Joint statement: Human rights defenders Husain Abdulla and Abdulnabi Al-Ekri threatened at the Human Rights Council

On 15 March 2015 during a side event that was organised by Americansfor Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), human rights defenders HusainAbdulla, Executive Director of ADHRB, and Abdulnabi Al-Ekri, Presidentof Bahrain Transparency Society and member of the Bahrain Human RightsObservatory (BHRO), were reportedly threatened by MP Khalid Al-Shaer, Chairmanof the Human Rights Committee in the Bahraini Parliament. This resulted in theneed to bring UN security to prevent the MP from attending the event.

Al-Shaer reportedly threatened Al-Ekri that he will “bediscussing things at the public prosecution” when returning to Bahrain. Inaddition to telling Abdulla that “I came to Geneva to see you,” he accused himof using ADHRB to “defame his homeland and spread lies.” He then added, “I knowthat you still have family residing in Bahrain and you can imagine what wouldhave already happened to them [his family], if the government was trulybad."

During the event, another member of Al-Shaer’s delegationtook pictures of the Bahraini activists with her mobile phone. During previousHuman Rights Council sessions, people accredited by the Government of Bahraintook pictures of human rights defenders as a means of intimidation. Inaddition, 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 RightsCouncil, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretariat ofthe Human Rights Council and other bodies and mechanisms about this threateningincident.

Theco-signed organisations believe that human rights defenders Husain Abdulla andAbdulnabi Al-Ekri have been targeted solely due to their co-operation with theUN system and in particular their role in documenting and reporting thecontinued human rights violations in Bahrain.

Attacksand intimidation against Bahraini human rights defenders for engaging with theUN human rights system have increased in recent years. Authorities continue tosystematically target defenders who collaborate with the internationalmechanisms on politically-motivated charges using the judiciary, which lacks bothindependence and the most basic international standards. It is critical thatthe UN Human Rights Council addresses these threats and calls upon theGovernment of Bahrain to ensure the safety of human rights defenders returningto Bahrain after Geneva.

Theco-signed organisations call on the government of Bahrain to:

1. Immediatelystop the ongoing reprisals against human rights defenders who are engaging withthe international mechanisms including the UN system;

2. Immediatelystop the human rights violations as well as escalating attacks on human rightsdefenders;

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

4. Makethe amendments and policy changes necessary to bring domestic legislation andprocedures into conformity with Bahrain’s international obligations andcommitments to ensure and prevent violations of freedoms protected by theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights; and

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

Signed,

Americansfor Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) Amman Center for Human Rights Studies

ArabicNetwork 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 Rightsin Syria Damien McCormack – Irish Surgeon and activist

GulfCentre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Human rights Organization in Syria (MAF)

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

InternationalService for Human Rights (ISHR)

Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association(IJRDA)

Kurdish Organization to Defense Human Rights

Lawyer’sRights Watch Canada

Lualua Centre for Human Rights

Metro Centre to Defend Journalists in IraqiKurdistan

NoPeace 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 frameworkof the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders