disproportionate Penalties for Activists
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
Ref: 06091600
In a disturbing development which occurred yesterday evening, the Bahraini Interior Ministry banned a Public Seminar which was to be held by the HAQ Movement (Movement of Liberties & Democracy), under the pretext that it violates the Public Gathering Code. The Venue, in which the Seminar was to be held, was surrounded by special security forces and surveillance helicopters, hours before the event took place. The Local Police Precinct approached the Head of the Venue in which the Seminar was to be held, with orders that the Seminar be cancelled, and that a permit be requested in accordance to the Decree No. 18 of the year 1973 of Public Meetings, Processions and Gatherings (“Bahraini Gatherings Code”) . In a statement to the BCHR HAQ’s official spokesman stated that the movement refuses to submit to the controversial Code and will defy it, and declared that they would not request permission to exercise their natural rights. The movement did not wish to enter into a confrontation with the security forces or compromise peoples safety, therefore it chose to postpone the seminar until next week.
The Seminar was expected to shed light on the campaign carried out last month in the United States and the United Kingdoms by the “HAQ” movement, during which the representatives of the movement submitted a petition to the office of the United Nation Secretary General, signed by 82,000 Bahrainis calling for a new constitution. Significantly, The Bahraini Prime Minister had recently issued public threats against the activists who lead the campaign (BCHR Ref: 06090301) and the BCHR fears that the authorities might take action against members of the Movement in accordance to the highly excessive penalties associated with the gathering Code.
On a related matter, the BCHR has learnt that the authorities had banned another Seminar 2 weeks ago which was to be organized by political societies on the issue of “Political Naturalization”. Similar pretexts were used as justification for the banning. The Venue in which the Seminar was to be held, the “Al-Uruba Club” has previously been closed down by the authorities for hosting the BCHR seminar on “Poverty and Economic Rights”. The Gathering Code has been used to prevent many events since, and the recent amendments made to the former merely increases it restrictiveness and enhance it capability of violating such basic rights as freedom of gathering, freedom of assembly and freedom of Speech long guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Bahraini Gathering Code, has been condemned by local as well as international Human Rights Organizations in that it restricts freedom of speech as well as freedom of gathering in a way as to impose censorship on any entity which opposes the authority, and provides the authorities with an overall authority to ban any gathering or event. In an open letter to the Bahraini King prior to approval of additional restrictive amendments to the Code, Human Rights Watch warned that: “ that the law as presently drafted has the potential to undermine rather than protect the right of peaceful assembly as codified in Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).”[1] Furthermore, in a joint letter by Amnesty international and Article 19, the law was criticized on numerous bases, and its penalties were described as “excessive and disproportionate for speech-related conduct”[2].
The BCHR calls once again for an immediate review of the Bahraini Gathering Code, which if kept in its current state will allow the authorities to impose further restrictions and violations on people’s Civil liberties and Human Rights. The Centre also calls for the protection of activists who merely exercise their right to freedom of speech, assembly and gathering.
[1] Human Rights Watch: Letter on the Amendments to Law 18 (1973) on Public Gatherings, 8th June 2006 [2] Joint Letter by Amnesty International and ARTICLE 19 regarding Public Gathering Law, 15th June 2006