ARTICLE 19 and 31 international organizations have sent an open letter to member states and observer states ahead of the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which begins on June 18, urging them to express their concerns about the human rights situation in Bahrain.
Read the letter below.
Your Honor,
Ahead of and during the upcoming 56th session of the Human Rights Council, we urge your country and your delegation to express concern about the human rights situation in Bahrain, in particular the continuing arbitrary detention of human rights defenders and opposition leaders who have been unjustly imprisoned since 2011.
Thirteen years after Bahrain’s popular uprising, institutional injustice has intensified and political repression targeting dissidents, human rights defenders, clerics, and independent civil society has effectively closed off any space for the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression or peaceful activity in the country. Despite a series of legal reforms and the establishment of a new national human rights institution based on recommendations from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, an independent committee commissioned by the King in response to international concern over the crackdown on protests in 2011, most of these measures have had little effect in practice.
The recent amnesty issued by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on April 8, 2024 to mark Eid al-Fitr and his 25th anniversary on the throne was a significant move. According to a study conducted by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, the amnesty included the release of over 650 political prisoners, marking a change in state policy from previous amnesties. While this act is noteworthy, Bahraini authorities must stop unfairly prosecuting their critics in the first place.
We also express concern that the amnesty excludes many people who played key roles in the 2011 pro-democracy movement, and that an estimated 550 political prisoners remain incarcerated.
As we approach Eid al-Adha on June 16, 2024, and the 56th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC56) begins, we see an important opportunity to call for further releases. We urge your government to continue to monitor the situation in Bahrain and to raise our concerns at the highest level to the Bahraini authorities, both publicly and privately. We further urge your government to seek the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals imprisoned for their political beliefs, and a review of those convicted and sentenced to death after unfair trials in full compliance with international fair trial standards.
Cases of concern
We bring to your attention specific cases of people whose human rights have been violated and who continue to be unjustly imprisoned in Bahrain, despite widespread condemnation from the international community.
Bahraini-Danish human rights activist Abdulhadi Al Khawaja has been arbitrarily detained since 2011 for participating in peaceful demonstrations. Bahraini authorities subjected Al Khawaja to severe physical, sexual and mental torture and his health condition deteriorated significantly during his long imprisonment. Award-winning human rights activist and blogger Abduljalil Al Shinghaseh has remained arbitrarily detained since 2011 after being sentenced to life imprisonment for “plotting to overthrow the government”. It has been almost three years since he began a hunger strike of solid food, surviving on only a liquid multivitamin supplement, tea with milk and sugar, water and salt after authorities confiscated his research papers. He is disabled and is denied proper medical care despite being on a hunger strike. 76-year-old opposition leader Hassan Mushaimah is serving a life sentence solely for exercising his right to freedom of association and expression. Their health has deteriorated over the past few months and they remain arbitrarily detained without proper medical care. Since their transfer to Kanu Medical Center in 2021, Al-Singaseh and Mushaima have been held in prolonged solitary confinement and denied access to sunlight. Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of the dissolved opposition party Al-Wefaq, was convicted in 2018 on politically motivated charges related to espionage and sentenced to life in prison. He has been incarcerated since 2014 on a separate conviction related to a speech he made in opposition to parliamentary elections that his party boycotted in 2014. Amnesty International has described him as a prisoner of conscience and called the conviction a “travesty of justice.”
More than a decade ago, the Human Rights Council issued a statement expressing concern “regarding due process guarantees in the trial of 13 political activists whose sentences, including life sentences, were finalized in January 2013.” It notes that of the “13 political activists” mentioned, 10 remain arbitrarily detained, including those named above.
In 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists documented the imprisonment of journalists, including Ali Mehraj and Hassan Kanbar, who had been excluded from recent releases.
Additionally, 26 people are on death row and face imminent execution in Bahrain, many of whom allege torture and unfair trials. Mohammed Ramadan and Hussein Musa have been illegally detained for more than a decade and were sentenced to death in unfair trials tainted by allegations of torture.
Conclusions and Recommendations
In light of the above, we urge your delegation to take a proactive stance in the run-up to Eid Al-Adha and during the upcoming sessions, and to:
Call on Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals imprisoned solely for exercising their human rights. Address these developments nationally and together with other countries, including in forums for dialogue with the Special Rapporteur and Independent Experts on health, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, independence of judges and lawyers, and international solidarity. Issue a statement expressing concern about individual cases of human rights defenders and opposition leaders who continue to be arbitrarily detained in Bahrain in violation of international law.
We promise to give you the utmost consideration.
Sincerely,
ACCESS NOW ALQST Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) Amnesty International ARTICLE 19 Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) DAWN English PEN European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) FairSquare Femena Freedom House Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) Human Rights First Human Rights Sentinel Human Rights Watch IFEX Censorship Index International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) International Human Rights Services (ISHR) MENA Human Rights Group No Justice, No Peace PEN USA PEN International Raft Redress Scholars at Risk #FreeAlKhawaja Campaign Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Global Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
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