Bahrain_2015.07.09_Joint_Statement_EP_Resolution
2 pages / 198 KB
Thursday 9 July 2015 – The European Centre for Democracy and Human
Rights and the Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH) and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), welcome
the European Parliament’s urgency resolution on Bahrain, particularly on the
case of Nabeel Rajab, adopted today. The Human Rights situation in Bahrain
has continued to deteriorate and our organisations are pleased to see the
European Parliament has chosen to take a united stance against such violations.
“This
sends a strong and clear message to the Bahraini
authorities that the European Parliament is very much concerned about the
perpetration of Human Rights violations in Bahrain, and that it will not remain
silent” (Husain Abdulla, Executive Director of Americans for Democracy and
Human Rights in Bahrain, member of the ECDHR coalition).
The European Parliament highlights the lack of
progress in the implementation of meaningful reforms for the protection of
Human Rights in Bahrain and it urgently calls upon its government to
immediately and unconditionally release all Human Rights Defenders and
political prisoners and to abide by its Human Rights commitments under
international law.
Nabeel Rajab, like many other Human Rights
Defenders in Bahrain, has suffered oppression and ill-treatment from the
Bahraini authorities due to his activities. A climate of repression against
peaceful dissent reigns in Bahrain since the 2011 protests, in a country where
freedom of expression and thought and of gathering are criminalised. In
particular, Human
Rights Defenders face continous judicial harassment and arbitrary detention.
Some of them have been exposed to severe torture.
As the resolution points out “the Bahrain authorities has been intensifying the use of repressive
measures against civil society activists and peaceful opposition”. In the
past seven months, the government has revoked the citizenship of 128 people,
including 9 minors, rendering most of them stateless, due to their peaceful
opposition against the regime which is in blatant violation of international
law. Also, the use of death penalty has dramatically increased in Bahrain, with
4 individuals being sentenced to death only in 2015, pointing towards a very
worrying trend on the use of death sentences.
“It
is encouraging to see that the European Parliament is denouncing Human
Rights abuses in Bahrain. This resolution should be the first step for the
European Union as a whole to put human rights at the centre of its diplomatic
relations with Bahrain”, declared Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.
ECDHR and the Observatory join the call made by
the European Parliament for “a rapid
collective EU effort to develop a comprehensive strategy on how the EU and the
Commission can actively push for the release of the imprisoned activists and
prisoners of conscience”.
The
Resolution also urges the European Union to properly implement its guidelines
on human rights defenders and torture and to ban exports of tear gas and crowd
control equipment until investigations are conducted regarding their improper
use and until the perpetrators of such improper use are held accountable.
ECDHR, FIDH and the OMCT demand that the EU acts diligently upon these key
recommendations and in addition that it undertake an evaluation
of support offered to the Bahrain police and justice sectors.
“We
urge the government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release all
Human Rights Defenders and political activists imprisoned and to abide by its
obligations under the United Nations Human Rights Charter and the United
Nations Convention Against Torture, along with its other commitments under
international and humanitarian law”, concluded OMCT Secretary General, Gerald Staberock
For further information please contact:
ECDHR:
Isabel Cerda Marcos, Email: icerdamarcos@ecdhr.org,
Tel: +32 26094415
FIDH:
Arthur Manet (French, English, Spanish), Email: press@fidh.org, Tel: +33 6 72 28 42
94 (Paris)
Lucie Kroening (French, English, German, Arabic), Email: press@fidh.org, Tel: +33 6 48 05 91
57 (Paris)
OMCT:
Miguel Martin Zumalacárregui, Email: mmz@omct.org, Tel: +32 2 218 37 19
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