HRC 33: BIRD Delivers Intervention on Arbitrary Detention in Bahrain
13 September 2016 – BIRD’s Director of Advocacy, Sayed Alwadaei, today delivered an oral intervention under item 3 on arbitrary detention in Bahrain at the
The freedom of expression, assembly and association continues to be severely restricted in Bahrain, where human rights defenders, opposition activists and religious leaders face arrest and harassment for speaking out against the government. Both the 2002 Press Law and the 2006 Anti-Terrorism Law, exploiting the law’s broad definition of terrorism, are employed to target the media.
In the country’s most famous freedom of expression case, Nabeel Rajab is charged with criticising the government on social media, for publishing a letter in the New York Times, as well as for criticising the government in a televised interview.
Other high-profile cases of free expression and association include opposition acitivst Ebrahim Sharif, who is charged with “incitement to hatred and contempt of the regime”, Sheikh Ali Salman, who is charged for calling for change of the regime, and Zainab al-Khawaja, who is charged for tearing up a picture of the king.
After the government has partially suspended al-Wasat newspaper, Bahrain’s only independent newspaper, a free media in Bahrain is de facto non existent. Prior government harassment against al-Wasat encompassed intimidation and the prosecution of key staff, one of whom, Karim Kakhrawi, died under torture.
13 September 2016 – BIRD’s Director of Advocacy, Sayed Alwadaei, today delivered an oral intervention under item 3 on arbitrary detention in Bahrain at the
For Immediate release: 13 September 2016 UN High Commissioner Slams “Disastrous” Bahrain for “Smashing the Voices of its People” The UN High Commissioner for Human
Bahrain’s Public Prosecutor today charged prominent human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, after the New York Times published his letter from prison. Mr. Rajab has been held in
HM Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Office of HM the King P.O. Box 555, Rifa’a Palace Kingdom of Bahrain Cc. The Rt Hon Boris
18 August 2016 – The Government of Bahrain has continued to target Shia religious leaders today, as authorities brought an additional charge of “inciting hatred”
10 August 2016 – NGO’s today sent an open letter to Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, raising urgent concerns over the
15 August 2016 – Bahrain’s authorities today charged with illegal gathering the human rights defender and scholar Sheikh Maytham Al-Salman and activist and medic Dr.
In the past week, the authorities have escalated their targeting of protesters in Duraz. The number of individuals summoned and arrested over the past week
8 August 2016 – The Government of Bahrain introduced further restrictions on the right to freedom of expression on the Internet last week, centralizing website-blocking
2 August 2016 – The High Criminal Court in Bahrain today postponed for the second time the trial of prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab