NGOs call for women’s rights defender Ghada Jamsheer to remain free and an end to judicial harassment of women human rights defenders

After aprominent women’s rights defender was sentenced to a further year in prison, wethe undersigned international human rights and feminist organisations call onthe Bahraini government to stop sentencing women human rights defenders to jailin violation of their right to free expression, and instead to follow throughon international commitments to empower women.

On 22 June2016 , Ghada Jamsheer, a writer, blogger and journalist who isPresident of the Women's Petition Committee(WPC), was sentenced on appeal to one year in prison by the Second High Criminal Court for four cases related toher tweets about corruption at King Hamad hospital.

Jamsheer has 12 charges against her related to this case and has alreadybeen sentenced to seven months in prison on three other related charges, inaddition to one year in prison (suspended) on trumped up charges of “assaultinga police officer” while in custody. See:https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-ghada-jamsheer

She was also fined 10,000 dinars (approx.USD$26,500) for alleged defamation of the management of the hospital, headed bya member of the ruling family. Jamsheer was first arrested on 15 September2014, and jailed for three months. She is now at risk of arrest at any time.

Jamsheer spent herbirthday, 26 June, wondering if she would be arrested. “They want to jail me onmy birthday, just like Zainab Al-Khawaja, to send a firm message,” saidJamsheer. That message is that criticism of the royal family won’t betolerated.

Zainab Al-Khawajawas sentenced to a year in prison on her birthday on 21 October 2015, fortearing up a photo of the King, among other sentences totalling over threeyears. Following her release from prison in early June, she left the country toavoid further time in prison. (See: http://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1276)

Her sister, MaryamAl-Khawaja, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights(GCHR) Co-Director, was also sentenced to a year in prison on trumped upcharges of “assaulting” a police woman while in custody in September 2014 whiletrying to enter Bahrain. She shares a birthday with Jamsheer, as well as thethreat of prison on these baseless charges if she returns to Bahrain.

In June 2016, UNWomen accepted money from the Bahrain royal family to launch the HRH PrincessSabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Women Empowerment, despite thefact that Bahrain remains in breach of its international human rightsobligations. Women like Ghada Jamsheer, Zainab Al-Khawaja and Maryam Al-Khawajashould be empowered to speak freely and carry out their human rights activitiesunfettered, instead of jailing them when they speak up about injustice andcorruption.

As such,and in recognition of the leadership she provides to women’s rights activistsfrom around the world from her long history of work in favour of women’s rightsand equality, we wish to nominate Ghada Jamsheer to be the first recipient ofthe Global Award for Women’s Empowerment.

In addition, we reiterate our concern about the ongoing targeting ofhuman rights defenders in Bahrain and call on the government of Bahrain to:

1. Overturn thesentences against Ghada Jamsheer and keep her free from prison;

2. Overturn thesentences against Maryam and Zainab Al-Khawaja;

3. Allow humanrights defenders to carry out their work without fear of reprisals, and empowerthem to exercise their right to freedom of expression; and

4. Release all humanrights defenders immediately and ensure their protection from any judicialharassment and persecution in relation to their human rights activities.

Signed,

Arabic Network forHuman Rights Information (ANHRI)

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Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

FIDH, under theObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Front Line Defenders
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

InternationalService for Human Rights
Nazra for Feminist Studies
Rafto Foundation for Human Rights
Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), under the Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders