Gulf Daily News – 14 June 2006
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED
A CALL went out yesterday to amend a law prohibiting the Press from publishing names or photos of suspects in the local and foreign media without the permission from the Public Prosecution.
Such restrictions would make it difficult for families and human rights activitists to campaign for their release, say activists.
The parliament-proposed law has been approved by MPs and is currently being reviewed by the Shura Council.
The law proposes a maximum sentence of one year in jail or a BD100 fine for those who publish “names or photographs of those accused, before the final verdict, and without permission from the Public Prosecution or the relevant court depending on the circumstances”.
Gulf Daily News – 14 June 2006
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEEDA CALL went out yesterday to amend a law prohibiting the Press from publishing names or photos of suspects in the local and foreign media without the permission from the Public Prosecution.
Such restrictions would make it difficult for families and human rights activitists to campaign for their release, say activists.
The parliament-proposed law has been approved by MPs and is currently being reviewed by the Shura Council.
The law proposes a maximum sentence of one year in jail or a BD100 fine for those who publish “names or photographs of those accused, before the final verdict, and without permission from the Public Prosecution or the relevant court depending on the circumstances”.
“It is also punishable with the same penalty who co-operated with foreign media by providing names and photographs of the those accused,” reads the law.
Instead of limiting the power of the government, the law gives the Public Prosecution jurisdiction to “name and shame” people before they have been proven innocent or guilty while potentially limiting activists’ freedom to campaign on their behalf, claims the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).
It should specify in writing, if the law is meant to apply to newspapers and not civil society groups, BCHR vice-president Nabeel Rajab said.
The BCHR is now calling for an “extensive and urgent” local and international campaign to stop the law from being passed.
“In the bill they say only the Public Prosecution or courts will allow individuals to publish the names or photographs of those accused, whereas they (Public Prosecution) are the one who have been publishing them so far,” said Mr Rajab.
“Instead of introducing constraints of the executive authority and the Public Prosecution in defaming the accused, parliament has opted to privilege them in publishing the names and pictures, while banning families and supporters to advocate detainees cases in Bahrain and abroad.
“What the parliament has done is made it difficult for us to campaign for people accused, especially those cases related to arbitrary detention, maltreatment, or unjust prosecutions.”
“Families and human rights defenders inside and outside Bahrain will be completely prevented from being able to make any move to protect the accused people’s rights because any public activity to defend them is not possible without declaring their names or using their photographs – which will become a punishable crime.
“They should make a written distinction between the Press using the names and photos and civil society organisations,” he said.
The law also stipulates that court hearings, interrogations or documents are banned from being published.
Mr Rajab also criticised Parliament for passing the law, saying it was stripping individuals and groups of “basic rights”.
“It is unfortunate that Parliament is not only unable to protect citizens rights by amending legislations and supervising the conduct of (the government), it is approving new legislations which strip basic rights of individuals and groups and obstruct the role of civic societies in promoting and defending those rights,” he said.