Bahrain_Joint_2015.03.19_English and Arabic
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19-March-2015

On 15 March 2015 during a side event that was organised by Americans
for Democracy Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), human rights defenders Husain
Abdulla, Executive Director of ADHRB, and Abdulnabi Al-Ekri, President
of Bahrain Transparency Society and member of the Bahrain Human Rights
Observatory (BHRO), were reportedly threatened by MP Khalid Al-Shaer, Chairman
of the Human Rights Committee in the Bahraini Parliament. This resulted in the
need to bring UN security to prevent the MP from attending the event.

 

Al-Shaer reportedly threatened Al-Ekri that he will “be
discussing things at the public prosecution” when returning to Bahrain. In
addition to telling Abdulla that “I came to Geneva to see you,” he accused him
of using ADHRB to “defame his homeland and spread lies.” He then added, “I know
that you still have family residing in Bahrain and you can imagine what would
have already happened to them [his family], if the government was truly
bad.”

 

During the event, another member of Al-Shaer’s delegation
took pictures of the Bahraini activists with her mobile phone. During previous
Human Rights Council sessions, people accredited by the Government of Bahrain
took pictures of human rights defenders as a means of intimidation. In
addition, articles were written in the local Bahrain press defaming organisers.
See http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=397594 and http://www.alwatannews.net/PrintedNewsViewer.aspx?ID=BAaNaDzsvsXPB733337Ta65uI1Q933339933339.

 

Husain Abdulla informed the President of the Human Rights
Council, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretariat of
the Human Rights Council and other bodies and mechanisms about this threatening
incident.

The
co-signed organisations believe that human rights defenders Husain Abdulla and
Abdulnabi Al-Ekri have been targeted solely due to their co-operation with the
UN system and in particular their role in documenting and reporting the
continued human rights violations in Bahrain.

Attacks
and intimidation against Bahraini human rights defenders for engaging with the
UN human rights system have increased in recent years. Authorities continue to
systematically target defenders who collaborate with the international
mechanisms on politically-motivated charges using the judiciary, which lacks both
independence and the most basic international standards. It is critical that
the UN Human Rights Council addresses these threats and calls upon the
Government of Bahrain to ensure the safety of human rights defenders returning
to Bahrain after Geneva.

The
co-signed organisations call on the government of Bahrain to:

1.    
Immediately
stop the ongoing reprisals against human rights defenders who are engaging with
the international mechanisms including the UN system;

2.    
Immediately
stop the human rights violations as well as escalating attacks on human rights
defenders;

3.    
Release all human rights defenders jailed in Bahrain,
stop putting them on trial and lift the travel bans imposed on them;

4.    
Make
the amendments and policy changes necessary to bring domestic legislation and
procedures into conformity with Bahrain’s international obligations and
commitments to ensure and prevent violations of freedoms protected by the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights; and

5.    
Guarantee
in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to
carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals,
and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

 

Signed,

Americans
for Democracy Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

Amman Center for Human Rights Studies

Arabic
Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)

Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria

Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF Network)

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)

Bahrain Observatory for Human Rights (BOHR)

Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)

Bahrain Salam for Human Rights

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Information (CIHRS)

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

Committee for the Defense of Democracy Freedoms and Human Rights
in Syria

Damien McCormack – Irish Surgeon and activist

Gulf
Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Human rights Organization in Syria (MAF)

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the
framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

International
Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association
(IJRDA)

Kurdish Organization to Defense Human Rights

Lawyer’s
Rights Watch Canada

Lualua Centre for Human Rights

Metro Centre to Defend Journalists in Iraqi
Kurdistan

No
Peace Without Justice

Rewangeh

Syrian Federation for Human Rights Organizations and Bodies

The Tunisian Intuitive for Freedom of Expression

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework
of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders