Judicial harassment and restrictions to freedom of movement Mr. Maytham Al Salman
BHR003 / 0815 / OBS 068
Judicialharassment /
Travel ban
Bahrain
August18, 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), requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Bahrain.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sourcesabout the judicial harassment and restrictions to freedom of movement Mr. Maytham Al Salman, ahuman rights defender well known for his work promoting peaceful inter-faith dialogue, freedom of expressionand countering incitement to violence and discrimination. He is also an adviserto the Columbia University's project “Global Freedom of Expression”[1].
According to information received, on August 8, 2015, Mr. Maytham AlSalman was arrested in Manama airport upon his return to Bahrain afterattending a United Nations (UN) conference on hate-speech. He was held at theCriminal Investigations Directorate (CID), Economic CrimesUnit, for 12 hours, from where he was allowed to call hisfamily, but was denied access to a lawyer. He was charged with “inciting hatredagainst the regime” (art. 165 of the Penal Code) and “disseminating false news”(art. 168 of the Penal Code), and a travel ban was issued against him. He wasreleased later on the same day.
The charges against Mr. Al Salman are believed to berelated to some tweets that were published in Al Wasat newspaper onAugust 2, calling on fighting allforms of discrimination and denouncing violence and extremism in Bahrain[2].
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern aboutthe judicial harassment and restrictions to freedom of movement against Mr.Maytham Al Salman, which seem to merely aim at sanctioning his human rightsactivities.
The Observatory calls for the unequivocal lift of histravel ban, the dropping of all charges against him, and the end of allharassment against him as well as against all human rights defenders in thecountry.
The Observatory more generally recalls that similarcharges and travel bans have been widely used to target human rights defendersin Bahrain[3].
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Bahrain urging themto:
i. Immediatelydrop all charges against Mr. Maytham Al Salman, as well as against allcriminalised human rights defenders in Bahrain;
ii. Immediatelyrevoke the travel ban against Mr. Maytham Al Salman, in order toguarantee his freedom of movement;
iii. Put an end to any kind of harassment, including atjudicial level, againstMr. Maytham Al Salman and all human rights defenders in Bahrain;
iv. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Maytham AlSalman;
v. Conform with theprovisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular its:
- Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right, individuallyand in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection andrealisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national andinternational levels”;
- Article 6.c, which stipulates that everyone has the right [...] “tostudy, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and inpractice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these andother appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”;
- as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take allnecessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities ofeveryone, individually or in association with others, against any violence,threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure orany other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exerciseof the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
vi. Ensure in allcircumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordancewith international human rights standards and international instrumentsratified by Bahrain.
Addresses:
• CheikhHamad 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
***
Paris-Geneva,August 18, 2015
Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.
TheObservatory, a 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) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
· Tel and fax OMCT: + 41(0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
[1] For more information, see https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/about/mission/
[2] Thetweets, written in Arabic, read as follows (unofficial translation): “Nationalresponsibility calls on us to claim the consolidation of equal citizenship, tofight against all forms of discrimination and to denounce violence andextremism in Bahrain”. “Pejorative epithets against certain groups foundon some media and religious platforms perpetuate hostility in Bahrain. Anyonehostile to Sunnis because they are Sunni, or Shiites because they are Shiitecannot make any claim to good citizenship, which is grounded on civilcoexistence and the acceptance of diversity”. Mr. Al Salman also stated that“monitoring speech and religious media platforms that call for hatredagainst certain groups is of extreme importance to study the causes of theperpetration of racism in Bahrain” and that “seriously resistingnational division and the promotion of hatred among citizens constitutes both anational and a religious duty. And a must for Bahrain and the region”. Formore information, see: http://www.alwasatnews.com/ipad/news-1013161.html and https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/updates/2015/08/arrest-of-inter-faith-activist-and-columbia-global-freedom-of-expression-expert-maytham-al-salman/.
[3] See the Observatory'sMission Report, Imprisonment, torture and statelessness: The darkeningreality of human rights defenders in Bahrain, June 25, 2015, available at: https://www.fidh.org/International-Federation-for-Human-Rights/north-africa-middle-east/bahrain/imprisonment-torture-and-statelessness-the-darkening-reality-of-human and http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/reports-and-publications/bahrain/2015/06/d23217/