April 5, 2011
Freedom House is deeply concerned about the alarming increase in restrictions on the media and targeted harassment and arrests of opposition leaders and Shiites in Bahrain since martial law was declared on March 14, and calls on the government of Bahrain to end the state of emergency and to immediately release those arrested.
April 5, 2011
Freedom House is deeply concerned about the alarming increase in restrictions on the media and targeted harassment and arrests of opposition leaders and Shiites in Bahrain since martial law was declared on March 14, and calls on the government of Bahrain to end the state of emergency and to immediately release those arrested.
On April 3, opposition newspaper Al Wasat was blocked due to accusations by the government of “lies, falsification and plagiarism” regarding the situation in Bahrain. The government lifted the ban later that day following the announcement of a new editor-in-chief. Today, two Al Wasat reporters from Iraq were deported. There are also reports that on March 28, a new decree was issued stating that any information published regarding ongoing investigations would be banned on grounds of national security.
“The use of emergency laws by regimes with nefarious agendas is not new and most often coincides with a deterioration of fundamental freedoms for all citizens. We have witnessed this throughout the region, from Egypt to Syria,” said David J. Kramer, executive director of Freedom House. “Freedom House calls on the Bahraini government to stop using the restoration of ‘security and public order’ as a cover for quelling peaceful voices of dissent.”
More than 25 people have died since the protests began in mid-February, and several hundred people have reportedly been arrested or have disappeared in the weeks since the emergency law was declared. Blogger Mohamed Al-Maskati (www.emoodz.com) was arrested on March 31, and has not been heard from since. Prominent bloggers Mahmood Al-Yousif and Manaf Al-Muhandis were also arrested last week but released the following day. Several opposition activists are being held incommunicado and many others are receiving threats. Disturbing allegations are also surfacing that Saudi and Bahraini military forces, as well as armed thugs, are raiding homes, mosques and Shiite husseiniyahs; harassing people at checkpoints; and threatening women. Migrant workers in Bahrain have also faced threats and violence.
Bahrain is ranked Not Free in Freedom in the World 2011, Freedom House’s survey of political rights and civil liberties, and Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2010.
For more information on Bahrain, visit:
Freedom in the World 2011: Bahrain
Freedom of the Press 2010: Bahrain
Countries at the Crossroads 2010: Bahrain