• The Society is added to the List of Banned Human Rights Societies and Committees: No Independent Human Rights Society Left in Bahrain
• A Campaign of Arrests that Includes almost 240 People, Activists and Human Rights Defenders
• The Bahrain Center for Human Right Runs its Work Temporarily from Europe
13th September 2010
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its concern about the action carried out by the Minister of Development and Social Affairs, Fatima Al-Balushi, to dissolve the admin board of the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) and appoint a manager for the Society by the government. Dissolving the board comes after a series of continuous harassments to the Society since the beginning of the recent security campaign that targeted the religious and political figures and human rights defenders.
• The Society is added to the List of Banned Human Rights Societies and Committees: No Independent Human Rights Society Left in Bahrain
• A Campaign of Arrests that Includes almost 240 People, Activists and Human Rights Defenders
• The Bahrain Center for Human Right Runs its Work Temporarily from Europe
13th September 2010
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its concern about the action carried out by the Minister of Development and Social Affairs, Fatima Al-Balushi, to dissolve the admin board of the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) and appoint a manager for the Society by the government. Dissolving the board comes after a series of continuous harassments to the Society since the beginning of the recent security campaign that targeted the religious and political figures and human rights defenders.
The Bahraini newspapers[1] published on September 9th an article stating that the Minister of Development and Social Affairs – concerned with monitoring political and human rights societies – dissolved the admin board of the Bahrain Human Rights Society and dismissed its elected president Dr. Abdullah Al-Dirazi and replaced him with an employee in the Ministry, justifying this with the fact that the Society committed a number of violations in which it “limited its activities to one type of citizens solely” in an indication to the Shiite sect which all the political detainees or the detainees of the recent security campaign belong to. This decision comes on the background of the increasing activity of the Society over the past period, in conjunction with the escalating human rights deterioration in the country, and during the threats to suppress liberties and targeting of human rights defenders, and through its independent or joint reports with the Bahrain Coalition for Truth and Justice – which includes 11 civil societies and committees from the civil society institutions, some of which are both registered and non-registered in the Law of Associations – and which the Ministry considered “coordinating with a number of illegitimate bodies”[2] . The last of these activities was holding a press conference in the same Society, called for by the Bahrain Coalition for Truth and Justice on August 28, 2010 about the recent security developments regarding the arrest and torture and with the presence of some of the families of the detainees who spoke about the violations that accompanied the arrests and about the kidnappings that targeted the activists by the militias that are believed to be affiliated with the National Security Apparatus, as well as the National Guard headed by the King’s brother.
A photo from the press conference with the families of the detainees
As a result of the conference, the Society was subjected to a strong media campaign, in which the Journalists Association[3] (governmental) released a report demanding the BHRS take responsibility of what it considered labeling and defamation of journalists in its head office, and this was followed with a statement from the Ministry of Interior that accused the Society of serving a certain group of citizens[4] and another statement later but in the same week from the Ministry of Development indicating that it detected violations in some of the human rights societies.
The Bahraini Authorities had, in the same month of 2004, dissolved the Bahrain Center for Human Rights as a result of its work in detecting human rights violations; however, the BCHR continued its proficient activity inside Bahrain and abroad, its reports have attracted a lot of attention from the international bodies, and the members of the Center have started occupying international ranks and posts due the to credibility built up by the Center through its work. The government also refrained from licensing the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and presented its president Mohammed Al-Maskati to trial, which is still ongoing, due to carrying out activities on behalf of the BYSHR without being authorized. The Authority also carried out a recurring security campaign against the members of the public committees concerned with the families of detainees and economic and social rights such as unemployment, housing and increase of prices. The Ministry of Development itself also dissolved the Bahrain Nursing Society after the Society’s board called for improving the conditions of the nurses, and the Ministry imposed a temporary manager for the Society, and then in last April it closed down the Society’s head office. The recent campaign of arrests targeted approximately 240 individuals who are activists and human rights defenders under the pretext of revealing a network that aims at destabilizing the country’s security and overthrowing the ruling regime.
The Ministry of Development is taking advantage of the liberty-restricting Law of Associations issued in 1989 to control the activities of the civil society institutes and to continuously interfere in their administration and work, as well as limiting their free area of work. The local and international organizations[5] had already criticized this law repeatedly because it violates the fundamental human rights in expression, publishing and assembling.
The BCHR believes that the decision to dissolve the Bahrain Human Rights Society is a message for all civil society institutes that the Authority no longer tolerates any criticism or a body that detects and documents human rights violations. The decision to dissolve the Society takes place at this time, and just a few weeks before the parliamentary elections in order to prevent this Society, which had announced that it would monitor the elections, from doing so, and under the presence of data and indicators that the Authority intends to forge the elections. On this occasion, Nabeel Rajab, president of the BCHR stated, “the decision of dissolving confirms that there is no place for human rights societies under this law which violates human rights, and under the mentality of security, monitoring and obstacles laid by the Minister of Social Affairs”. He added, “the human rights societies in Bahrain should seriously think of working outside the framework of this law until it is reformed, and to put a limit to the dominance of the government institute which is controlling the role of these societies with political motives and a security mentality, especially that human rights work today is no longer subject to the presence of a work location”.
As a result of the escalating security and media campaign that is targeting the human rights activists, the BCHR transferred administrating its work temporarily to Europe within new arrangements that will be announced soon by the Center. These new arrangements are a result of pressures the Center is facing and the due to the security targeting which the members and the rest of the human rights defenders are enduring.
Based on the above, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights demands:
1- To immediately withdraw the decision of the Ministry of Social Development to dissolve the admin board of the Bahrain Human Rights Society;
2- To stop harassing human rights defenders and activists, to stop the media campaign of smearing their reputation and arresting and legally prosecuting them, and to immediately release all the detainees among them;
3- To allow independent human rights groups to operate freely; especially the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, and the public committees concerned with the families of detainees and the economic and social rights;
4- To amend the law of civil societies and the other laws which restrict the work of human rights defenders who are in accordance with the international conventions, and in particular the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
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[1]www.alwasatnews.comwww.alwasatnews.com[2] www.moheet.com[3] manamavoice.com[4] hrw.org[5]