Bahrain

First: Introduction

After a long series of police prosecution and trials that don’t meet the most basic rules of justice, the Bahraini authorities- with support from Saudi Arabia- got rid of many political opponents, human rights defenders and social media activists either through imprisonment or banishing from the country. Having said that, the repressive authorities in Bahrain did not stop their violations of the right to expression, but rather they have intensified their repression this year to reach Bahraini activists living abroad and every single person who communicates with them or follow their social media accounts from inside the country.

This new crackdown started with a speech delivered by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on 20 May 2019 stressing that he had directed “the competent security services to put a strict end to the misuse of social media”, which was followed by many political and executive commands, and ended with messages disseminated by the so-called “Anti-Cyber Crime Department” to those who follow the activists’ accounts or websites threatening them with prosecution.

Second: Legislative and legal developments

The Foreign Affairs, Defense and National Security Committee in the Bahraini Parliament agreed on a bill adding a new article (9 bis) to Law 60/2014 on cybercrimes. The article stipulates that: “Imprisonment and a fine of 1,000BD (approximately $ 2,650) at minimum and 50,000BD at maximum (approximately $ 13,200), or one of these penalties, shall be imposed on anyone who commits or incites damaging the reputation of people through the misuse of social media outlets, or defaming others and causing damage to them through the use of social media outlets”. (1)

In its session convened on 27 October 2019, the Bahraini Cabinet also began to discuss a draft law regulating the press and media, to be referred to the parliament after being endorsed. (2)

On 21 May of the year, the King of Bahrain ratified Law No. 8 of 2019 amending Article 11 of Law 58 of 2006 regarding the protection of the community against terrorist acts. Under the amendment, a prison sentence not exceeding five years and a fine of no less than BD2,000 ($ 5,300) will be the penalty for each one who promotes, extols, glorifies, justifies, admires or encourages acts of terrorism punishable by law inside the Kingdom or abroad. (3)

Third: Cases with the most impact on freedom of expression

The most important cases that influenced public opinion during 2019 are the cases of: human rights activist Sayed Yusuf al-Muhafada (residing in Germany) and activist Hassan Abdul Nabi Al-Sestri (residing in Australia), after the Bahraini Ministry of the Interior accused them of “running electronic accounts that aim at discrediting Bahrain’s reputation”, along with the London-based journalist Adel Marzouq who is accused of “instigating the spirit of strife among the components of the Bahraini society”. Another incident that attracted nationwide interest is the attack on Bahraini expatriate photojournalist Mosa Abd Ali by some members of the Bahraini Embassy in London after he climbed the embassy’s building wall.

Fourth: Violations of freedom of expression

Prevention from work/Ban

On 25 June 2019, the Bahraini authorities prevented Anadolu Agency correspondent Asaad Furat from entering the country to cover the “Peace to Prosperity” workshop, known as the “Manama Conference”, which discusses the economic aspects of the US political settlement plan in the Middle East known as the “Deal of the Century”. The ban came on the pretext that Asaad didn’t obtain the required press credentials to cover the event, at time the authorities allowed seven Israeli journalists to enter its territories for the same purpose.

The authorities also refused to grant accreditation to all Russian media outlets suggesting that they follow the conference through YouTube.

Assaults

The year 2019 recorded manifold cases of assault against prisoners of conscience in Jaw Prison and protesters in marches staged in the predominantly Shiite neighborhoods. The most notable examples are: the attack on Bahraini expatriate photojournalist Mosa Mohamed, aka “Mosa Abd Ali”, by some members of the Bahraini Embassy in London after he climbed the embassy’s building wall on 26 July in protest against the execution of the death sentence issued against citizens Ali Al Arab and Ahmed Al Mulla.

Also, on June 10, the Bahraini authorities demolished the “Al-Wasat” newspaper building, two years after the retaliatory decision to halt its publication and lay off 180 of its employees, on 4 June 2017.

Detention

– The Bahraini authorities used summons, interrogation, investigation and detention orders on a very large scale during 2019. For instance, on 14 January, they arrested Hadeer Abdullah Hassan Abadi, 25, sister of detainee Ahmad Abadi, from the town of Karzakan, after being summoned for investigation by phone. Since then, Hadeer had been held in pretrial detention pending probe on a charge of “joining a terrorist group” as the Prosecution refused to order her release under the guarantee of her place of residence. However, on 27 August, the court acquitted Hadeer of all the charges attributed to her, after spending 6 months in remand detention.

The Public Prosecution ordered, on 14 April, the detention of Ibrahim El-Sheikh, a writer at “Akhbar Al Khaleej” newspaper, over charges of “broadcasting false rumors in wartime” after publishing, via his social media accounts, an article titled “Media Misinformation and our military scourges” in which he criticized the media for the way it covers the Saudi-led war in Yemen. El-Sheikh was released on 18 April.

Former MP Osama Jaber Muhana Al-Tamimi, who always speaks out against the Sunni ruling elite’s repression of the majority Shi’a population, was also arrested on 6 August from his house by members of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) over charges involving “forgery” after receiving a series of security threats.

In another instance, the Bahraini Public Prosecution ordered on 17 April the detention of former MP Mohamed Khaled on a charge of “publishing false news and information that would harm public order”; in connection to some tweets he posted on the social networking website “Twitter”, before releasing him the next day (18 April). Lawyer Abdallah Hashim was also summoned for interrogation by the Public Prosecution on the 15th of May. He was then ordered to be detained for a week pending investigation and his phone was confiscated after being charged with “publishing fake news that can harm public order” in connection to some comments he shared on his Twitter account.

On 4 August, the Public Prosecution referred political activist Ali Jassim to trial after holding him in custody on a charge of “insulting the divine entity”. Shiite cleric Muhammad al-Rayash was also detained for a week pending probe after accusing him of “insulting Yazid Ibn Muawiya”.

Trials

Just as the Bahraini authorities use pretrial detention on a massive scale, they also use trials as a tool to suppress dissidents and opinion-holders. For example, on March 13, a Bahraini court sentenced Ibrahim Sharif, member of the Central Committee of Bahraini opposition group “National Democratic Action Society” known as “Wa’ad”, to six months in prison along with fine of 500 dinars (over $1,325 USD) to halt the implementation of the sentence. Sharif was charged with “insulting a foreign head of state” over tweets supporting the uprising in Sudan.

The prosecution’s case against Ebrahim Sharif was based on a tweet he posted on 25 December 2018, with a photograph of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir and the text: “Get out of here, man … 30 years ago, Omar al-Bashir came on the back of a tank claiming ‘salvation’. During his reign, civil wars have piled up, the South seceded, and he has impoverished, starved and degraded the kind and noble Sudanese people. The time has come for freedom for the Sudanese and the departure of the dictatorial president.

On 17 September 2019, the Court of Appeal rejected the request filed by prominent human right defender Nabeel Rajab’s legal team to replace his jail terms by non-custodial sentences or alternative sanctions upon the “alternative punishment law”. Rajab is currently serving a five-year prison sentence on a charge of “offending a foreign country” for posting tweets criticizing the war waged by Saudi Arabia and its pro-government alliance against Yemen. The human rights defender is also serving a two-year prison sentence against the backdrop of media interviews in which he criticized the Bahraini government.

Intimidation

Not only are opinion holders, journalists, human rights defenders and political activists subjected to threats and intimidation by the Bahraini government, but also social media users are not spared from the risk. On 30 May, the Bahraini Ministry of Interior threatened citizens to take legal actions against anyone who follows the “accounts that are offensive to Bahrain’s social security” calling on them to unfollow such accounts.

The Ministry of the Interior accused in a statement the Germany-based human rights activist Sayed Yusuf al-Muhafada and the Australia-based activist Hassan Abdul Nabi Al- of “running electronic accounts that aim at harming Bahrain’s reputation”. It also accused on 21 May the London-based journalist Adel Marzouq of “instigating the spirit of strife among the Bahraini society’s components” threatening him along with anyone who promotes his posts or messages with legal prosecution.

Fifth: Most common accusations against freedom of expression

The most common charges issued by the Bahraini government to restrict freedom of expression are: “joining a terrorist group”, “spreading false rumors in wartime”, “publishing false news and information that would harm public order”, “insulting the divine entity”, “insulting Yazid Ibn Muawiya”, and “instigating the spirit of strife among the Bahraini society’s factions”.

Sixth: Victims

The list of victims in Bahrain involves the following: Sayed Yusuf al-Muhafada, activist Hassan Abdul Nabi Al-Sestri, human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, journalist Adel Marzouq, photojournalist Mosa Abd Ali, Anadolu Agency correspondent Asaad Furat, writer Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, former MP Osama Jaber Muhana Al-Tamimi, former MP Mohamed Khaled, lawyer Abdallah Hashim, political activist Ali Jassim, Shiite cleric Muhammad al-Rayash, political activist Ibrahim Sherif and Hadeer Abdallah Hassan Abadi.

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Footnotes

A news report entitled “Parliamentary Committee Agrees on Imprisonment, 20,000 BD Fine as Punishment for Slander “- Published on “Bahrain Mirror” website on 9 November 2019- Last accessed date: 10 November 2019

http://bahrainmirror.com/news/56440.html

A news report entitled “Bahrain Press Association”: The new Press Law is a crime against Bahrain and journalists””- Published on “Manama Post” website on 9 November 2019- Last accessed date: 10 November 2019

https://www.manamapost.com/news/2019131184/ Bahrain-Journalism-Health-Law-Association