Bahrain’s Cat and Mouse Games

By William Fisher
Even as Bahrain accepted many of the recommendations to end human rights violations made during a UN review this week at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Bahraini human rights defenders reported threats against them as a result of their participation in the process.

At the upper levels of Bahraini Government, officials appeared to be using the rhetoric of statesmanship to convey their wish for sweeping reforms and maximum dialogue with citizens who have been demonstrating against the official repression that has kept the tiny country’s revolution alive for more than a year.

Bahrain, strategically positioned in the Arabian Gulf, is a kingdom ruled by Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain, and the al Khalifa family. King Hamad is a Sunni Muslim while a large majority of the country’s population is Shia Muslim. Shia citizens complain against discrimination in landing top jobs, accessing credit and property ownership. The country is of particular concern to the US as it is the home of the Fifth Fleet and a close neighbor to US ally, Saudi Arabia. At least 50 Bahrainis have been killed in clashes with the country’s security forces and with Saudi troops, who were dispatched under the aegis of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The King and his men have taken a number of bold moves to neutralize their opposition. He commissioned as blue-ribbon task force, headed by a distinguished Egyptian judge, to study the conflict from the very beginning and present findings and recommendations. He accepted the judge’s report personally and promised to begin immediately to implement its recommendations.

The report corroborated many of the people’s complaints, including the use of torture in the county’s prisons. The King made a number of appointments to correct that situation, including the appointment of John Timoney, former chief of police in Miami, Florida, as a senior consultant, and the naming of a new head of the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police and prisoners. The King also approved the establishment of an Ombudsman to investigate and adjudicate complaints made by either government or citizens against authorities.

In his final remarks at Bahrain's UPR adoption, H.E. Mr. Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, denied that anyone was kept in jail for exercising their free expression. He claimed all charges related to free expression had been dropped, and admitted “there may be some controversies” over certain cases.

Another major move by the government has been its attendance, along with several human rights groups, at the United Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Bahrain, a United Nations process whereby states and NGOs contribute towards improving the human rights record of a country. Bahrain was presented with 176 recommendations, immediately accepted 145 of them, and promised to study others.

Yet another major idea put for by Bahrain was its proposal that the Arab League establish a Human Rights Tribunal. The League also announced two high level appointments it said would represent a greater involvement of Bahraini women in decision-making positions, as well as providing regional support and recognition for working women.

Arab League Secretary General Dr. Nabeel Al-Arabi reinforced the proposal by declaring that the Tribunal will contribute to the regional efforts of the Arab states in supporting respect for Human Rights.

In her oral intervention at the UN, Maryam Al-Khawaja, of the Bahrain Council of Human Rights, noted, "The situation of targeting human rights defenders and the use of reprisals has dramatically escalated. Human rights defenders are constantly arrested, mistreated and the government continues to use the judiciary system as a tool to lock them up. Most, if not all of their charges are based on freedom of expression."

Among those detained are her father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, a founder of BCHR, who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in peaceful protests last year, and BCHR's President Nabeel Rajab, sentenced in August to three years in prison for calling for "illegal gatherings." During its intervention at the UN, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also noted that blogger Abduljalil Al-Singace had been sentenced to life and blogger Ali Abdulemam had been sentenced to 15 years in absentia - in violation of their right to free expression.

Maryam Al-Khawaja noted that there are approximately 1,400 political prisoners in Bahrain, 50 of whom are under 18.

As well, she reports, "The security forces are still using excessive force to repress all daily protests. Security forces continue the unprecedented use of tear gas during protests and inside residential areas. Also, arbitrary arrests using excessive force on the streets and during home raids by beating and insulting detainees are still ongoing and are not excluding minors. Many detainees are held in very bad conditions in the prisons and systematic torture is still ongoing in official and unofficial torture centers."

Dr. Nada Dhaif, of the Bahrain Rehabilitation & Anti Violence Organization (BRAVO), made an oral intervention highlighting the impact on families of having their loved ones detained, and mentioning that protesters are hurt by police, such as Zainab Al-Khawaja, currently detained with a broken leg. She also mentioned the reprisals against human rights defenders who travel to Geneva and forcefully called on the Foreign Minister to immediately release all political prisoners. “Activists are not criminals,” she said.

Among Bahraini human rights defenders lobbying in Geneva at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) who have been threatened or harassed was Mohammed Al-Maskati, president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, who received death threats over the past week. Pro-government newspaper Al-Watan published photos of the civil society activists who were in Geneva, and the threats continue.

However, the UN is taking the question of reprisals seriously, including at a panel session on the topic on 13 September. Maryam Al-Khawaja and Al-Maskati met with the UN HRC President Laura Dupuy Lasserre to discuss concerns about reprisals against Bahraini civil society. The President herself came under attack after she spoke out in the council against threats to Bahrain human rights defenders during Bahrain's UPR in May.

According to a statement by US-based Human Rights Watch, the recommendations accepted include "more than a dozen calling on the government to hold security forces accountable for rights abuses, including wrongful deaths and mistreatment of detainees in government custody." Other recommendations include immediately releasing prisoners who have been convicted solely for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and free expression during pro-democracy demonstrations in February and March 2011.

The UPR "needs to be quickly followed by releasing leaders of peaceful protests, holding accountable high officials responsible for policies of torture, and adopting broader reforms to uphold human rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The government has been claiming for months that it accepts the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) but continues to stall on the core issues and to deny that political detainees are still in Bahraini jails.”

Adding to the schizophrenic flavor of seemingly contradictory actions taking place simultaneously, was the action of a Bahraini appeals court which upheld the convictions of nine medics who treated demonstrators in last year’s uprising. Human Rights First charged that “the verdicts are indicative of the human rights backslide” happening in the Kingdom.

“Today was another moment of truth for the Bahrain regime, one it again failed miserably,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley, who was in one of the appeal court hearings with the medics in March 2012. “These medics are going to prison for treating the injured and for telling the world about the regime’s crackdown. This isn’t the kind of progress that the Kingdom keeps promising the world is under way.”

The appeal verdicts follow the original sentences given by the military court to the 20 medics in September 2011. The medics were arrested, detained and tortured into giving false confessions last year and were released from custody while their appeal was under way. In June 2012 some of the 20 were acquitted while nine had their convictions confirmed and were sentenced to jail terms of between one month and five years. It was an appeal against these convictions and jail terms that was rejected today.

The United States government sent observers to the medics’ trial, and has urged the Bahrain regime “to abide by its commitment to transparent judicial proceedings, including a fair trial, access to attorneys, and verdicts based on credible evidence conducted in full accordance with Bahraini law and Bahrain’s international legal obligations.” Dooley notes that this has clearly not happened today, and the U.S. government should say so clearly and publicly.

“September was a terrible month for human rights in Bahrain,” observed Dooley. “Thirteen leading dissidents had long prison sentences against them upheld by the courts, prominent human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab and Zainab al Khawaja lost appeal cases to release them from prison and a teenage boy was killed by the police. These verdicts open October in a similarly ominous style.”

In another case brought against 28 other medics, a verdict is expected shortly.

Turning its other cheek, on 19 September, Bahrain accepted 145 of the 176 recommendations made as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Bahrain, a process whereby states and NGOs contribute towards improving the human rights record of a country. The process occurs every four years.

According to a statement by Human Rights Watch, the recommendations accepted include "more than a dozen calling on the government to hold security forces accountable for rights abuses, including wrongful deaths and mistreatment of detainees in government custody." Other recommendations include immediately
releasing prisoners who have been convicted solely for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and free expression during pro-democracy demonstrations in February and March 2011.

A week before, Salah Ali, Bahrain's minister of state for human rights, said the government fully accepted 143 of the 176 recommendations in response to the report of the UN working group on Bahrain's UPR that was issued in July 2012.

The UPR "needs to be quickly followed by releasing leaders of peaceful protests, holding accountable high officials responsible for policies of torture, and adopting broader reforms to uphold human rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The government has been claiming for
months that it accepts the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) but continues to stall on the core issues and to deny that political detainees are still in Bahraini jails.”

Many UN member states have been using the BICI, Bahrain's own internal review of the human rights violations that occurred following peaceful pro-democracy protests that began in early 2011, as a benchmark for accountability. Following the oral intervention by the United States, Assistant Secretary Michael Posner
said, “progress is slowing down, and that's a concern." He noted, "everyone who is peacefully dissenting and expressing their views has the right to do that and shouldn't be prosecuted.”

The United Kingdom parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee is to launch an inquiry into human rights abuses in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, following a briefing organised by Index on Censorship with Maryam Al-Khawaja, Acting President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).

In his final remarks at Bahrain's UPR adoption, H.E. Mr. Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, denied that anyone was kept in jail for exercising their free expression. He claimed all charges related to free expression had been dropped, and admitted “there may be some controversies” over certain cases.

Yet in her oral intervention at the UN, BCHR's Maryam Al-Khawaja noted, "The situation of targeting human rights defenders and the use of reprisals has dramatically escalated. Human rights defenders are constantly arrested, mistreated and the government continues to use the judiciary system as a tool to
lock them up. Most, if not all of their charges are based on freedom of expression." Watch the video online here.

Among those detained are her father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, a founder of BCHR, who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in peaceful protests last year, and BCHR's President Nabeel Rajab, sentenced in August to three years in prison for calling for "illegal gatherings." During its intervention at the UN, Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) also noted that blogger Abduljalil Al-Singace had been sentenced to life and blogger Ali Abdulemam had been sentenced to 15 years in absentia - in violation of their right to free expression.

Among Bahraini human rights defenders lobbying in Geneva at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) who have been threatened or harassed was Mohammed Al-Maskati, president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, who received death threats over the past week. Pro-government newspaper Al-Watan published photos of the civil society activists who were in Geneva, and the threats continue.

However, the UN is taking the question of reprisals seriously, including at a panel session on the topic on 13 September. Maryam Al-Khawaja and Al-Maskati met with the UN HRC President Laura Dupuy Lasserre this week to discuss concerns about reprisals against Bahraini civil society. The President herself came under attack after she spoke out in the council against threats to Bahrain human rights defenders during Bahrain's UPR in May.
According to the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), during a 17 September event about human rights defenders in the Gulf region, “Several individuals who possessed badges from the Bahrain government mission began to harass and attempted to intimidate the speakers on the panel before the event
began. The organizers of the event then asked these representatives of the Bahrain Mission to kindly remove their video camera from the room.” Likewise, some of the same people turned up at an event organized by Civicus, CIHRS and other groups on 18 September, Bearing Witness: Bahrain and the UPR Process, to
try to intimidate the participants.

CIHRS, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) jointly called “on the government of Bahrain to abide by its commitments to provide security and protection for human rights defenders who co-operate with the UN.”

A Bahraini appeals court has upheld the convictions of nine medics who treated demonstrators in last year’s uprising. Human Rights First notes the verdicts are indicative of the human rights backslide happening in the Kingdom.

“Today was another moment of truth for the Bahrain regime, one it again failed miserably,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley, who was in one of the appeal court hearings with the medics in March 2012. “These medics are going to prison for treating the injured and for telling the world about the regime’s crackdown. This isn’t the kind of progress that the Kingdom keeps promising the world is under way.”

Today’s appeal verdicts follow the original sentences given by the military court to the 20 medics in September 2011. The medics were arrested, detained and tortured into giving false confessions last year and were released from custody while their appeal was under way. In June 2012 some of the 20 were acquitted while nine had their convictions confirmed and were sentenced to jail terms of between one month and five years. It was an appeal against these convictions and jail terms that was rejected today.

The United States government sent observers to the medics’ trial, and has urged the Bahrain regime “to abide by its commitment to transparent judicial proceedings, including a fair trial, access to attorneys, and verdicts based on credible evidence conducted in full accordance with Bahraini law and Bahrain’s international legal obligations.” Dooley notes that this has clearly not happened today, and the U.S. government should say so clearly and publicly.

“September was a terrible month for human rights in Bahrain,” observed Dooley. “Thirteen leading dissidents had long prison sentences against them upheld by the courts, prominent human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab and Zainab al Khawaja lost appeal cases to release them from prison and a teenage boy was killed by the police. These verdicts open October in a similarly ominous style.”

A verdict is expected soon in another case brought against 28 other medics.

Last month, the Bahraini Government pledged to implement more than 140 of the 176 recommendations laid out in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) conducted by the United National Human Rights Council. At the time, Human Rights First noted the pledge was welcome news, but cautioned that the Kingdom has reneged on similar promises in the past.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, reaffirmed that the Kingdom continues to press forward in its comprehensive reforms and modernization through the national institutions and the rule of law, upholding and ensuring the respect and protection of the principles of pluralism, human rights and justice.

Whether the right words will add up to the right policies and practices remains to be seen.