Bahrain
28.10.04
Urgent Interventions
Bahrain: Another unconstitutional trial of Mr. Al-Khawaja
URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY
New information
BHR 001 / 0704 / OBS 054.3
Unconstitutional trial
Kingdom of Bahrain
October 28, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programmer of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) recalls your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed that Mr. Abd al-Hadi al-Khawaja’s request to be released on bail was denied for the third time by a Bahraini criminal court on October 25, 2004.
The executive director of the Bahraini Centre for Human Rights (BHRC) appeared before the 3rd Chamber of the “Junior” Criminal Court for the third time on October 25, following two previous hearings on October 16 and 20, 2004. The hearing lasted only 15 minutes and was again adjourned to November 3, 2004.
According to the information received, Mr. al-Khawaja, who is detained in Howdh Aljaf detention centre, is granted access to his lawyers and relatives once a week.
The Observatory remains very concerned about his detention and the charges against him, which aim at sanctioning his human rights activities and his freedom of speech. Those acts are a flagrant violation of the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which states in its article 6.c that “everyone has the right, individually or 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 other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”.
Background information:
On September 26, 2004, the BCHR’s leading activist, Al-Khawaja, was arrested after he had criticized the government’s policy during a symposium on economic rights in Bahrain, organized by BCHR on September 24. He was charged for « encouraging hate of the state » and « distributing falseness and rumours » on the basis of articles 165 and 168 of the Bahraini penal code and remanded in custody for 45 days in Howdh Aljaf detention centre.
Following the symposium, a Committee composed of different governmental institutions was also created on September 26 by Mr. Majeed Al-Alawi, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, with the aim of « taking punitive and legal actions against the BCHR ».
On September 29, 2004, Mr. Al-Alawi declared in a press release that he had issued an order of dissolution of the BCHR the night before, the order coming into force that same day. The official motive behind this decision is that the BCHR would have violated Law No. 21 of 1989 on Societies, without any other precision.
On September 30, 2004, the Minister, in a statement published in Al-Wasat, a Bahraini newspaper, threatened to take punitive actions against the board members of BCHR, especially its president, Mr. Nabeel Rajab, if they kept trying to breach the Ministry’s order of dissolution of the BCHR, i.e. campaigning for its rehabilitation and the release of its executive director, Mr. Al-Khawaja, by corresponding with the media or other NGOs abroad.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of the Kingdom of Bahrain urging them to:
i. Ensure that Mr. Abd al-Hadi al-Khawaja be granted a fair and impartial trial, so that he be released and that the charges against him be dropped, since they are arbitrary;
ii. Rehabilitate the Bahraini Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and put an immediate end to any obstacles to its activities;
iii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, in particular article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels,” and article 6 (b) above mentioned;
iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Declaration and all other international human rights standards.
Addresses:
Paris – Geneva, October 28, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
New information
BHR 001 / 0704 / OBS 054.3
Unconstitutional trial
Kingdom of Bahrain
October 28, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programmer of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) recalls your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed that Mr. Abd al-Hadi al-Khawaja’s request to be released on bail was denied for the third time by a Bahraini criminal court on October 25, 2004.
The executive director of the Bahraini Centre for Human Rights (BHRC) appeared before the 3rd Chamber of the “Junior” Criminal Court for the third time on October 25, following two previous hearings on October 16 and 20, 2004. The hearing lasted only 15 minutes and was again adjourned to November 3, 2004.
According to the information received, Mr. al-Khawaja, who is detained in Howdh Aljaf detention centre, is granted access to his lawyers and relatives once a week.
The Observatory remains very concerned about his detention and the charges against him, which aim at sanctioning his human rights activities and his freedom of speech. Those acts are a flagrant violation of the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which states in its article 6.c that “everyone has the right, individually or 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 other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”.
Background information:
On September 26, 2004, the BCHR’s leading activist, Al-Khawaja, was arrested after he had criticized the government’s policy during a symposium on economic rights in Bahrain, organized by BCHR on September 24. He was charged for « encouraging hate of the state » and « distributing falseness and rumours » on the basis of articles 165 and 168 of the Bahraini penal code and remanded in custody for 45 days in Howdh Aljaf detention centre.
Following the symposium, a Committee composed of different governmental institutions was also created on September 26 by Mr. Majeed Al-Alawi, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, with the aim of « taking punitive and legal actions against the BCHR ».
On September 29, 2004, Mr. Al-Alawi declared in a press release that he had issued an order of dissolution of the BCHR the night before, the order coming into force that same day. The official motive behind this decision is that the BCHR would have violated Law No. 21 of 1989 on Societies, without any other precision.
On September 30, 2004, the Minister, in a statement published in Al-Wasat, a Bahraini newspaper, threatened to take punitive actions against the board members of BCHR, especially its president, Mr. Nabeel Rajab, if they kept trying to breach the Ministry’s order of dissolution of the BCHR, i.e. campaigning for its rehabilitation and the release of its executive director, Mr. Al-Khawaja, by corresponding with the media or other NGOs abroad.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of the Kingdom of Bahrain urging them to:
i. Ensure that Mr. Abd al-Hadi al-Khawaja be granted a fair and impartial trial, so that he be released and that the charges against him be dropped, since they are arbitrary;
ii. Rehabilitate the Bahraini Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and put an immediate end to any obstacles to its activities;
iii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, in particular article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels,” and article 6 (b) above mentioned;
iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Declaration and all other international human rights standards.
Addresses:
- Dr. Majeed Al ALAWI, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, P.O. Box: 32333, Isa Town,
Kingdom of Bahrain; Tel : +973 687800 - Fax: +973 686954 - Mr. Khalid BIN ALI AL KHALIFA, Undersecretary of Justice, PO Box 450- Manama, Tel: +973 17522338- Fax: +973 175 36 343
- Dr. Yusuf ABDUL KARIM, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Po Box 547, Manama, Tél: +973 226766- Fax: +973 227 861
- Mr. Ahmed Mahdi AL-HADDAD, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Manama; Tel: +973 211935 ; Fax:+973 214 440
- Dr Faisal Al MOUSAWY, Chairman of Shura Council, Po Box 2991, Manama; tel: +973 17716500- Fax: +973 17715715
- Dr Faisal FOULAD, Shura Council, Po Box 2991, Manama; tel: +973 17330424- Fax: +973 17335910
- Mr. Adel Bin Abdul Rahman AL MAAWDA, Dep Chairman of the Council of Representatives, PO Box 54040, Manama, tel: +973 748458- Fax: +97317644130
- Mission permanente de Royaume de Bahrein auprès de l’Office des Nations Unies à Genève, 51 Chemin William Barbey, 1292 Chambésy, Genève, Suisse, Fax : +4122.758.96.50 ; E-mail: bahrain-mission@bluewin.ch
Paris – Geneva, October 28, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29