08 January 2013

Spokesperson for the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights: Cécile Pouilly

Location: Geneva

Subjects: 1) Bahrain
2) Qatar

1) Bahrain

We regret that
Bahrain’s highest court on Monday upheld the convictions
of 13 activists for their role in pro-democracy
demonstrations, after two years of trials and despite the
conclusions of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
and the appeals by the international community concerning
the judicial procedure and allegations of torture,

These
persons are political and human rights activists and we are
concerned they may have been wrongly convicted for
legitimate activities. We are also concerned by the extreme
harshness of some of the sentences, including imprisonment
for life.

In a separate development, we condemn the
continued arbitrary detention of Mr. Said Yousif
Al-Muhafdhah, the Vice President of the Bahrain Center for
Human Rights (BCHR), who was arrested on 17 December 2012
while monitoring a protest in Manama, tweeting about attacks
on protesters and posting a picture of a demonstrator
wounded during the protest.

His case is expected to be
reviewed by the Public Prosecution Office on 9 January. We
call on the Bahraini authorities to release him immediately.

2) Qatar

We are extremely
concerned about Mohammed al Ajami (also known as Ibn al
Dheeb), a well-known Qatari poet who was sentenced to life
in prison on 29 November 2012 by a Qatari court for a poem
considered to be insulting the nation’s symbols and
encouraging the overthrow of its ruling system.

We are
concerned by the fairness of his trial, including the right
to counsel. The trial has been marred by a number of
procedural irregularities and several of the sessions were
held in camera. The initial statement of the defendant was
allegedly tampered with to wrongly incriminate him for
reciting his poem in public.

We are also concerned that
Mr. al Ajami has apparently spent many months in solitary
confinement and remains there despite a court order during
his first instance trial to place him under normal
conditions.

We understand that the second appeal is
scheduled for January 27 and we continue to monitor the
situation closely.

—

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ENDS

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