European Parliament urges Bahrain’s King to lift Nabeel Rajab’s travel ban and drop charges

​

19November 2015

On 19 November 2015, Memberof the European Parliament Mr. Pier Antonio Panzeri, together with 80 Membersof the European Parliament (MEPs), issued a letter to Bahrain’s King ShaikhHamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, calling on the Bahraini government to immediatelylift the travel ban and drop all charges against human rights defender Nabeel Rajab. The undersigned 20international NGOs welcome the letter and echo the call to lift Mr. Rajab’stravel ban and end the judicial harassment against him.

Mr. Rajab, a prominent humanrights defender, is currently subject to a travel ban and faces up to 10 yearsin prison for exercising his right to freedom of expression in Bahrain. Mr.Rajab is President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), FoundingDirector of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), Deputy Secretary Generalof the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and a member of theAdvisory Committee of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East Division.

Mr. Rajab previouslyserved a two-year sentence in 2012 for three cases related to his participationin peaceful gatherings in favour of fundamental freedoms and democracy. On 1October 2014, he was arrested and detained for one month over a tweet he wrotewhile in Europe, and was sentenced to six months in prison on 20 January 2015for “publicly insulting official institutions.” He was released early after apardon was issued by the King on 13 July 2015, following heavy criticism by theinternational community, and an Urgency Resolution issued by the EuropeanParliament on his case on 9 July 2015. On the day of his release, the PublicProsecution imposed a new travel ban on Mr. Rajab in relation to anothercriminal case, for which he had been previously arrested on 2 April 2015. He wascharged with "insulting a statutory body" and “disseminating falserumours in time of war,” for which he could face up to 10 years in prison,following a series of tweets and opinion pieces he wrote in March 2015regarding the treatment to which Jaw prisoners were subjected and Bahrain’sinvolvement in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

In their letter (linked here),the MEPs highlight that the Bahraini government’s treatment of Mr. Rajab was inbreach of international human rights law, as his detention violated theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights. Further, the MEPs recall the European Parliament’sUrgency Resolution of 9 July 2015 which calls for all charges against Mr. Rajabto be dropped, referring to his release as “only a ‘half measure’” as he “remainssubject to a travel ban” which “greatly limits his freedoms and is a clearobstacle” to his human rights activities.

Furthermore the MEPscall for the implementation of the recommendations of the Bahrain IndependentCommission of Inquiry (BICI)’s 2011 report, the UN Human Rights Council’s 2012Universal Period Review on Bahrain, and the European Union’s repeated calls aboutthe human rights situation in Bahrain, via the March 2012, January 2013,September 2013 and February 2014 Urgency Resolutions on the Human Rightssituation on Bahrain. The signatory members of the European Parliament particularlycondemn the “criminalisation of dissent and free speech” in Bahrain, and the ill-treatmentand imprisonment of hundreds of human rights defenders, civil and politicalactivists, including minors.

The signatory NGOssupport the MEPs’ call to the government of Bahrain to respect its human rightsobligations. Accordingly, we call on the Bahraini government to drop allcharges against Nabeel Rajab and lift his travel ban, and fully implement theBICI recommendations and abide by its obligations under international humanrights law. The European Union shouldconcretely take action to prevent human rights abuses and stop the prosecutionof peaceful human rights defenders by the Bahraini authorities.

Thesignatory NGOs:

Americansfor Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

AmnestyInternational

ArabicNetwork for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)

BahrainInstitute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)

BahrainCenter for Human Rights (BCHR)

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)

CIVICUS

EnglishPEN

EuropeanCentre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)

FrontLine Defenders

GulfCentre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Indexon Censorship

InternationalFederation for Human Rights (FIDH) under the Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders

InternationalService For Human Rights (ISHR)

Lawyer'sRights Watch Canada

MaharatFoundation

PENInternational

RaftoFoundation for Human Rights

ReportersWithout Borders (RSF)

WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) under the Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders