Arbitrary arrest of Nabeel Rajab
On 2 April2015, at approximately 4:00 PM local time (GMT+3), Bahraini security forces andpolice arrested Nabeel Rajab, prominent human rights defender and president ofthe Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR). Reports indicate that over 20 policevehicles surrounded his home in Bani Jamra. In a statement shortly followinghis arrest, the Bahraini Ministry of Interior confirmed the charges againstNabeel, stating that he “posted information that could incite others anddisrupt civil peace,” and that he “illegally defamed a statutory body.”
Nabeel Rajabhas been accused of insulting a statutory body (by denouncing acts of torturein Jaw prison) and spreading rumours during wartime (by criticising Bahrain’sinvolvement in the current conflict in Yemen). Nabeel remains under solitaryconfinement in prison, as is not expected to be released before 11 April 2015,at the earliest. For these two charges, Nabeel Rajab faces up to 10 years inprison.
In an opinion piece that Nabeel published on Huffington Post lastweek, Rajab stated, “Prisoners have rights and prisons should be centres ofrehabilitation. In Bahrain, inmates are punished for being inmates, andpunished collectively. Torture is a crime against humanity, yet it is aconstant feature in Jaw.”
This is notthe first time that the government has punished Rajab for exercising hisinternationally-guaranteed right to free expression. In May 2014, Rajab completed a two-yearprison sentence after taking part in peaceful assemblies and protestscriminalized by the government. Mr Rajab is currentlyfacing another trial for a previous tweet he wrote in September 2014. Hisappeal for this 6 months sentence was scheduled for 15 April. It however tookplace on 5 April and was then delayed until 4 May, the prosecutor arguing theexistence of new evidence under this case. Further, Nabeel’s home was raidedthat same day and all the electronics in his home (whether his own or not) wereseized for evidence.
Nabeel has previously reached out to the EU to seeksupport for his case and long standing battle for Human Rights in Bahrain. Inpast occasions, the European External Action Serviceand the EuropeanParliament have issued formal statement demanding hisimmediate release, as well as of others fellow human rights defenders andBahraini citizens labelled criminals by the Government for peacefully speakingtheir mind about the human rights violations and democratic deficit in Bahrain.Despite these gross human rights abuses and the blatant injustice they suffer,the EU institutions have not used their full leverage on the matter.
Nabeel’s case is just an example of the many injustices committed inBahrain and in the Gulf Region daily, because they dare to speak out and todefend basic human rights and ideals. Injustice does not stop there; thetreatment detainees receive in prisons amounts to grave torture and inhuman ordegrading treatment, putting their physical and mental health at grave risks,as well as the health and security of their relatives.
The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (representingAmericans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, the Bahrain Center forHuman Rights and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy), FIDH and theWorld Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) urgently seek to raise awareness ofthe human rights situation in Bahrain and the Gulf Region and call upon theEuropean Union to stand firm against these abuses of freedom suffered by many.We also urge you to ask for the charges brought against Nabeel, and otherunjustly imprisoned Bahrainis, to be dropped immediately and for theirunconditional release.