April 22, 2015

Weekly Newsletter #43

Wednesday, 22 April 2015, Issue #43

BIRD Weekly Newsletter

In this Issue

• New Amnesty Report • Formula One • Prison Torture •

BIRD Takes Part in the Amnesty International Talk on Bahrain

20 April 2015, London – The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) has taken part in the Amnesty International event, Bahrain: Silencing Dissent, that marked the launch of the new report by Amnesty, Bahrain: Behind the Rhetoric. The report details rampant abuses including torture, arbitrary arrests and the excessive use of force by government forces. It also claims that the government of Bahrain has failed to deliver on reforms despite repeated promises by its western allies, namely the UK government. The report highlighted misleading comments by the UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond who claimed that Bahrain was “travelling in the right direction”.

The speakers at the event were Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the Director of Advocacy at BIRD, Shane Enright the Global Trade Union Advisor at Amnesty International, Said Haddadi the Lead MENA Researcher at Amnesty International, Jalila Salman the Vice President of Bahrain’s Teachers Association and Jalila Sayed the lawyer of Nabeel Rajab.

Read the press release here

Full Report – Bahrain: Behind the Rhetoric

Take Action

Insulting the King, the country’s flag and institutions or even a foreign country can lead to seven years imprisonment in Bahrain. One activist, Zainab Al-Khawaja, faces three years in prison for tearing apart a picture of the King. Another, Nabeel Rajab was sentenced in January to six months for ‘insulting public institutions (Ministries of Interior and Defence)’ on twitter and is currently arrested on a separate investigation. Student and son of a POC Ahmad Mshaima is now serving a one year prison sentence for reading a poem considered offensive to the King. The list goes on, with tens of prisoners of conscience continuing to be held behind bars since 2011 for peacefully expressing dissent.

Sign the petition launched by Amnesty International to protect freedom of expression in Bahrain

Click Here to Sign the Petition

BIRD Attends 54th Session of the UN Committee Against Torture After Submitting Torture Report

20 April 2015, Geneva – The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is currently attending the 54th Session of the UN Committee Against Torture which opened on Monday. On the agenda is Bahrain’s ‘List of Issues Prior to Reporting’ which will be discussed and finalised by the Committee during the session. The list will highlight issues of concerns regarding deficiencies in law and practice regarding torture and ill treatment in Bahrain. The government is obliged to respond to this list as part of its simplified reporting obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture. BIRD has already submitted a report to the Committee highlighting issues of concerns and systematic practices of torture prevalent in Bahrain.

Bahrain has not submitted a periodic treaty report to the committee since 2004 despite it being due in 2007.

Upcoming Film

Witness Bahrain: The Uprising the World Forgot

www.witnessbahrain.com

Updates from the Ground

53 arrested including 8 children during the Formula One race

1 sentenced to a total of 1 years in prison
9 charged and 1 sentenced to three months imprisonment for “insulting an Arabian country”
114 trials postponed
Security forces clamped down on anti-Formula One protests before and during the race.
7-year-old boy shot in the head using tear gas
Detainees at Bahrain’s central prison “Jau” allege that torture is ongoing.
Head of Al Wefaq, Ali Salman, on trial today.