Gulf Daily News
By rebecca torr
Published: 13 February 2007
A HUMAN rights committee is calling for the immediate release of all “activists and detainees of conscience”, following the arrests of nine Bahrainis.
Six were arrested for staging a sit-in at Tubli and the other three following a clash with security personnel at the King Fahad Causeway.
Both incidents happened last Friday.
The six were protesting over the imprisonment of two Bahraini men who were sentenced last month for distributing subversive literature during the national elections.
Dentist Mohammed Saeed Al Sahlawi, 35, was sentenced to one year in prison, while insurance sales executive Hussain Abdulaziz Al Habshi, 32, was jailed for six months.
Gulf Daily News
By rebecca torr
Published: 13 February 2007
A HUMAN rights committee is calling for the immediate release of all “activists and detainees of conscience”, following the arrests of nine Bahrainis.
Six were arrested for staging a sit-in at Tubli and the other three following a clash with security personnel at the King Fahad Causeway.
Both incidents happened last Friday.
The six were protesting over the imprisonment of two Bahraini men who were sentenced last month for distributing subversive literature during the national elections.
Dentist Mohammed Saeed Al Sahlawi, 35, was sentenced to one year in prison, while insurance sales executive Hussain Abdulaziz Al Habshi, 32, was jailed for six months.
The Committee of Solidarity with Activists and Detainees of Conscience is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all activists and detainees of conscience.
It calls on the authorities to allow freedom of expression without punishment, as affirmed by the international charters, of which the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was acceded by Bahrain on September 20 last year.
The six protestors arrested were: Mohamed Abdullah, 24, Mohamed Ahmed Al Ammar, 19, Mohamed Ali Al Ammar, 17, Sayed Ibrahim Sayed Hussein, 19, who are all residents of Tubli, and Abdallah Ali Abdallah Ne’amah, 20, from Sadad and National Committee of the Martyrs and Victims of Torture member Mohsen Al Meqdad, 40, from Jedali.
“They were arrested on Friday evening and only Mohsen Al Meqdad was released the next day,” Al Haq Movement of Liberties and Democracy’s media and international relations director Dr Abdul Jalil Al Sengase told the GDN.
“They (the five) were taken to the Public Prosecution and will be kept in custody for a week while they conduct an investigation.”
The three arrested at the causeway are Unemployed and Underpaid Committee activists Abdulameer Madan, from Sitra, Hassan Abdulnabi, from Ma’ameer and Ahmad Jaafar, from Daih.
They were arrested at the security checkpoint on their way back from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. “They were interrogated and inspected, asked to undress and were antagonised,” explained Dr Al Sengase.
“They quarrelled with the state security and will be taken to the Public Prosecutor on the charge of assaulting security officers. They are still being held at the King Fahad Causeway prison area.”
Mr Madan and Mr Abdulnabi were also among a group of men jailed for an illegal demonstration at the Bahrain International Airport on December 25, 2005.
They were released last September.
Meanwhile, Mr Al Sahlawi and Mr Al Habshi, who were caught with leaflets calling for an election boycott, have received support from several MPs and various human rights organisations around the world.
The Al Haq Movement of Liberties and Democracy appealed to the United Nations to intervene on their behalf and New York-based Human Rights Watch also called for the charges to be dropped.
“The imprisonment of two Bahrainis for trying to express non-violent political opinions violates freedoms guaranteed under Bahrain’s international obligations and the kingdom’s own constitution,” Human Rights Watch stated earlier.
Forty-nine human rights organisations from around the world also signed a petition calling for the release of the two men.
The petition, started by the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, has been sent to His Majesty King Hamad.
Signatories include groups from Bahrain, as well as representatives from the UK, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Palestine, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Cameroon.
More than 120 people have also signed a public petition, which will also later be sent to the King.
The petitions praise the government for its accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
They also refer to the United Nations treaty, which states that “everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference” and “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression”.
“We, the undersigned, are convinced that what the men did was not a crime under the provisions of Bahraini law or international legal instruments,” the petitions state.
“We appeal for their immediate and unconditional release, setting a good example of respect and protection of human rights values as expected from Bahrain, a member of the UN Human Rights Council.” The public petition is available at www.petitiononline.com/bahraind/.
© Gulf Daily News