Provisional release and ongoing judicial harassment of Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoori, and Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requestsyour urgent intervention in the following situation in Bahrain.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed byreliable sources about the provisional release and ongoing judicial harassmentagainst Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh,Monitoring and Documentation Officer at the NGO Salam for Democracy and HumanRights, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoori,an online activist who is a member of Al Wefaq Directory of Rights and Freedoms[1],and Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari, amember of the Manama Observatory for Human Rights[2].

According to the informationreceived, on October 22, 2017, Ms.Ebtisam Al-Saegh, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoori and Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari wereprovisionally released from detention. Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari had beendetained since May 28, 2017 and Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoorisince July 4, 2017. Charges under the Anti-Terrorism law are stillpending against them (see backgroundinformation).

The threehuman rights defenders were held under particularly harsh conditions andseveral allegations of torture and ill-treatment against them have beenreported. Ms. Al-Saegh has reported having suffered acts of torture,including severe beatings on the head, sexual abuse, insults and threats whilebeing interrogated by the National Security Agency (NSA).Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari also reported being tortured by NSA agents while indetention. Throughout their detention, the three human rights defenders were alsoprevented from accessing their lawyers and family members (see backgroundinformation).

The Observatory expresses its outmost concerns overthe allegations of torture and ill-treatment while in detention against thethree human rights defenders and urges the Bahraini authority to immediatelyinvestigate these.

The Observatory urges the Bahraini authorities todrop all pending charges against Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh, Mr. MohammedAl-Shakhoori and Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari as they only aim at silencing theirpeaceful and legitimate human rights activities. The Observatory urges also theBahraini authorities to immediately investigate theabove-mentioned allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

Backgroundinformation:

On May 27, 2017, Ms. Al-Saegh, was summoned by the NSA toMuharraq police station. She was released seven hours later and was immediatelytaken to the hospital in a very concerning psychological state, following a“severe nervous breakdown”. Upon her release, Ms. Al-Saegh reported having sufferedacts of torture, including severe beatings on the head, sexual abuse, insultsand threats if she continued her human rights work. NSA agents also threatenedto target her family members. According to reliable reports, she was alsoforced to repeat the royal anthem and beaten and insulted when failed to do soproperly. During her interrogation, she was asked about the work of activistsinside and outside Bahrain, including in Geneva during sessions of the UnitedNations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC).

On May 28,2017, the NSA called Mr. Radhi SalehAl-Qatari and summoned him to appear in their offices in Muharraq withoutproviding any reason. On the same day, he was moved to the CriminalInvestigation Department (CID) premisesfor interrogation by the NSA and detained in Jaw Prison. Mr. Radhi SalehAl-Qatari was then only able to call his family every four days or more for acouple of minutes. His family reported that he sounded exhausted over thephone.

On June20, 2017, Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari’s family filed a complaint before Bahrain’sombudsman to ask for the respect of his right to be visited by his lawyer andfamily as well as to be informed of the charges pending against him. Noresponse was received. On July 10, 2017, his lawyer was informed that Mr. RadhiSaleh Al-Qatari had been taken to the Prosecution of Terrorism Crimes on June23, 2017, where he was not assisted by his lawyer.

On July 4, 2017, at approximatively12.45 am, armed, masked and plain clothed officers from the NSA raided Ms.Ebtisam Al-Saegh’s home and arrested her without any warrant. She was broughtto Isa Town women’s prison, where she was interrogated for long hours undertough circumstances in order to force her to sign false confessions. During NSAinvestigations Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh only signed confessions related to theaccusation of “communications with TV channels abroad”. Before the Prosecutor,on July 18, 2017, she denied all charges and refused to sign any confessions.

She also reported being sent to theMinistry of Interior’s clinic in Al Qaalaa, where she was diagnosed with lowblood pressure. Outside of interrogation hours, she was detained in solitaryconfinement. At around 9 pm, she called her family from Isa Town women’s prisonto inform them of her whereabouts.

Following her arrest, Ms. EbtisamAl-Saegh was briefly seen by detainees in the morning of July 4, 2017, at theIsa Town women’s prison visibly in poor physical conditions and appeared tohave been beaten before being taken away to an undisclosed location.

At dawn onJuly 4, 2017, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoori was arrested at his home by masked,plain clothed security forces who failed to present an arrest or search warrantand to state where he was being taken to. Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoori was furtherheld at Dry Dock Detention Center although his whereabouts were not discloseduntil July 8, 2017. Mr. Al-Shakhoori’s family was only allowed to visit him onAugust 7, and 15, 2017 and he was prevented from accessing his lawyers.

On July 12, 2017, Ms. EbstisamAl-Saegh launched a hunger strike to protest torture and ill-treatment by NSAfollowing her arrest.

On July 16, 2017, Ms. EbtisamAl-Saegh, who was still being detained in solitary confinement at Isa Townwomen’s Prison, was seen in an ambulance chair at the Qaala clinic, which is adivision of the Ministry of Interior, by fellow detained human rights defenderNabeel Rajab[3]. On thatsame day, only her husband could see her for a few minutes and reported thatshe was in a wheelchair. She reported to him that during her detention at theCID, she was stripped naked and sexually assaulted.

In a joint statement on Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh, Mr.Mohammed Al-Shakhoori and Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari published on July 18, 2017,the Head of Manama’s Prosecution of Terrorist Crimes confirmed that the threeof them were being charged under Anti-Terrorism Law and ordered their detentionfor a six-month period. Accordingly, an investigation has been initiated intoallegations of “organising and running an illegal group aiming at preventingstate institutions from carrying out their work”, “initiating attacks on theindividuals’ personal freedom” and “damaging national unity through means ofterrorism”. Although no specific group name has been mentioned, the authoritieshas portrayed the group as receiving “gifts from those who work for the benefitof a terrorist organization outside Bahrain to do terrorist acts against thekingdom of Bahrain as well as collecting and giving money to a group practicingterrorist activity”.

Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh was onlyallowed to see her lawyer on July 18, 2017, when she was taken to theProsecutor’s office.

On August 1, 2017, she broke herhunger strike when she was finally able to be visited by her family.

On August1, 2017, Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari was transferred to Dry Dock DetentionCenter. Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari reported being tortured by electrocution,including on the genitals, by the NSA who forced him to falsely confess oncharges of terrorism and receiving money from abroad. Furthermore, the NSAthreatened Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari to summon his father, wife and sisters ifhe did not confess and incriminate Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoori and Ms. EbtisamAl-Saegh. Following leaks on Twitter about Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qataribeing tortured by the NSA, he was told by the NSA that he will be held longer.

Mr. RadhiSaleh Al-Qatari’s family and lawyer had not been allowed to visit him, except avisit by his family on August 8, 2017.

On August 14, 2017, Ms. EbtisamAl-Saegh started a second hunger strike which lasted four days, to protest theconstant insults and ill-treatment she has been subjected to since thebeginning of her detention by the police authorities and by Isa Town women’sPrison staff, where she was held in solitary confinement. Furthermore, Ms.Ebtisam Al-Saegh reported being detained in extremely precarious sanitaryconditions as she was forced to share dirty sanitary facilities, which areconsistently stained with blood and vomit, and the kitchen with co-detainees whoare contaminated with tuberculosis. During her detention, Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saeghlost at least 12 kilos. She was in constant fear of catching a disease while inprison and was reported to be very stressed by the sanitary conditions. Ms.Ebtisam Al-Saegh was demanding to access her lawyer, whom she was only allowedto see on July 18, 2017.

Actions requested:

Please write to theauthorities in Bahrain, urging them to:

i. Put an end into all forms ofharassment, including at the judicial level, against Ms.Ebtisam Al-Saegh, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shakhoori and Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari, as well as all detainedhuman rights defenders in Bahrain, so that they are able to carry out their legitimateactivities withouthindrance and fear of reprisals;

ii. Order an immediate, thorough, transparent,effective and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned allegations oftorture, ill-treatment, and physical and psychological pressure against Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh, Mr. MohammedAl-Shakhoori and Mr. Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari by security agents in order to identify all those responsible, bring thembefore an independent tribunal, and apply the sanctions provided by the law tothem;

iii. Comply with all the provisions of the UnitedNations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular with its Articles1, 5(b), and 12.2;

iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for humanrights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsstandards and international instruments ratified by Bahrain.

Addresses:

• Cheikh Hamad bin Issa AL KHALIFA, King of Bahrain, Fax: +973176 64 587
• Cheikh Khaled Bin Ahmad AL KHALIFA, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax : 0097317 21 05 75; ofd@mofa.gov.bh

• Cheikh Khalid bin Ali AL KHALIFA, Minister of Justice andIslamic Affairs, Fax: +973 175 31 284

• Lt. Gen. Cheikh Rashed bin Abdulla AL KHALIFA, Minister ofInterior, Email: info@interior.gov.bh
• H.E. Mr. Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri, Permanent Mission of Bahrain to theUnited Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: + 41 22 758 96 50. Email:info@bahrain-mission.ch
• H.E. Ahmed Mohammed Yousif Aldoseri, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to theKingdom of Belgium, Fax: 0032 (0) 26472274; E-mail:Brussels.mission@mofa.gov.bh

Please also write to thediplomatic mission or embassy of Bahrain in your respective country.

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Paris-Geneva, October 26,2017

Kindly inform us of anyaction undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights DefendersMechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact theObservatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and faxFIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and faxOMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] Al Wefaq Directory of Rights and Freedoms monitorsand documents human rights violations in Bahrain and is part of the BahrainHuman Rights Observatory. Mr. Al Shakhoori has also attended several sessionsof the UN Human Rights Council.

[2] The Manama Observatory forHuman Rights is part of Bahrain Human Rights Observatory. Mr. Al-Qatari hasfaced travel bans on several occasions including for his participation toseveral sessions of the UN Human Rights Council.

[3] See Observatory Urgent Appeal BHR 006 / 0812 / OBS 048.29, publishedon July 10, 2017.