“Delivering Democracy” 5th CIHRS’ annual report on the human rights situation in the Arab world

CIHRS-Report2012en

This report evaluates the situation of human rights in Egypt and 12 other Arab countries, describing the battle for the “Arab Spring” that continues to be waged on three fronts: between the revolutionaries and remaining members of the old regimes, between secularists and those who call for the establishment of a religious state, and between various actors of the international community.  The context in which this struggle is taking place has become even more oppressive since 2011, as is clearly the case in both the Arab countries which saw the fall of old regimes and in those which still aspire to catch this wave of democratic change.

Synopsis of the report on Bahrain:

In Bahrain, security forces used tear gas canisters, birdshot pellets, and rubber bullets, leading to a number of deaths during demonstrations, particularly in areas populated by citizens belonging to the Shiite population. Furthermore, the authorities targeted dozens of political activists through harassment and preventative detention and even subjected some to torture and other illtreatment.

In Bahrain, a number of journalists and political opposition activists were arrested, prosecuted, or physically attacked, and one journalist was killed. The authorities imposed additional restrictions on the entry of foreign correspondents to the country, and some of them were detained.

In Bahrain as well, torture led to a number of deaths in detention centers. Moreover, the judiciary refrained from investigating cases in which confessions were extracted through torture, instead using these confessions as evidence against the defendants. 

In Bahrain, dozens of human rights defenders and those who called for democratic reform remained targeted by escalating harassment and intimidation following the pro-democratic uprising which started in February 2011. An exceptional military court upheld sentences of life in prison against Abdelhadi al-Khawaja, the founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), and six others who had called for reform and greater democracy. Nabil Rajab, the president of the BCHR, was subjected to physical assaults by members of the security forces only a short time before a number of cases were opened against 
him and led to his imprisonment due to his rights-related activities. A number of other activists and rights advocates from the BCHR, as well as the president of the Bahraini Youth Society for Human Rights, were also arrested. The Bahraini authorities continued their practice of defaming and bringing criminal charges against rights activists, including those who cooperated with the United Nations mechanisms to expose the situation of human rights in Bahrain.

In Bahrain, the authorities did not undertake serious measures to put an end to the systematic discrimination against citizens belonging to the Shiite sect, which makes up a majority of the population in Bahrain. Even though the authorities reinstated most of those who had been dismissed from their jobs as part of an attempt to repress the popular uprising of February 2011, a number of these workers were forced to sign pledges stating that they would refrain from participating in any future demonstrations. 

In Bahrain, the authorities failed to implement the recommendations of the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry related to the grave violations committed to repress of the popular uprising which began in February, 2011. Instead, the authorities sufficed with referring a limited number of low-ranking officers and soldiers to court; only three of them were condemned and sentenced to prison.

http://www.cihrs.org/?p=6590&lang=en