Bahrain can win the Repression against Human Rights Defenders Award if such a prize existed. The Bahraini authorities not only imprison human rights defenders but also violate their rights as prisoners.
Security forces persecute journalists, activists, bloggers for their posts on social media accounts.
Stripping citizenship is one of the penalties used by Bahraini authorities, it then obliges those who are deprived of their nationality to submit a foreign residence request in order to expel them.
The following are some examples of violations witnessed in Bahrain in 2018.
Violations against journalists, bloggers, and activists
Imprisoning blogger Sayed Ali Al Drazi for his tweets
On 20th February 2018, blogger Sayed Ali Al Drazi was arrested, undergoing repeated physical assault by investigators. He was obliged to close all his social media accounts.
On 9th May 2018, Sayed Ali Al Drazi was accused of using social media, especially Twitter, to publish 200 tweets throughout 5 years inciting to hate Bahraini government, insulting the King and his family. Al Drazi was sentenced to two years by the criminal court.
Sayed Ali Al Drazi, 25 years, is an internet activist, who covered Bahraini protests in Bahrain city. He was known for criticizing the government.
Journalist Mahmoud Abdul Reda Al Jozairi
On 11th March 2018, the appealing court in Bahrain supported a verdict of 15 years imprisonment against journalist Mahmoud Abdul Reda Al Jozairi, depriving of his nationality under claims of being a member in terrorist cells.
The trial included a number of citizens among them Ali Al Marj who was sentenced to 25 years in prison. It is worth mention that the trial was too short and the judge did not take any time to hear the lawyer.
Al Jozairi used to work in “Al Wassat” newspaper before its closure in mid-2017. He is known for his criticism to the government and leaders of the national movement in Bahrain. On 30th October 2017, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and nationality deprivation.
Security forces, in civil costumes, arrested al Jozairi in 2015 after raiding his house, one day after publishing an article tackling the Shura Council session, in which one of the deputies demanded to deprive those who were sentenced to abrogate their nationality for political reasons from governmental housing.
Al Jozairi was accused of supporting terrorism, inciting hatred against the regime, corresponding with foreign countries and seeking to topple the government by joining Wafaa movement and 14th February Youth movement. Al Jozairi experienced mistreatment in his detention, like blinding him, sleep and seat deprivation for three days before trial.
Photojournalist Sayed Ahmed Al Moussawi
The Bahraini appealing court, on 27th March 2018, supported the verdict of sentencing photojournalist Sayed Ahmed al Moussawi to 10 years.
Moussawi was sentenced to ten years and deprived of his nationality on 23rd November 2015.
Despite court of cassation canceled the verdict in 2017, yet, the case was referred to opposition to continue while he is still detained.
Security forces arrested Moussawi with his brother on the 10th of February 2014 from their village, Al Draz. Moussawi was tortured during his detention in the Directorate of criminal investigations for 6 days. He was hanged on the door 4 times, shocked by electricity, deprived of sitting, stripped off his clothes and beaten. There were rumors that he was raped. No independent investigation was held on these claims.
Nine months later, Moussawi was referred to court on 24th December 2014. The Public Attorney accused him of forming a terrorist cell, providing demonstrators with cell phones (the Public attorney called them terrorists), taking photos of the demonstrations. The defendant denied, and other witnesses, his connection to any turmoil.
Moussawi is a freelance photojournalist, he is a laureate of 169 international prizes, some of these prizes he won while being detained. He is a member of the International Federation for Photographic Industry, Photographic Association, United Photographic Industry, and Al Qatif Photography.
Photojournalist Sayed Baqer Al Kamel
On 27th April 2018, security forces arrested Sayed Baqer Al Kamel, a photojournalist in “National Geographic” to implement a two years sentence issued in absentia for participating in protests and turmoil in 2016. Al Kamel appealed the verdict and paid a bail of 100 Dinar (around 266 Dollar) to be released until the date of the next trial session on 20th May 2018. The session was postponed and the appealing court did not issue its ruling till now.
Naziha Said
On 4th June 2018, the court of cassation supported a verdict against Naziha Said, a reporter in Monte Carlo Radio and France 24, to pay a fine of 1000 Dinar (around 2660 Dollar) for working without a license.
Naziha works in Monte Carlo for 14 years and in France 24 for 10 years. She tried several times to submit a request to acquire a license, yet the authorities rejected her request.
The appealing court, on 18th July 2017, ruled to fine Naziha an amount of 1000 Dinar on the background of a complaint filed by Media Ministry, submitted to the Public Prosecution on 18th July 2016, accusing Naziha Said of practicing media work, as a reporter for a foreign radio, without a license.
Naziha was arrested before for covering demonstrations on 11th February 2011, in The Pearl Square monument became a … discovers oil at Jabal al-Dukhan… She underwent torture for 13 hours in al Refaa police station.
Activist Najah Ahmed Youssef
On 25th June 2018, the Bahraini court sentenced Najah Ahmed Youssef, an internet activist, to 3 years in prison for administrating a page on the internet to publish news about demonstrations protesting holding Formula One marathon in Bahrain. The prosecution accused her of promoting “changing the regime” through social media.
Najah told the court that security forces harassed her and tried to tear up her clothes, touching her sexual organs and threatening to rape her”, yet the court did not take her complaint into consideration.
Violations against Human Rights Defenders
On the 15th of January, the court of cassation upheld a verdict of sentencing Nabeel Rajab, founder of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, to two years for TV interviews he held in 2015 and 2016 with foreign media outlets, in which he said that the state prevents human rights organizations and international press from entering the country and targets opposition figures with political motives, not legal ones.
On 5th of June 2018, the appealing court supported a verdict of 5 years imprisonment against Nabeel Rajab in another case, for his tweets about Yemen war and torture in prison. The Bahraini regime threatens that it will impose accusations against Rajab in the other 14 cases.
Nabeel Rajab was arrested on 13th June 2016 on charges of “publishing false news, circulating inciting propaganda during the war which may damage military operations led by Bahraini armed forces and weaken the nation”, on the background of his tweets in which he criticized Yemeni war and torture in Jaw Prison.
Nabeel Rajab suffers from medical negligence. On 5th April he returned from al Refaei police center hospital to be detained in a solitary cell, one day after undergoing surgery in his back. He has been obliged to stay in clothes stained with blood, deprived of having a hygiene kit for two days, this led to an infection in his injury and he had to return to the hospital on 8th April.
Rajab commenced his human rights activism in the nineties of the 20th century. He was jailed several times since 2012 for peaceful human rights activities. He had a travel ban since November 2014.
Abdulhadi Al Khawaja
On 4th of April 2018, Bahrain refused the entrance of Lars Aslan Rasmussen, a Danish MP and Bryan Dolly from the Gulf Center for Human Rights, under claims that they form a danger on security. They intended to visit the prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, who is detained since 2011.
Authorities detained the Danish MP and the center member for 25 hours in Manama airport, taking their passports and preventing them from passing into the country.
Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, a Bahraini/Danish citizen, arrested in April 2011. He has been tortured, implementing a life sentence after an unfair military trial. Khawaja is the former head of Bahrain Center for Human Rights, former coordinator for protection of the middle east and north Africa in “Front Line Defenders” organization, a member in international counseling network in Al Mawared for Business and Human Rights Center. He is also a laureate of a number of international human rights prizes.
Khawaja was sentenced to a life sentence after being accused of participating in “a conspiracy to topple the governing regime and espionage with a terrorist group working for a foreign country”. These accusations come after his participation in protests broke out during the Arab Spring. Khawaja undergoes mistreatment in prison, he then went into a hunger strike in 2012 which continued for 58 days, that led to health deterioration and he was transferred to hospital. Denmark authorities demanded from Bahrain to hand over Khawaja, as he is a Danish citizen, suffering from critical health status, yet, the Bahraini authorities refused.
Naji Fatil
On 12th November 2018, Naji Fatil, human rights advocate, was confined in a solitary cell in Jaw Prison, after leaking an audio record imploring human rights organizations to urgently interfere in order to provide him with medication and terminate assaulting him in prison. Fatil implements about 25 years of sentences in prison.
In an audio record, Fatil mentioned that he suffers from pain as a result of mistreatment since he was arrested in May 2013, he said that this was a revenge from practicing his right of freedom of expression and complaining against human rights violations.
Naji Fatil, a member of the board of trustees in Bahraini youth Association for Human Rights, was sentenced to 15 years in September 2013, on charges of “establishing an association to hamper constitution” in accordance with article 6 of the controversial Terrorism Act.
Such accusations were a visage to silence and punish him for participating in UN activities and his role in documenting violations against peaceful protesters. Fatil is facing health problems in prison.
Collective punishment through stripping of citizenship
On 15th May 2018, the Bahraini court issued a ruling of stripping citizenship of 115 citizens, life sentence against 53 citizens, prison sentence from 3 to 15 years against 62 citizens and the acquittal of 23 other defendants. These verdicts came after an unfair collective trial depending on confessions under torture.
The defendants were accused of terrorism and connection with foreign bodies, these accusations were not proved except through confessions under torture.
A number of defendants underwent torture and enforced disappearance for 30 days, they also were beaten and threatened in order to confess.
Bahrain uses stripping citizenship as a penalty in order to be able to expel the defendants. The convicted is obliged to hand his/her passport and ID and submit a request to acquire a foreign residence or to be expelled.
Bahrain expelled 4 citizens on 28th January 2018 to Iraq, out of 10 defendants who were deprived of their nationality on charges of damaging state security.
Sheikh Ali Salman
The Supreme Appealing Court sentence Ali Salma, a leading Shiite opposition figure, to a life sentence on 4th November 2018, on charges of “espionage with Qatar and handing over military secrets”. The life sentence includes Sheikh Hassan Sultan, Ali al-Asswad, two members in Wefaq association, and two leading figures in the Shiite opposition.
The prosecution accused the three leading figures of “espionage with Qatar” for “committing assaults inside Bahrain, damaging its military, political and economic position and its national interests and compromising its prestige, and receiving foreign money”. The leading Shiite opposition figure was arrested in 2014, he was sentenced to 4 years in 2015 on charges of inciting to sectarianism and insulting ministry of interior. The court increased the penalty to 9 years in prison after being convicted of “promoting the overthrow of the regime by force”. The penalty all of a sudden decreased again to 4 years and then he was re-tried and sentenced to life.
