Nabeel Rajab sentenced to three years imprisonment while judicial harassment continues

New Information

BHR 001 / 0812 / OBS 048.5

Sentencing

Arbitrarydetention / Judicial harassment

Bahrain

August 16, 2012

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

Newinformation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the conviction to threeyears’ imprisonment of Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre forHuman Rights (BCHR), Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) andFIDH Deputy Secretary General[1].

Accordingto the information received, on August 16, 2012, the Lower Criminal Courtsentenced Mr. Nabeel Rajab to three years’ imprisonment. Mr. Rajab appearedbefore the Court for three cases related to his participation in peacefulgatherings in favour of fundamental freedoms and democracy:

-The first case relates to charges of “participating in an illegal assembly” and“calling others to join”, in relation to a protest organised on March 31, 2012in Manama to denounce the detention of the founder of GCHR, former President ofthe Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), and former MENA Director at FrontLine, Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja.

-The second case relates to chargesof “involvement in illegal practices and incitement to gatherings andcalling for unauthorised marches through social networking sites” in relationto preparations for a protest in Manama on January 12, 2012.

-The third case relates to charges of “participating in an illegal assembly” inrelation to several protests that took place in Manama in February 2012.

TheCourt thus sentenced Mr. Nabeel Rajab to one year imprisonment for each ofthese three cases.

Hisrelatives were denied access to the courtroom.

Thethree cases mentioned above were merged on July 26, 2012, and the hearing forall three cases had been initially re-scheduled to September 26. However, thedate was changed again to August 5, 2012, and the latest hearing took place onAugust 12, 2012, leaving no time to the defence to prepare.

Inaddition, Mr. Rajab also remains charged with allegedly “libelling theresidents of Al Muharraq” after a tweet he posted on his Twitter account onJune 2, 2012 (see background information). He was sentenced by the 5th LowerCriminal Court to three months’ imprisonment on July 9, 2012, and the HigherAppeal Court is now expected to issue the verdict on the appeal filed on thiscase. The verdict was expected today, but was eventually re-scheduled to August23, 2012 (see background information).

TheObservatory strongly denounces the terms of imprisonment issued against Mr.Nabeel Rajab and is extremely concerned about the ongoing judicial harassmentagainst him.

TheObservatory therefore urgently calls for the immediate and unconditionalrelease of Mr. Rajab, as such judicial harassment and ongoing arbitrarydetention seem to merely aim at stifling his legitimate use of the right tofreedom of expression and at hindering his human rights activities.

More generally, theObservatory once again urges the Bahraini authorities to put an end to all actsof harassment – including at the judicial level – against Mr. Rajab, and tocomply with the relevant international norms and standards, in particular theUnited Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UNGeneral Assembly on December 9, 1998, and international human rights standardsand international instruments ratified by Bahrain.

Backgroundinformation:

OnJuly 9, 2012, Mr. Nabeel Rajab was arrested by masked police officers at hishouse[2]after he had tweeted the following on June 2: "Khalifa,leave the residents of Al Muharraq, its Sheikhs and its elderly. Everyone knowsthat you are not popular here, and if it wasn't for the subsidies, theywouldn't have gone out to welcome you. When will you step down?".

Onthe same day, the 5th Lower Criminal Court sentenced Mr. Rajab to three monthsimprisonment for allegedly libelling the residents of Al Muharraq throughtweets posted on his twitter account.

Followingthis sentence, on August 12, the Higher Appeal Court called to the stand theonly police officer responsible for the investigation of this case. The purposeof the hearing was to identify the possible existence of proofs that Mr. NabeelRajab was indeed the author of that tweet. During the questioning,inconsistencies were noted in the statements of the police officer. The latterstated in particular that he was not the technical expert to determine whetherMr. Rajab was the author of the tweet, and that he was not personallypossessing such proofs. The judge was expected to issue the verdict on August16, 2012, but on that day, the hearing was postponed to August 23, 2012.

In total, five cases were brought againstMr. Rajab over the past months.

In one of them, relating to charges of“insulting the statutory bodies” pursuant to Article 216 of the Penal Code, thecourt issued its final verdict on June 27, 2012 andsentenced him to pay a fine of 300 Bahraini dinars. Mr. Rajab was released onthe same day and the travel ban against him was lifted. Such charges had beenpressed against him in relation to tweets he had posted to denounce the lack ofinvestigation, by the Ministry of Interior, into the killings of civilians.

Actionsrequested:

The Observatory urges the authorities of Bahrain to:

i. Release Mr. Nabeel Rajabimmediately and unconditionally as his detention is arbitrary since it seems tomerely sanction his human rights activities;

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

iii. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Nabeel Rajaband 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:

- itsArticle 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or inassociation with others, topromote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national andinternational levels” ;

- its Article 6 (c) whichstates that “everyone has the right, individually and in association withothers to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in lawand in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, throughthese and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to thosematters” ;

- and its Article 12.2which states that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure theprotection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and inassociation with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de factoor de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequenceof his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the presentDeclaration”.

vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for humanrights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsstandards and international instruments ratified by Bahrain.

Addresses:

· Cheikh Hamad bin Issa AL KHALIFA, King ofBahrain, Fax: +973 176 64 587

· Cheikh Khaled Bin Ahmad AL KHALIFA, Minister ofForeign Affairs, Tel: +973 172 27 555; Fax : +973 172 12 6032

· Cheikh Khalid bin Ali AL KHALIFA, Minister of Justiceand Islamic Affairs, Tel: +973 175 31 333; Fax: +973 175 31 284

· Lt. Gen. Cheikh Rashed bin Abdulla AL KHALIFA,Minister of Interior, Tel: +973 17572222 and +973 17390000. Email: info@interior.gov.bh

· Permanent Mission ofBahrain to the United Nations in Geneva, 1 chemin Jacques-Attenville, 1218Grand-Saconnex, CP 39, 1292 Chambésy, Switzerland. Fax: + 41 22 758 96 50. Email: info@bahrain-mission.ch

Please also write to diplomatic representations ofBahrain in your respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva,August 16, 2012

Kindly inform us of anyaction undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH andOMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aimsto offer them concrete support in their time of need.

To contact the Observatory,call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 143 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22809 49 29

[1] Mr. Rajab is also a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch'sMiddle East Division and Chair of CARAMAsia.

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nENlacyy3Sw&feature=youtu.be