In a letter sent to the Independent, a UK daily newspaper, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has expressed its great concerns over the omission of the current sever crackdown on the basic human rights by Bahrain’s government against its own citizens, from an article published in the newspaper on September 12, 2010 entitled “Bridging the Gulf: Bahrain’s big experiment with democracy” by Joan Smith.
The article has not mentioned any reference to the crackdown which started on Aug 13 in Bahrain
In a letter sent to the Independent, a UK daily newspaper, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has expressed its great concerns over the omission of the current sever crackdown on the basic human rights by Bahrain’s government against its own citizens, from an article published in the newspaper on September 12, 2010 entitled “Bridging the Gulf: Bahrain’s big experiment with democracy” by Joan Smith.
The article has not mentioned any reference to the crackdown which started on Aug 13 in Bahrain and has targeted political activists, religious figures, human rights defenders and more than 250 detainees who are held in incommunicado detention, denied access to lawyers and families, and reportedly suffering from constant torture, ill-treatment and sexual abuses. Local press was gagged, websites were blocked including the website of “Al-Wefaq”, the largest political society in Bahrain, and bloggers were arrested including Bahrain’s most celebrated blogger and online journalist Ali Abdulemam.
This crackdown has been extensively documented and reported by recognized international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Frontline Defenders and Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), which have urged government of Bahrain to bring these practices to an immediate halt and re-commit Bahrain to a path of respect for and protection of the human rights of all Bahrainis.
Bahrain Center for Human Rights in its letter has respectfully asked “The Independent” to update its mentioned story with the full context in order not to obscure those facts from its readers and also to maintain its newspapers journalistic integrity. This information is vital for readers to form an opinion on Bahrain’s current conditions and will re-establish balance in the story.
References:
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[1] Human Rights Watch
“Bahrain: Revoke Order Dissolving Rights Group’s Board”, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/09/09/bahrain-revoke-order-dissolving-rights-groups-board , Sep 9, 2010
“Bahrain: Halt Threats Against Rights Defenders”, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/09/07/bahrain-halt-threats-against-rights-defenders , Sep 7, 2010
“Bahrain: Pursue Torture Allegations” , http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/09/01/bahrain-pursue-torture-allegations , Sep 1, 2010
“Bahrain: Charge or Release Opposition Activists” , http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/08/17/bahrain-charge-or-release-opposition-activists , Aug 17, 2010
[2] Amnesty International
“Bahraini government must end interference in human rights organization”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/bahraini-government-must-end-interference-human-rights-organization-2010-09-09 , 9 September 2010
“Bahrain: Detained Shi’a Muslims at risk (Urgent action)”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE11/005/2010/en , 7 September 2010
“Bahrain activists must receive a fair trial”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/bahrain-activists-must-receive-fair-trial-2010-09-06 , 6 September 2010
“Bahrain: allegations of torture and ill-treatment must be independently investigated”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE11/004/2010/en , 3 September 2010
“Bahrain intensifies crackdown on activists and clerics”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/bahrain-intensifies-crackdown-activists-and-clerics-2010-08-18 , 18 August 2010
[3] The Committee to Protect Journalists
“Prominent online journalist arrested in Bahrain”, http://cpj.org/2010/09/prominent-online-journalist-arrested-in-bahrain.php , September 7, 2010
“Bahrain gags press as it cracks down on opposition”, http://cpj.org/2010/08/bahrain-gags-press-as-it-cracks-down-on-opposition.php , August 31, 2010
“Bahrain detains blogger on ‘national security concerns'”, http://cpj.org/2010/08/bahrain-detains-bloggeractivist-on-national-securi.php , August 17, 2010
[4] The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders [International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
“Attacks Against Civil Society Continue With The Suspension of the Bahrain Human Rights Society’s Board” , http://fidh.org/Attacks-against-civil-society-continue-with-the , 10 Sep 2010
“BAHRAIN: Violent crackdown continues to target human rights defenders” , http://fidh.org/Violent-crackdown-continues-to-target-human , 08 Sep 2010
“Acts of physical and psychological torture perpetrated against Messrs. Abduljalil Al-Sengais and Abdulghani Ali Issa Al-Khanjar while in detention” , http://fidh.org/Acts-of-physical-and-psychological-torture , 1 Sep 2010
“Bahrain: Arbitrary detention of Messrs. Abduljalil Al-Sengais, Abdulghani Ali Issa Al-Khanjar, Jaffar Al-Hessabi and Moahmmed Saeed”, http://fidh.org/Arbitrary-arrest-and-detention-of-Messrs , 18 aug 2010
[5]Front Line
“Bahrain: Effective take-over of Bahrain Human Rights Society by Ministry of Social Development”, http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/13275 , 10 Sep 2010
“Bahrain: arrest of human rights defender and leading blogger Ali Abdulemam and ten other human rights defenders” , http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/13239 , 06 Sep 2010
“Bahrain: Update – Human rights defenders in Bahrain denied access to their families and lawyers”, http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/13155 , 18 Aug 2010
“Bahrain: Human rights defenders Dr. Abduljalil Al Singace and Mr Abdul Ghani al-Kanjar arrested” , http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/12959 , 15 Aug 2010
[6]Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
“Bahrain: As Elections Approach, the Crackdown on the Opposition and Rights Advocates Reaches its Peak”,http://www.cihrs.org/English/NewsSystem/Articles/2668.aspx, 08 Sep, 2010
“Royal sanction to crackdown on political opposition and human rights defenders in Bahrain”, http://www.cihrs.org/English/NewsSystem/Articles/2662.aspx, 19 Aug, 2010