Restrictions of movement against Mr. Nabeel Rajab

BHR001 / 0812 / OBS 048.17

Restrictions on freedom of movement

Bahrain

August 20, 2015

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights(FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received newinformation and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation inBahrain.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sourcesabout restrictions of movement against Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of the BahrainCentre for Human Rights (BCHR), FIDH Deputy Secretary General and a member ofthe Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East Division.

According to the information received, on July 13,2015, the Public Prosecution imposed a new travel ban against Mr. Nabeel Rajabin relation to criminal case No. 2015/38288. Mr. Rajab is facing two criminal charges for posting tweets. The first charge is “insultinga statutory body” (Article 216 of the Bahraini Criminal Code) referring to theMinistry of Interior in relation to tweets said to have been posted by himdenouncing the torture of detainees at Jaw Prison (the “Jaw torture tweets”case). The second charge is “disseminating false rumours in time of war”(Article 133 of the Bahraini Criminal Code) in relation to tweets said to havebeen published by him about the Saudi-Arabia led coalition air strikes in Yemen(the “Yemen tweets” case).

Mr. Nabeel Rajab's lawyers intend to file a grievanceto the Public Prosecution to challenge the travel ban.

The Observatory denounces the new travel ban imposedagainst Mr. Nabeel Rajab and considers that the timing of the new ban clearlyindicates that he is targeted solely for his human rights activities. TheObservatory calls on the Bahraini authorities to immediately lift the travelban, and drop all charges against Mr. Nabeel Rajab.

The Observatory, more generally, urges the Bahrainiauthorities to put an end to all acts of harassment against Mr. Rajab, andto comply with relevant international human rights standards and instruments,in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN GeneralAssembly on December 9, 1998.

Background information:

Mr. Rajab has faced continuous judicialharassment for his legitimate human rights work since his first arrest in June2012. Mr. Rajab was sentenced to three months imprisonment for allegedlylibelling the residents of Al Muharraq via several tweets posted on his twitteraccount. On August 23, 2012, Mr. Nabeel Rajab was acquitted by the HigherAppeal Court.

On August 16, 2012, the Lower Criminal Court sentencedMr. Nabeel Rajab to three years of imprisonment in relation to three casesrelated to his participation in peaceful gatherings in favour of fundamentalfreedoms and democracy. In December 2012, the Appeals Court reduced thesentence to two years of imprisonment. Mr. Nabeel Rajab completed hissentence and was released in May 2014.

On October 1, 2014, Mr. Nabeel Rajab was summonedand remanded in detention by the General Directorate of Anti-corruption andEconomic and Electronic Security of the Criminal Investigation Department for“insulting a public institution” under Article 216 of the Bahraini Penal Code.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 Mr. Rajab’s release but barred him fromleaving the country.

On January 20, 2015, the Third Lower Criminal Courtsentenced Mr. Nabeel Rajab to six months imprisonment on the charges of“insulting public institutions and the army”.

In 2015, two other sets of criminal charges have beenbrought against Mr. Rajab. On February 26, 2015, Mr. Rajab was summonedfor investigations for charges of “inciting hatred towards the regime” inrelation to a speech he made in February 2011 during a funeral (the “funeralspeech case”). To date, the police investigation is ongoing.

In addition, on April 2, 2015, at 4:00 pm, over twentypolice cars surrounded Mr. Rajab’s house and policemen arrested him.Mr. Rajab was then sent to the General Directorate of Anti CorruptionEconomic and Electronic Security to be interrogated and placed in detention insolitary confinement in Isa Town Police Station. On April 3, 2015,Mr. Rajab was interrogated by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID)regarding two new charges brought against him under criminal case No. 2015/38288. The first charge was “insulting a statutory body” (Article 216 of theBahraini Criminal Code) referring to the Ministry of Interior in relation totweets said to have been posted by him denouncing the torture of detainees atJaw Prison (the “Jaw torture tweets” case). The second charge was“disseminating false rumours in time of war” (Article 133 of the BahrainiCriminal Code) in relation to tweets said to have been published by him aboutthe Saudi-Arabia led coalition air strikes in Yemen (the “Yemen tweets” case).If sentenced on the second charge, Mr. Rajab could be facing up to 10years imprisonment. Mr. Rajab refused to sign the police minutes of theinvestigations. On April 4, 2015, Mr. Rajab was brought before the PublicProsecution. The Prosecution ordered seven days detention pendinginvestigation. On April 5, 2015, security police confiscated all electronicsdevices belonging to Mr. Rajab and members of his family.

On April 11, 2015, the prosecution ordered anadditional fifteen days in detention for Mr. Rajab. On April 26, 2015, thePublic Prosecution officially charged Mr. Rajab under Articles 133 and216. The Public Prosecution subsequently extended his detention for anadditional fifteen days. On May 11, the Bahraini High Court extended NabeelRajab´s preventive detention for 15 days.

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

On July 13, 2015, the King of Bahrain Hamad Ben IssaAl-Khalifa ordered through Royal Pardon the release of Mr. Nabeel Rajab forhealth reasons. Mr. Rajab had already served three of the six months jailsentence.

Actions requested:

The Observatory urges the authorities of Bahrain to:

i. Immediately lift the travel ban againstMr. Nabeel Rajab, and drop all charges against him, as he is targetedsolely for his human rights activities;

ii. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrityof Mr. Nabeel Rajab and that of all human rights defenders in Bahrain;

iii. Put an end to any act of harassment, including atthe judicial level, against Mr. Nabeel Rajab and against all human rightsdefenders in Bahrain;

iv. Conform in any circumstances with the provisionsof the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 bythe United Nations General Assembly, in particular:
its Article 1, which states that “everyonehas the right, individually or in association with others, to promote theprotection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels” ;
its Article 6 (c) which states that“everyone has the right, individually and in association with others to study,discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice,of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and otherappropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters” ;
and its Article 12.2 which states that“the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by thecompetent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adversediscrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of hisor her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the presentDeclaration”.

v. 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 of Bahrain, Fax: +973 176 64 587
• Cheikh Khaled Bin Ahmad AL KHALIFA, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tel: +973172 27 555; Fax : 00973 17 21 05 75; ofd@mofa.gov.bh
• Cheikh Khalid bin Ali AL KHALIFA, Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs,Tel: +973 175 133 00; 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 of Bahrain to the United Nations in Geneva, 1 cheminJacques-Attenville, 1218 Grand-Saconnex, CP 39, 1292 Chambésy, Switzerland.Fax: + 41 22 758 96 50. Email: info@bahrain-mission.ch
• H.E. Ahmed Mohammed Yousif Aldoseri, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain tothe Kingdom of Belgium, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Avenue Louise 250,1050 Brussels, Belgium; Fax: 0032 (0) 26472274; E-mail: Brussels.mission@mofa.gov.bh

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

***

Paris-Geneva, August 20, 2015.

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

TheObservatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of HumanRights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

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

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