Continued judicial harassment, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Nabeel Rajab

Judicial harassment /

Ill-treatment

Bahrain

October 27, 2017

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDHand the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new informationand requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

Newinformation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the continued judicialharassment, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Nabeel Rajab, co-founder and President of the Bahrain Center forHuman Rights (BCHR), founding Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights(GCHR), FIDH Deputy Secretary General and a member of the Middle East advisorycommittee at Human Rights Watch. Mr. Nabeel Rajab has been one of the country’smost vocal human rights defenders, denouncing human rights violations withinthe country’s Jaw prison, and denouncing Bahrain’s participation in bombings ofthe Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

According tothe information received, on October 26, 2017, Mr. Nabeel Rajab was transferredfrom the Ministry of Interior's “Qaala” police clinic to Jaw Prison. It hasbeen reported that Mr. Nabeel Rajab is being held in solitary confinement andwas subjected by prison guards to degrading treatment, including humiliatingand degrading body searches, forcibly shaving his hair, arbitrarily raiding hiscell at night and confiscating his personal items.

Since thebegging of his detention on June 13, 2016, Mr. Nabeel Rajab has been held underparticularly harsh detention condition, including solitary confinement, and isregularly prevented from accessing his lawyers.

Mr. Nabeel Rajab is being harassed by Bahrainiauthorities in two different court cases.

On October 26, 2017, an appeal hearing in the “Televisioninterviews case” was postponed to November 7, 2017. On July 10, 2017, the Manama’s Lower Criminal Court handed down a two years’ prison sentenceagainst Mr. Nabeel Rajab under charges of “deliberately spreading falseinformation and malicious rumours with the aim of discrediting the State” inrelation to television interviews he participated to. Mr. Nabeel Rajab facesadditional charges in at least two other cases related to articles published inforeign newspapers about Bahrain’s human rights record (see backgroundinformation).

In the so-called“Twitter case”, Mr. Nabeel Rajab is being accused of “insulting a statutorybody” (Article 216 of the Penal Code), “disseminating false rumours in time ofwar” (Article 133) and “offending a foreign country [Saudi Arabia]” (Article215), which carries up to 15 years in prison. Those charges are related totweets he posted denouncing the torture of detainees in the Kingdom’s JawPrison, where he is now being detained, and the human rights violationsperpetrated by the Saudi-Arabia led coalition air strikes in Yemen. The casewhich suffers endless postponements since July 2016 will next be heard onNovember 19, 2017.

The Observatory expresses its outmost concernsover reports of ill-treatment of Mr. Nabeel Rajab, whose health has severelydegraded since the beginning of his detention. The Observatory thus urges theBahraini authorities to guarantee Mr. Nabeel Rajab’s physical and psychologicalintegrity.

In itsconcluding observations on Bahrain published on May 12, 2017, the UnitedNations Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) drew attention to the fact that “excessiveuse of solitary confinement constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading punishmentor, depending on the circumstances, even torture (...)”[1].The UN CAT added that it was “deeply concerned” by the arbitrary imprisonment,torture and ill-treatment of detained human rights defenders, includingMr. Nabeel Rajab[2].

The Observatory denouncesthe continued arbitrary detention of Mr. Nabeel Rajab, which seems to be yetanother evidence of a long-standing pattern of harassment against him tosanction his legitimate human rights activity.

The Observatory callsupon the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr.Nabeel Rajab, to put an end to any act of harassment against him and, in themeantime, to ensure that all judicial proceedings against him are carried outin full compliance with the right to due process, the right to a fair trial andthe right to be presumed innocent, as protected under international law.

Background information:

On July 9, 2012, Mr. Rajab was sentenced to three months’imprisonment for several tweets posted on his twitter account. On August 23,2012, he was acquitted by the Higher Appeal Court.

On August 16, 2012, the Lower Criminal Court sentenced Mr. Rajabto three years of imprisonment for his participation in peaceful gatherings. InDecember 2012, the Appeals Court reduced the sentence to two years. He wasreleased in May 2014 after serving his term.

On October 1, 2014, Mr. Nabeel Rajab was arrested by the GeneralDirectorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security of theCriminal Investigation Department (CID) for “insulting a public institution”via Tweeter (Article 216). The case related to a tweet he published inSeptember 2014, in which he criticised the military institutions for generatingextremist ideologies (the “terrorism tweet” case). On November 2, 2014, theThird Lower Criminal Court ordered his release but barred him from leaving thecountry.

On January 20, 2015, the Third Lower Criminal Court sentenced him tosix months’ imprisonment for “insulting public institutions and the army”(Article 216).

In 2015, two other criminal charges were brought againstMr. Rajab. On February 26, 2015, he was summoned for investigations forcharges of “inciting hatred towards the regime” in relation to a speech he madein February 2011 during a funeral (the “funeral speech case”). To date, thepolice investigation is ongoing.

In addition, on April 2, 2015, Mr. Rajab was arrested, sent to theGeneral Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security,and placed in detention in solitary confinement in Isa Town Police Station. OnApril 3, 2015, he was interrogated by the CID regarding two new charges broughtagainst him under criminal case No. 2015/38288. The first charge was “insultinga statutory body”, referring to the Ministry of Interior in relation to tweetshe posted denouncing the torture of detainees at Jaw Prison (the “Jaw torturetweets” case). The second charge was “disseminating false rumours in time ofwar”, in relation to tweets he published about the Saudi-Arabia led coalitionair strikes in Yemen (the “Yemen tweets” case).

On May 14, 2015, the Bahrain Criminal Court of Appeal upheld thesix-month prison sentence (the “terrorism tweet” case).

On July 13, 2015, the King of Bahrain Hamad Ben Issa Al-Khalifa orderedthrough Royal Pardon the release of Mr. Nabeel Rajab for health reasons.Mr. Rajab had already served three of the six months’ jail sentence.Moreover, on the same date, the Public Prosecution imposed a travel ban againstMr. Rajab in relation to the Jaw torture and Yemen tweets cases.

In the morning of June 13, 2016, police forces reportedly led by theCybercrime Unit arrested Mr. Nabeel Rajab, after raiding his house andseizing a number of electronic devices. In the afternoon, he was able tocontact his wife by phone, and reported being detained at East Riffa policestation.

On June 14, Public Prosecution remanded him in custody on accusationsof “publishing and broadcasting false news that undermine the prestige of theState” (Article 134[3]).

On June 28, 2016, he was transferred from police custody to the BahrainDefence Force (BDF) Hospital due to unprecedented heart problems. On the sameday, he was examined by a doctor, and was transferred back to West Riffa policestation.

On July 12, during the hearing, the judge dismissed the request forrelease filed by Mr. Rajab’s lawyers and the hearing was postponed toAugust 2.

On August 2, 2016, the High Criminal Court decided to postpone thetrial to September 5 without justification.

On September 4, Mr. Rajab was summoned and questioned by CIDofficials. He was denied access to a lawyer on this occasion.

On September 5, 2016, the Public Prosecution announced that additionalcharges had been brought against Mr. Nabeel Rajab, for deliberatelydisseminating “false news and information and tendentious rumours thatundermine the kingdom’s prestige and stature”, in relation to a letterpublished in the New York Times onSeptember 4, 2016[4], describing his judicialharassment and arbitrary detention. If convicted, this could add one year tohis final sentence. In total, he now faces up to 16 years in prison.

On October 3, 2016, Mr. Nabeel Rajab underwent surgery to removehis gallbladder as a consequence of his poor detention conditions.

On October 6, 2016, the High Criminal Court decided after a five-minutehearing to postpone the trial to October 31, without providing anyjustification. Before the hearing, Mr. Rajab’s lawyers asked the Court acopy of his medical reports after the Ministry of Interior and the PublicProsecution failed to provide them, in clear violation of Mr. Rajab’sright to be informed of his own health condition.

Once more on October 31, 2016, the Fourth High Criminal Court postponedthe trial until December 15 in order to obtain a technical expert from theCyber-Crime Unit to determine who runs Rajab’s twitter account. Rajab arrivedat the court right before the hearing, and was taken out immediately after theJudge made his pronouncements, while Rajab’s lawyers were still makingapplications.

On December 15, 2016, after a fifteen-minute hearing during whichMr. Nabeel Rajab was not allowed to speak, the Fourth High Criminal Courtpostponed the verdict until December 28, 2016 and refused to release him.

On December 21, 2016, the Cybercrime Unit of the Ministry of Interiortook Mr. Nabeel Rajab out of custody for interrogation following thepublication of a letter[5]quoting him in French newspaper Le Mondeon December 19, 2016. The Cybercrime Unit accused Mr. Rajab of using thearticle to “spread false information and tendentious rumours insulting Bahrainand the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and harming their relations”.Investigations on those publications were still underway.

On December 28, 2016, Manama’s Fifth High Criminal Court acceded to anapplication for Mr. Nabeel Rajab’s temporary release following a failureto give any basis or any sufficient evidence of a link between him and theTwitter account with respect to the Yemeni and Jaw prison tweets.

Then Mr. Rajab was taken to the CID for temporary release.However, he was re-arrested later on the same day and referred to the PublicProsecution in relation to an investigation into televised interviews datingfrom 2014, which commenced in mid-June 2016.

On December 28, 2016, the Public Prosecution ordered the pre-trialdetention for seven days of Mr. Nabeel Rajab, pending investigation intotelevised interviews dating back to 2014. These interviews with televisionnetworks Lua Lua Channel, Al Etijah TV and Al-Alam News Network were related tothe human rights situation in Bahrain. In this case, Mr. Nabeel Rajab isbeing prosecuted on charge of “deliberately spreading false information andmalicious rumours with the aim of discrediting the State” (Article 134 of thePenal Code)[6], which carries up to threeyears in prison.

On January 5, 2017, the Public Prosecution renewed Mr. NabeelRajab’s pre-trial detention for a further 15 days, pending investigation.

On April 5, 2017, Mr. Nabeel Rajab underwent surgery for bleedingulcers at Manama’s military hospital. His family was denied the right to visithim while in hospital. Only two days after the surgery, Mr. Rajab was sentback to West Riffa police station where he has remained in solitary confinementmost of the time.

On April 8, 2017, Mr. Rajab was rushed to the police hospital inan ambulance because of an infected wound that followed the operation. Sincethat date, Mr. Nabeel Rajab is recovering from his medical condition and remainsin Qaala clinic, which is a division of the Ministry of Interior[7].

On July 10, 2017, the Manama’sLower Criminal Court handed down a two years’ prison sentence against Mr.Nabeel Rajab under charges of “deliberately spreading false information and maliciousrumours with the aim of discrediting the State” (Article 134 of the Penal Code)in the so called “Television interviews case”, inrelation to television interviews in which Mr. Nabeel Rajab was talking aboutBahrain’s human rights record.

On August 8,2017, a Bahraini Court held its 15th hearing in the so-called “Twitter case”against Mr. Nabeel Rajab and decided again to postpone the hearing untilSeptember 11, 2017, despite a request by Mr. Rajab’s lawyers to hold the next hearing sooner. Furthermore, thecourt stated that by then, new judges will be seating in the court.

Actions requested:

Please writeto the authorities of Bahrain urging them to:

TheObservatory urges the authorities of Bahrain to:

i. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. NabeelRajab and that of all human rights defenders in Bahrain;

ii. ReleaseMr. Nabeel Rajab immediately and unconditionally, as his detention is arbitraryand its conditions amount to ill-treatment and are endangering his life;

iii. Put anend to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr.Nabeel Rajab and against all human rights defenders in Bahrain;

iv. Conformin any circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly,in particular its Articles 1, Article 6 (c), 9, 11 and 12.2;

v. Ensure inall circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by Bahrain.

Addresses:

· Cheikh Hamadbin Issa AL KHALIFA, King of Bahrain, Fax: +973 176 64 587

· Cheikh KhaledBin Ahmad AL KHALIFA, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax : 00973 17 21 05 75; ofd@mofa.gov.bh

· Cheikh Khalidbin Ali AL KHALIFA, Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Fax: +973 175 31284

· Lt. Gen.Cheikh Rashed bin Abdulla AL KHALIFA, Minister of Interior, Email: info@interior.gov.bh

· H.E.Mr. Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri, Permanent Mission of Bahrain to the UnitedNations in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: + 41 22 758 96 50. Email: info@bahrain-mission.ch

· H.E. AhmedMohammed Yousif Aldoseri, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Kingdom ofBelgium, Fax: 0032 (0) 26472274; E-mail: Brussels.mission@mofa.gov.bh

***

Paris-Geneva, October 27, 2017

Kindly inform us of any action undertakenquoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protectionof Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programmeis to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against humanrights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European UnionHuman Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call theemergency line:

E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

Tel and fax FIDH: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 /+ 41 22 809 49 29

[1] See Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, OpinionA/HRC/WGAD/2013/12 No. 12/2013, July 25, 2013, par. 20.

[2] The Concluding Observations also refer to Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, former BCHR President,sentenced to life in prison in June 2011 for politically motivated charges andwhose health conditions have also been worsening.

[3] Article 134 of the Penal Code provides that “Apunishment of imprisonment for at least 3 months and a fine of at least BD100,or either penalty, shall be inflicted upon every citizen who deliberatelyreleases abroad false or malicious news, statements or rumours about domesticconditions in the State, so as to undermine financial confidence in the Stateor adversely affect its prestige or position, or exercise in any mannerwhatsoever activities that are harmful to the national interests. Thepunishment shall be imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years if anoffence is committed in wartime”.

[4] See “Letter from a Bahraini jail”, September 4,2016, The New York Times.

[5] See “Berlin et Paris,révisez vos liens avec les monarchies du Golfe”, in Le Monde December 19, 2016.

[6] An investigation into these char