11 October 2010
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its concern about the continuing security campaign against human rights defenders and the continuous pressure on the work of institutions of civil society. This pressure comes in the form of referring the board members of the Bahrain Society for Human Rights to prosecution a few weeks after issuing an order to dismantle the management of the society and replace it with a governmental official to manage it. To add to that, a prominent activist was suspended from her job due to her participation in a meeting with the deputy director for the MENA region from Human Rights Watch.
11 October 2010
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its concern about the continuing security campaign against human rights defenders and the continuous pressure on the work of institutions of civil society. This pressure comes in the form of referring the board members of the Bahrain Society for Human Rights to prosecution a few weeks after issuing an order to dismantle the management of the society and replace it with a governmental official to manage it. To add to that, a prominent activist was suspended from her job due to her participation in a meeting with the deputy director for the MENA region from Human Rights Watch.
In a statement released by the Ministry for Social Development[1] on the 6th of October, 2010, it was announced that they will be prosecuting the board members of the Bahrain Human Rights Society for financial, administrational and criminal violations. As well as their refusal to cooperate with the ministry, the board members also refused the ministry’s request to appoint a new Chairman. The ministry’s decision came after the board of the Bahrain Human Rights Society filed a lawsuit[2] against the ministry’s decision to dissolve the society’s board, as well as the board’s refusal to hand over the office keys to the ministry.
On the 13th of September, 2010, the Ministry for Social Development announced their decision to dissolve the board of the Bahrain Human Rights Society[3]. The decision came immediately after the Society had held a press conference with the families of the detainees who were recently imprisoned after the recent crackdown on human rights and political activists. The ministry accused the society of only representing one particular sect of the population, whilst also collaborating with illegal groups, referring to those groups that are not registered under the Public Societies Act. The ministry then went on to appoint a government employee as Chairman to manage the society’s board whilst given him the full authority to appoint new members to the board in a move which is believed to be intended to take over full management of the society, especially after the previous board had announced their intentions of monitoring the upcoming municipal and parliamentary elections.
The Ministry of Social Affairs uses the Public Societies Act, which was passed in 1989, and which is condemned by human rights organizations[4], to restrict the activities of civil society institutions and to intervene in their management and work. This law clearly violates fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, publication, and assembly.
On the other hand, Al-Watan (the pro government newspaper) published an article stating that the Ministry of Education had suspended activist Fatima Fairooz from her job (education specialist) for a period of 3 months after she had participated in a private meeting which brought together the families of the detained and Human Rights Watch representative Joshua Colangelo. This decision was based on the Civil Service Bureau mandate No.4 of 2008 which states that ‘firm action will be taken against government officials in the event of breaking the laws and regulations or the issuance of a judicial ruling against them relating to their participation in protests or unlicensed meetings’. Yet, the suspension of Fairooz from her job goes against the law, as there was no judicial sentence against her.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights believes that with these developments, and along with the recent crackdown on human rights activists and organizations, it is clear that the government is feeling vulnerable to being exposed and is attempting to restrict the work and activities of these entities in an attempt to regain its authority.
Based on the above, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights demands:
– To immediately retract the decision made by the Ministry of Social Development to dissolve the board of the Bahrain Human Rights Society
– To cancel the decision of suspending the activist Fatima Fairooz from her work.
– To stop the harassment and pressure put on human rights defenders and civil society institutions.
– To allow independent human rights groups such as the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and the Youth Human Rights group, and other bodies related to the families of those detained, as well as other economic and social rights groups, to work freely with no restrictions or fear.
– The immediate amendment the civil society laws and other laws that restrict the work of human rights defenders, in order for them to be in line with international conventions, and in particular the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
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[1]http://www.alwasatnews.com/2953/news/read/482594/1.html
[2]http://www.alwasatnews.com/2954/news/read/482793/1.html
[3]http://bahrainrights.hopto.org/ar/node/3348
[4]http://www.hrw.org/ar/news/2010/05/14