08 September 2010
The undersigned organizations strongly condemn the Bahraini authorities’ crackdown on human and political rights defenders and Shiite clerics. The campaign of repression began on August 13, 2010, and reached its peak when 23 Bahraini citizens were charged with joining a terrorist organization seeking the overthrow of the regime.
08 September 2010
The undersigned organizations strongly condemn the Bahraini authorities’ crackdown on human and political rights defenders and Shiite clerics. The campaign of repression began on August 13, 2010, and reached its peak when 23 Bahraini citizens were charged with joining a terrorist organization seeking the overthrow of the regime.
Preliminary information about the list of defendants, which includes four rights activists as well as prominent Shiite religious and political leaders, indicates that they were charged under Law 58/2006 for the protection of society against terrorist actions. This notorious law has come in for broad criticism on rights grounds insofar as it provides legal cover for the Bahraini authorities to limit the activities of the opposition and rights organizations. The law’s definition of terrorism is vague, and it targets people on the charges of rebelling, violating the constitution, threatening national unity, and other such baseless accusations.
In the second week of August, the King of Bahrain issued a sternly worded threat to political activists who oppose hi and human rights defenders. Describing them as inciters against the nation abroad and accusing them of endangering civic peace, he advocated bringing the full force of the law to bear against them. This statement was later supported by both the prime minister and the interior minister on more than one occasion.
Pursuant to these royal directives, on August 13 the security apparatus launched an arrest campaign targeting opposition figures, some of whom were brutally tortured. This is the first time in two decades that prominent political, advocacy, or religious figures have been subject to such a harsh campaign of torture.
Abduljalil Alsingace, Sheikh Mohammed Habib al-Muqdad, Sheikh Said al-Nuri, Abd al-Ghani al-Khanjar, and Mohammed Said were among those who were tortured. All of them were blindfolded, placed in isolation, and denied food and drink for extended periods. They were also suspended from their arms and legs and beaten on various parts of their bodies, causing swelling and bruising. As part of an ongoing campaign of intimidation and coercion, the Bahraini authorities also initially charged Nabeel Rajab, the director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the deputy secretary-general of the International Federation for Human Rights, and three others of involvement in the alleged terrorist organization, according to al-Watan, a paper close to the monarchy; their names were later dropped from the list.
At a time when the Bahraini opposition and human rights defenders are in urgent need of support from the international community to stop the ongoing abuses against them, Adam Ereli, the US ambassador to Bahrain, criticized them in the pages of the Bahraini al-Wasat on August 10, questioning their appeals to London and the US and urging them to stop looking for a way to rectify the situation from abroad. At the same time, he praised the repressive Bahraini regime, describing the government as democratic, just and opining that no one in Bahrain is imprisoned as long as he respects the law. This statement only reinforced and aided the regime’s repressive tendencies.
The undersigned organizations note that the Bahraini authorities’ brutal campaign against its opponents is a flagrant violation of international conventions to which Bahrain is a party. The measures taken by the authorities are also undermining the legitimacy of the impending elections. By harassing and intimidating the opposition and making groundless charges, the authorities are severely compromising the principle of equal opportunity in these elections.
Shiites constitute 70 percent of the Muslim population of Bahrain. A Shiite-majority parliament is thus highly likely if all political forces enjoy equal opportunities in the coming elections, something the Bahraini regime is keen to prevent. Among the methods used by the regime to undermine the Shiite majority is politicized naturalization. The authorities have granted citizenship to Sunni migrants in order to alter the country’s demographic structure, seeking to slant election results in favor of the Sunni population.
The undersigned organizations call on the King of Bahrain and the Bahraini authorities to immediately release all those detained, open an investigation into allegations of torture, and bring those responsible for such practices to a speedy trial. We also call for an immediate suspension of the organized press campaign paid for by the Bahrain regime that is seeking to smear political activists and rights advocates. The law for the protection of society against terrorist acts must also be abolished, as its provisions are essentially a weapon used to target rights and political activists.
The undersigned organizations reiterate the need for the US administration to withdraw its unconditional political support of the Bahraini regime. We also ask the UN special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, counterterrorism, and torture to undertake an urgent visit to Bahrain to determine the nature of the abuses perpetrated and work to stop them and prevent future abuses.
Signatories
– Arab Foundation for Civil Society and Human Rights Support
– Andalus Center for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies
– Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
– Bahrain Center for Human Rights
– Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
– Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies
– Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement
– Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
– Human Rights Legal Aid Group
– Human Rights First-Saudi Arabia
– Land Center for Human Rights
– Moroccan Organization for Human Rights
– Women’s Petition Committee-Bahrain