Call for immediate release of Nabeel Rajab, as prison sentence is upheld

BAHRAIN:Call for immediate release of Nabeel Rajab, as prison sentence is upheld

Paris-Geneva,November 22, 2017 – The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, an FIDH-OMCT partnership, strongly condemns the prison sentenceagainst prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab and calls for hisimmediate release. Nabeel Rajab is spending his 527th day inarbitrary detention and will have to serve a two-year prison sentence forstating during TV media interviews that Bahrain bars reporters and human rightsworkers from entry into the country.

Mr. NabeelRajab is the co-founder and President of the Bahrain Center for HumanRights (BCHR), Founding Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR),Deputy Secretary General of FIDH, and a member of the Human Rights Watch MiddleEast advisory committee. Detained since June 13, 2016, he is facing a series ofcharges and up to 18 years in prison in relation with his freedom of expressionin different criminal cases.

In the “TVinterviews case”, he was facing charges of “spreading false information andmalicious rumours about domestic matters with the aim of discrediting theState” in relation to three televised interviews made in 2015 and 2016 in whichhe exposed Bahrain’s poor human rights record, in particular its ban onjournalists and human rights workers. After fifteen hearings before a lowercourt and eight appeal hearings, the verdict took place today, November 22,2017. TheAppeal Court upheld the two-year prison sentence. Mr. Rajab is also facing afurther 15 years in prison for tweets in which hedenounced human rights violations. The 18th court hearing in that case isscheduled for December 31, 2017.

Mr. Rajab isalso being investigated for op-eds published on his behalf in The New York Times and Le Monde. In September, the PublicProsecution brought new charges against him related to social media posts madewhile he was already in detention.

Nabeel Rajabwas transferred to Jau Prison on October 25, 2017. He was subjected tohumiliating treatment on arrival, when guards immediately searched him in adegrading manner and shaved his hair by force. Prison authorities have singledhim out by confiscating his books, toiletries and clothes, and raiding his cellat night. Nabeel Rajab is isolated from other prisoners convicted forspeech-related crimes and is instead detained in a three-by-three metre cellwith five inmates.

“Nabeel Rajab’s unfair sentence violates hisbasic rights and his freedom of expression. We are very concerned by his healthand detention conditions which keep deteriorating. Our Deputy SecretaryGeneral's continuous harassment is outrageous and must stop.Bahrain's authorities cannot get away with their crackdown any longer”,FIDH President Dimitris Christopoulos highlighted today.

Mr. NabeelRajab, 53, suffers from poor health conditions which have worsened because ofhis detention. On May 12, 2017, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) issued a strongcriticism of Bahrain's record on torture andill-treatment, and noted “with deep concern” the arbitrary imprisonment andill-treatment of human rights defenders, including Mr. Rajab and Mr. AbdulhadiAl-Khawaja, former BCHR President, sentenced to life in prison in June 2011for politically motivated charges and whose health conditions have also beenworsening[1].

“Our call to the Bahraini authoritiesis simple and straightforward: fully comply with the Committee's conclusions,stop harassment and ill-treatment, release all those detained under spuriousgrounds”, OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberockadded.

The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both membersof ProtectDefenders.eu, the EuropeanUnion Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civilsociety.

Press contacts:

FIDH: Samuel Hanryon: +33 6 72 28 42 94 / Audrey Couprie :+33 6 48 05 91 57

OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41 22 809 49 39

[1] The CAT concluding observations also refer to Messrs. Naji Fateel,co-founder of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) and blogger, AbduljalilAl-Singace, an engineer and blogger, and Hussain Jawad, President ofthe European-Bahraini Human Rights Organisation with regard to their lack ofaccess to medical care while in detention.