After disbanding the board of directors of the only licensed human rights organization
The human rights setback continues in Bahrain, as a result of the media and security crackdown against public freedoms and human rights, a campaign which targets activists and human rights defenders and their institutions. This campaign has evolved to a new level as the authorities pursue defenders of human rights from the gulf and lists them on blacklists to prevent them from entering the country.
After disbanding the board of directors of the only licensed human rights organization
The human rights setback continues in Bahrain, as a result of the media and security crackdown against public freedoms and human rights, a campaign which targets activists and human rights defenders and their institutions. This campaign has evolved to a new level as the authorities pursue defenders of human rights from the gulf and lists them on blacklists to prevent them from entering the country.
For the first time there is a serious threat to human rights defenders from the neighboring gulf countries who have attended human rights courses in Bahrain. The Ministry of Interior has announced[1] that they are in the “process of taking legal action against people who come from neighboring countries, after they had secretly attended unlicensed sessions and programs in the kingdom of Bahrain through the Bahrain Human Rights Society. The Ministry explained that “the special investigations have been completed on these trainees who for now are considered persona non grata in the kingdom”. This threat comes after the decision of the Minister of Social Development, Fatima AlBalushi, to dissolute the elected board of directors of the Bahrain Human Rights Society, and to appoint staff from the ministry as director of this society. AlBalushi also stated that the society has committed grave management violations and illegal activities, amongst them offering secret and unlicensed courses and programs to people from neighboring countries, that based on agreements with international bodies and organizations and without consulting the concerned Bahraini authorities.”
In a time that Ministries, state institutions and the Ministry of Social Affairs are supposed to facilitate the work of civil society institutions and human rights organizations, they are in fact cornering and making things more difficult for them, creating obstacles and complications and dealing with them with a repressive mentality.
The BCHR fears that this campaign will target hundreds of activists and human rights defenders, in the neighboring gulf countries, who participated in the previous years in human rights programs, seminars, lectures and training courses. Targeting defenders in the region may come as an attempt to weaken the coordination and follow-up that has intensified in recent years between the defenders in the gulf region and with human rights institutions and international organizations. A group of activists and human rights defenders in the Gulf region have issued a statement[2] condemning the human rights violations that are taking place in the country since the beginning of the security campaign. Targeting these activists may also come as a voluntary service the security services in Bahrain are providing to the neighboring countries in order for them to enforce restrictions on the activists who work in those countries and to limit the impact of their activities and the spread of the education of human rights where it is unwanted.
Even though the Bahrain Human Rights Society is considered the only independent society accepted to work under the umbrella of the internationally condemned “Law of Associations”, that has not protected it from security and legal persecution by the Bahraini authorities. The BCHR fears that the continuation of targeting activists, the security crackdown and the campaign of harassment faced by the institutions of civil society and the political and human rights organizations will lead the members of these groups and organizations towards covert action again after a few years of working openly.
The BCHR demands the following from the Bahraini authorities:
1- To stop targeting human rights defenders, whether they are in Bahrain or other Gulf countries, and to create an appropriate environment for them to carry out their human rights work.
2- To stop targeting civil society institutions, especially human rights organizations, and to withdraw the decision to disband the Bahrain Society for Human Rights board of directors. And to stop dealing with the defenders and organization of human rights with a repressive mentality.
3- To stop the continuous violations of human rights instead of targeting the groups who work on documenting those violations.
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[1]manamavoice.com[2]manamavoice.com