Last week, the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, met with a handful of U.S. government officials—including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden—during a visit to Washington, D.C. While the crown prince posed for photos with the president and vice president, in Bahrain children as young as 15 continued to be unlawfully detained in adult detention facilities, while prisoners of conscience imprisoned for exercising their free speech rights languished in prison. During their meeting, President Obama appropriately remarked that “respect for universal human rights is the best path to achieving the peace and security that all Bahraini citizens deserve.” Regrettably, there does not appear to have been any discussion of human rights by Vice President Biden or Secretary of State John Kerry in their meetings.

The lack of uniform messaging by U.S. government officials on human rights is disappointing, given the ongoing and unrelenting nature of abuses that continue to be committed by Bahraini government officials against protesters, activists and innocent civilians. Protesters and activists are routinely arrested and detained for engaging in free speech activity, while their homes are often raided by plainclothes officers in the middle of the night, creating a sense of insecurity and fear among members of a population who have been struggling to secure political and social equality for more than a decade.

Although Bahraini officials are often quick to pledge the government’s “commitment to reform,” very little evidence exists to support this purported desire to promote reconciliation within Bahrain’s deeply divided society. It is common practice for protesters and activists to be arrested, detained, abused, tortured, or convicted of crimes related to the exercise of their free speech rights. Unfortunately, the fact that officers and other government officials responsible for human rights abuses commit them with impunity has become accepted. This increasingly common miscarriage of justice was clearly demonstrated in two recent cases. In one case, an officer accused of killing a protester had his sentence reduced from 7 years to 6 months, while two other officers accused of the same crime in a separate case were acquitted. This utter lack of accountability denies closure to the families of those killed and deepens the divide in a society fissured by political and social inequality.

In its attempt to prolong its power, the ruling family has, for nearly two years, been dragging its heels in enacting real and lasting reforms. Instead, it found a convenient excuse in the National Dialog, in which the government’s self-appointed role as “mediator” between political opposition and pro-government parties completely ignores the real conflict between the government and the opposition.

The dialog—originally accepted by the international community as an opportunity for all parties in the conflict to put down their weapons and come to the table—is increasingly seen as a public relations stunt by the opposition. The recent 2-week boycott of the talks by political opposition parties, led by Al-Wefaq, was intended to highlight not only the government’s continuing arrests of protesters and frequent raids on activists’ homes, but also the lack of representation by the royal family in the talks. The government, meanwhile, refuses to capitulate, citing the need to “achieve a consensus on issues that are actually important.” This inherent disagreement as to what is important could be the death knell of the talks, and of any possibility for reform in Bahrain.

While parties to Bahrain’s ongoing conflict remain divided over the national dialog, it is exceedingly critical that the U.S. government—inarguably one of Bahrain’s strongest allies—develops and conveys a unified message to the government of Bahrain that emphasizes the need for the government to respect and protect human rights. Without the protection of these basic and fundamental freedoms, political and social equality—the goal of Bahrain’s protest movement—will be all but impossible to obtain.

*Director, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain

This oped originally appeared in Spare Change News. 

In their letter, the legislators urged the Bahrain government to reverse the decision to deny visits to Mr. Méndez and other international observers, citing allegations that security forces have tortured detainees “with impunity.” The letter, led by Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), was co-signed by the following Members of Congress:

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Representative Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL)
Representative Jim Himes (D-CT)
Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA)
Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA)
Representative Jim Moran (D-VA)
Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

الرجاء الضغط هنا لقراءة هذه الرسالة باللغة العربية

“Assaults on human rights, freedom of expression, and medical neutrality by the Government of Bahrain have not abated since the uprising began in 2011,” said ADHRB Director Husain Abdulla. “We urge US Government officials to use this opportunity to speak frankly and honestly with the Crown Prince about these and other widely-publicized ongoing abuses. US officials should also underscore the need for a high-ranking official from the Bahrain government to engage in dialogue with members of the opposition in order to respond to Bahraini citizens’ legitimate demands for democratic governance.”

While Bahrain government officials insist that reforms have been made, the majority of recommendations made by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI)—a body commissioned by the Government of Bahrain to propose reforms following the 2011 protests—have not been implemented. This much was recently confirmed by the US State Department in its 2012 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bahrain, in which the agency noted that although the Government of Bahrain has made “some” progress in implementing reforms since 2011, that progress has not been significant.

“We hope the US Government will use the opportunity of the Crown Prince’s visit to raise concerns regarding the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain,” Mr. Abdulla said. “US national and regional security interests in the Gulf are inextricably linked to stability in Bahrain, and stability will not be possible absent any real and lasting reforms.”

###

Please click here for a PDF of this statement.

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez (sr-torture@ohchr.org)
and
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya (defenders@ohchr.org)
and UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue (freedex@ohchr.org)

OHCHR-UNOG

8-14 Avenue de la Paix

1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland
fax: +41 22 917 90 06, e-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org

CC. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
19 Avenue de la paix CH 1202 Geneva
Fax: +41 22 733 20 57, webmaster@icrc.org

22 May 2013

Dear Special Rapporteurs Mendez, Sekaggya and La Rue,

We the undersigned NGOs worldwide are writing to express serious concern over the treatment of Bahrain human rights defenders whom we believe to be detained in violation of their right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. We have received alarming reports of torture and ill-treatment in prison, which contravene Bahrain’s obligations under international law, as well as its promises to stop the practise of torture in detention.

Most recently, Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and Secretary General of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), was threatened in Jaw prison after he told his wife Sumaya on 14 May 2013 that he had witnessed young political prisoners being tortured by prison guards and called for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit. After two days with no news, Rajab called his wife and colleague to say, “I witnessed by my own eyes a big crime and the government doesn’t want me to talk about it,” and then the phone was cut off.

Rajab’s wife was able to visit him on 20 May where he told her that while walking in the prisoners’ exercising yard,  he and two other prisoners “heard voices of punching and beating coming out from the prison administration building.” Nabeel said he “rushed to the exposed area of the building and saw 7 to 8 young (15 to 18 years old) prisoners who were handcuffed facing the wall, and several foreign non-Bahraini police men were beating them, hitting them with the wall and hitting their heads together. The kids were bleeding heavily.” Rajab believes these prisoners have been prevented from seeing their families, and he and the other two witnesses have been threatened to remain silent. Rajab, who is in jail for two years on charges of calling for and peacefully participating in gatherings arbitrarily designated as illegal, has previously been ill-treated in prison and denied medical attention.

We are deeply concerned by repeated reports of torture in detention in Bahrain. Human rights defender Naji Fateel, a Board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), was allegedly tortured in the notorious Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) after his arrest on 2 May. He was charged on 9 May with alleged “establishment of a group in order to disable the provisions of the Constitution” and ordered to be imprisoned for 60 days, then sentenced on 22 May to six months in prison on charges of participating in “illegal gatherings.” Among the allegations are that he has been subjected to electrical shocks to his genitals, foot, and back, and been subjected to simulated drowning, severe beatings, threats to publish photographs of his wife,  hanging by his hands from the ceiling, threats to rape him, standing for long hours, and sleep deprivation.

Also on 9 May, the Appeal Court upheld the three-month prison sentence of activist Zainab Al-Khawaja on charges of participating in an “illegal gathering” in November 2011. Al-Khawaja’s new sentence will be added to the one she is currently serving of over three months for “insulting an officer” in a military hospital in Issa Town Prison for women. She is denied family visits for refusing to wear the prison uniform, like her father, human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, jailed for life for his role in protests in the peaceful demonstrations of early 2011.

Zainab Al-Khawaja and activist Ma’suma Sayyid Sharaf were then sentenced on 22 May on charges of “illegal gathering”, “inciting hatred against the regime” and a further charge related to the alleged assault of police officers during their arrest in December 2011. A further three months was added to Al-Khawaja’s prison term, and Sharaf was sentenced to six months in prison. Yet there has been no investigation into ill-treatment the two women have suffered during their arrests and detention.

We are also concerned about the well-being and safety of Rayhana Al-Mosawi and Nafeesa Al-Asfoor, detained since they were arrested on 20 April while protesting the ongoing detention of detained human rights defenders including Zainab Al-Khawaja and photojournalist Ahmed Humaidan during the Formula 1 race in Manama. The two women have been denied family visits, and reportedly tortured to extract confessions, one of them with electric shocks. Humaidan also was reportedly tortured in prison after his arrest in December 2012 on charges of “demonstrating illegally.”

These latest reports come shortly after Bahraini authorities indefinitely postponed your visit in late April. In November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) reported that five people detained in connection with protests earlier in 2011 had died as a result of torture in custody and recommended action be taken to prevent torture in detention. Bahraini authorities promised to hold accountable those responsible for torture following recommendations made under the UN’s Universal Periodic Review of Bahrain, yet very little has been done to properly investigate the serious allegations of torture of prisoners by government employees and nothing has been done to effectively prevent torture and other prohibited treatment from continuing.

We therefore call on you to request the Bahraini authorities to:

1. Guarantee the safety of Nabeel Rajab and the other witnesses to torture in Jaw prison, as well as the safety of the young victims of torture, and allow detained human rights defenders and activists to have phone calls and visits with their families and lawyers;

2. Release imprisoned human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab, Zainab and Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and Naji Fateel, as well as photojournalist Ahmed Humaidan, and protestors Rayhana Al-Mosawi and Nafeesa Al-Asfoor, and drop all charges against them, as well as Ma’suma Sayyid Sharaf, as we believe they have been targeted in violation of their rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

3. Immediately put an end to the practice of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in Bahrain and bring those responsible to justice; while fixing a new date for the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and a date for the visit of the ICRC;

4. Guarantee that human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals.

Signed,

1. Alkarama Foundation
2. AMAN NETWORK for Rehabilitation and defending Human Rights
3. Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain
4. Arab Working Group for Media Monitoring
5. Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
6. Avocats Sans Frontières Network
7. Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
8. Bahrain Human Rights Observatory  (BHRO)
9. Bahrain Human Rights Society
10. Bahrain Press Association (BPA )
11. Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organisation (BRAVO)
12. Bahrain Transparency Society
13. Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR)
14. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
15. Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
16. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
17. Committee to Protect Journalists
18. Democracy Observer Organization in Iraq
19. Development for People and Nature Association (DPNA), Lebanon
20. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR)
21. Emirates Centre for Human Rights (ECHR)
22. European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights (EBOHR)
23. Freedom Foundation Yemen
24. Freedom House
25. Front Line Defenders
26. Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR)
27. Human Rights First Society, Saudi Arabia
28. Index on Censhorship
29. International Centre for Supporting Rights and Freedoms (ICSRF)
30. International Media Support (IMS)
31. International Press Institute (IPI)
32. Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association
33. Iraqi Network for Social Media (INSM)
34. Iraqi Streets Bloggers
35. Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture
36. Layla Center for Human Rights
37. Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC)
38. Maharat Foundation, Lebanon
39. Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel (I’LAM)
40. Media Legal Defense Initiative (MLDI)
41. Nadim Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence
42. National Foundation for Efficiencies Iraq
43. National Lawyers Guild, USA
44. Norwegian PEN
45. Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
46. PEN American Center
47. PEN Canada
48. PEN International Writers in Prison Committee
49. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
50. Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom
51. Vigilance for Democracy and Civic State, Tunisia
52. Yemen Organization for Defending Rights and Democratic Freedoms

“The Government of Bahrain’s complete unwillingness to hold human rights abusers accountable is not only a disgrace, it’s also a violation of the government’s international human rights obligations,” said ADHRB Director Husain Abdulla. “Actions speak louder than words, and while the Bahrain government routinely boasts of its progress toward reform and accountability, these verdicts paint quite a different picture.”

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI)—a body commissioned by the Government of Bahrain to recommend reforms following the 2011 protests—investigated the circumstances surrounding Mr. Juma’s death in 2011, finding no evidence that Mr. Juma was killed in self-defense. Instead, the commission found that Mr. Juma died due to “excessive use of force” after being shot three times from a distance of no more than one meter while fleeing police.

Both the BICI and the US State Department, in its 2012 Bahrain Country Report on Human Rights Practices, as well as several human rights organizations, have expressed concern that Bahrain’s judiciary system remains highly politicized and lacks independence.

“The lack of accountability for human rights abuses, and the lack of an independent judiciary, both must come to an end,” said Mr. Abdulla. “The Government of Bahrain cannot credibly claim to have implemented meaningful human rights reforms when it continually fails to take its international human rights obligations seriously. The government must revise its sentencing standards for cases involving excessive use of force and unlawful killings to ensure meaningful accountability for inappropriate actions by its police. It must also grant international monitors unhindered access to Bahrain so that they may observe trials involving protesters, human rights defenders, and other activists, including those against police officers. Beyond these small changes, the government must adjust the way judges are appointed if its judiciary is going to have any hope of becoming independent.”

###

Please click here for a PDF of this statement.

More than two years after peaceful demonstrators took to the streets to demand reforms, Bahrain’s uprising has not abated. Activists and opposition groups continue to demand the basic human rights and political reforms promised to them by their government. Rather than meet the opposition’s calls for reform, the government of Bahrain has responded by subjecting citizens to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, interrogation, torture, and abuse.

Human rights activists such as Naji Fateel, board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, and Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, are frequently subjected to arbitrary arrest and ill treatment. Similarly, medical professionals who have been interrogated, detained, tortured, and convicted for providing medical care to injured protesters remain in prison or have not been allowed to return to work. Educators who have endured similar ill-treatment continue to be fired from their positions or languish in prison, while soccer players who were banned from their clubs for participating in protests remain blacklisted or live in self-imposed exile to continue playing the sport they love.

The demands of the opposition movement are hardly unreasonable, which makes the government’s recalcitrance all the more suspect. The people of Bahrain want a representative government and an elected prime minister. They want a representative of the king to participate in the national dialogue. They want an end to human rights abuses and accountability for those who committed them. They want the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), a body commissioned by the Bahraini government following the 2011 protests, to be fully implemented. They want prisoners of conscience, jailed for exercising their rights to free speech and expression, to be released. They want to be able to associate freely in political groups, civil society organizations, unions, and associations. In the grand scheme of things, the financial, moral, and political cost to the Bahraini government for granting these requests would be negligible.

Unfortunately, reform — the key to Bahrain’s stability and security — is what the Bahraini government seems determined to prevent. As the U.S. State Department noted in its 2012 Human Rights Country Report on Bahrain, although the government of Bahrain has made “some” progress in implementing reforms since 2011, that progress has not been significant. The report found that the Bahraini government frequently did not respect its own laws regarding human rights, let alone the standards set by international human rights treaties. Additionally, the report highlighted cases of arbitrary arrest and detention; restrictions placed on freedom of speech, press, and assembly; and the use of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, among other rights abuses.

Bahrain’s response to the 2012 country report has been predictably shrill, a sure sign the U.S. State Department struck a nerve with a regime that has become increasingly sensitive about its image. Unfortunately, the Bahraini government seems unable or unwilling to recognize that the best way to improve its image is to undertake the reforms that the king promised in 2011.

Instead, the government continues to dispense the same argument it has been making since 2011: that the opposition is to blame for ongoing strife and sectarian divisions in the country — a rift that the government itself is largely responsible for. As the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom noted in its 2013 annual report, the government of Bahrain must overcome sectarian divisions by addressing the “ongoing lack of accountability for abuses against the Shi’a community since 2011.”

This conclusion was also reflected in a report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor in December 2012, in which the agency noted the ongoing “deterioration in the labor rights environment in Bahrain” and “political and sectarian-based discrimination against Shia workers.” The agency recently requested formal consultations with the Bahraini government to address allegations of ongoing labor rights violations following the 2011 crackdown.

The U.S. government’s increasing interest in Bahrain may seem unusual given its size (its population and area are about the same as Rhode Island’s), but the presence of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain gives this small island nation outsized importance when it comes to U.S. foreign policy in the Gulf region. As Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said in a speech at Princeton University this May, the United States does not “have the luxury of pivoting away from the Middle East, which sometimes has a nasty way of reminding us of its relevance.”

Several analysts have echoed this sentiment, including former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, who recently raised concerns regarding the increasing instability in Bahrain. If the situation continues to deteriorate, they argue, Bahrain may no longer be a viable location to host the Fifth Fleet. Although the Defense Department has yet to create a “Plan B” to relocate the fleet, it appears at least to recognize the threat such instability could pose. In March, then-head of U.S. Central Command General James Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee that dialogue and reform in Bahrain are “key to ensuring the country’s stability and security,” which are needed in light of simmering tensions between Iran and the West.

The relationship between the United States and Bahrain grows more complicated by the day. These tensions—and the Bahraini government’s unfaltering intransigence toward reform—will put American diplomacy to the test in the coming weeks and months. It is a test we cannot afford to fail. As President Barack Obama said in his 2013 State of the Union Address, “[i]n the Middle East, we will stand with citizens as they demand their universal rights, and support stable transitions to democracy. The process will be messy, … but we can—and will—insist on respect for the fundamental rights of all people.”

The U.S. government can begin to demonstrate its commitment to democracy and human rights in the Middle East by making foreign aid and military assistance contingent upon the government of Bahrain’s full and satisfactory implementation of the BICI recommendations. In the meantime, the Defense Department should begin developing a contingency plan to relocate the Fifth Fleet in the event that the security situation in Bahrain makes the fleet’s presence there untenable. Finally, the U.S. Department of Labor should insist that Bahrain adequately address legitimate concerns regarding its ongoing violations of international labor laws. Although the path to reform in Bahrain may be messy, the consequences of failure are worse, for Bahrain and for America.

*Director, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain

This oped originally appeared on Foreign Policy in Focus. 

The purpose of this prize is to “reward projects and activities of individuals, institutions, other entities or non-governmental organizations for excellent models, best practice, and creative use of ICTs [information and communications technology] to enhance learning, teaching and overall educational performance.” Despite the noble aims of this prize, the actions of the award’s namesake fail to demonstrate respect for the enhancement of learning and teaching in Bahrain.

The kingdom of Bahrain has suffered from significant ongoing human rights violations since the outbreak of protests there in 2011. More than 100 people are estimated to have been killed—nearly all of them civilians—in the more than two years since the protests began. In addition, thousands of people have been injured in attacks by Bahraini security forces.

Unfortunately, teachers and students have also been the subject of persecution by the Bahrain government since 2011. Top leaders of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association were arrested, abused and tortured in detention, and sentenced to jail terms for exercising their rights to free speech by participating in peaceful protests. Teachers who joined them were arrested and beaten by security forces. In many cases, the Ministry of Education punished teachers who had dared to peacefully exercise their rights by reducing their salaries, suspending them, or firing from their jobs. Those teachers have yet to be compensated for their unlawful detention, or for back pay owed as a result of their salary reductions, suspensions, and firings.

Students who joined in the protests also came under attack. They were interrogated, arrested, detained, and tortured; suspended or expelled from school; and threatened with revocation of their student scholarships by the Ministry of Education. They were also forced to sign “loyalty pledges” proclaiming allegiance to the regime and promising not to participate in any future protests—in short, a pledge to renounce their rights to free expression and association.

All of these abuses were done with the full knowledge and acquiescence of King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the individual whose namesake has been given to support a prize in education. ADHRB urged UNESCO to reevaluate the prudence in associating this highly-respected body with such condemnable human rights violations which fly in the face of UNESCO’s mission. Specifically, ADHRB asked UNESCO to reconsider its source of funding for this prize and to rename the prize to more accurately reflect the aims of the prize and UNESCO’s mission in support of education.