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Bahrain Briefing: March 2013

Summary

The Bahrain government has been allowed to operate under a culture of impunity. It has

failed to deliver on commitments it has made to reform and there has been little justice or

accountability for its historic and contemporary actions. Severe violations of human

rights persist, whilst little, if anything, has been done to address the underlying causes of

the 2011 uprising.

Background

A popular and peaceful uprising began in February 2011. Bahraini citizens demonstrated

for full democratic rights, alongside demands for greater socio-economic justice, respectfor human rights, land reform and an end to public sector corruption and state-sanctioned

discrimination in employment. These demands were ultimately met with a brutal

government crackdown. Dozens of citizens were killed and hundreds were arrested,

tortured and sentenced before military courts, including doctors who had treated injured

protesters. As well as this, opposition places of worship were destroyed, thousands ofworkers were sacked and state controlled media was used to incite sectarian hatred.

Responding to international pressure, the Bahrain government established the Bahrain

Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). The BICI report was published in November

2011.1

It documented gross human rights violations, including the systematic use of

torture, and found that security forces operated under a culture of impunity. The

Bahrain government pledged to follow the recommendations of the report and reformitself accordingly. However, rather than reform, further repression has followed. In spite

of this, protests have continued on a daily basis.

No Reform, Accountability or Justice

One-year after the publication of the BICI report, the head of the commission, Professor

M. Cherif Bassiouni, strongly criticised the Bahrain government's failure to implement

reform and accountability. He said: You cant say that justice has been done when

calling for Bahrain to be a republic gets you a life sentence and the officer who

repeatedly fired on an unarmed man at close range only gets seven years.

2

Bassiounidescribed as legally unsound civilian court rulings which upheld convictions in 2011,

despite evidence that the defendants had been tortured.

In a study, the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) found that only 3 of the 26

recommendations had been implemented. POMED also criticised the unrealistic

assessment by the Government of Bahrain of its own progress.3

Similarly, Amnesty

International asserted that the groundbreaking [BICI] report has been shelved by the

spiralling repression in Bahrain. Amnesty also accused authorities in Bahrain of havingtried to shield themselves from criticism by using the pretence of reform 4 Indeed,

Bahrain appears to have focused more on public relations than reform, having spent or

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allocated an absolute minimum of 21,410,000 on Western PR firms since February

2011.5

Following a visit to Bahrain in late February 2013, Human Rights Watchconcluded that there had been no progress on key reform promises.6 They also found

that authorities have made no progress in investigating and prosecuting higher-levelofficials.

The continued imprisonment of the Bahrain 13 is a key indicator of the lack of reform

and justice. The Bahrain 13 are prominent opposition figures who were arrested and

severely tortured in 2011 solely for exercising their rights to free expression and

peaceful assembly. They include internationally renowned human rights defender

Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, and Ibrahim Sharif, General Secretary of the secular liberal

political society Wa'ad. Following BICI recommendations, the men were retried before acivilian court. In January 2013, Bahrain's highest appeal court upheld the sentences

against them, even though the prosecution continued to use evidence obtained through

torture. The court's verdict received widespread criticism. In a statement to the UNHuman Rights Council, 44 countries, including the United Kingdom, said they were

concerned about guarantees of due process in the trials.7

Continued Repression and Human Rights Violations

The situation in Bahrain continues to deteriorate. Recent assessments by international

NGOs have found widespread suppression (Human Rights Watch)8

and repressive

practices increasingly entrenched (Amnesty International). In its 2013 global survey,

Freedom House determined Bahrain to be Not Free9. The work of NGOs, journalists

and other outside observers has, however, been severely hindered since 2011 by theBahrain government's persistent obstruction of access to the country.10

Arbitrary arrests against protesters and opposition activists are commonplace, resulting in

over a thousand political prisoners. Citizens are often arrested after taking part in protests,or having been stopped at one of the many police checkpoints across the country.

Security forces also frequently conduct dawn raids in villages, resulting in mass arrests

and a perpetual state of insecurity amongst citizens. Many people are detained for

extended periods without charge under Bahrain's so-called terrorism law. Detainees are

routinely denied access to lawyers and have reported being denied access to necessary

healthcare. Children are frequently arrested and held in adult prisons.11

Physical and psychological torture is still happening. In November 2012, Redress saidthat they have seen significant evidence that torture and ill-treatment by security sector

personnel continues in Bahrain.12

The type of physical torture reportedly occurring since

the BICI report was published includes: beatings, electrocution and suspension onropes13, sexual assault14, the removal of fingernails15 and the use of cigarettes16. Secret

detention centers have reportedly been used to torture detainees away from the cameras

that were fitted in interrogation rooms under the reform process.17 Children as young as

13 have been subjected to brutal assault whilst in detention18

.

Security forces, who are armed with shotguns and tear gas, act with impunity, resulting in

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dozens of deaths since 2011, including 2 teenagers in February 2013. Injuries from

birdshot pellet are daily and often serious. Physicians for Human Rights has documentedthe weaponizing of tear gas in Bahrain, through its indiscriminate use [which] which

has resulted in the maiming, blinding, and even killing of civilian protesters.19 Theexcessive and routine tear gassing of small villages acts as a form of collective

punishment and has led to serious concerns of a rise in miscarriages and sickle cell

deaths.20

The public healthcare system, however, remains militarized and unsafe for

those seeking treatment related to opposition activities.21

This has resulted in an

underground health system which the government deems illegal.

Freedom of expression is severely restricted. Gatherings of more than five people remain

illegal and are subject to attack by security forces. In October 2012, the Interior Ministerbanned all protests, a ruling which held for several weeks. The Committee to Protect

Journalists says repression persists in Bahrain22

, and Reporters Without Borders named

Bahrain one of five State Enemies of the Internet for 201323. Citizens have receivedprison sentences of up to six months for slandering King Hamad on social media.

Activists have been targeted by FinSpy surveillance software, made by UK-based firmGamma International.24 In November 2012, 31 opposition figures were stripped of their

citizenship, rendering many stateless, including two former MPs who were in the UK at

the time.

Human rights defenders were targeted throughout 2012 and into 2013. Human rights

defenders who have attended the UN Human Rights Council have been subjected to

threats and slander campaigns in local media. Nabeel Rajab, the President of the Bahrain

Center for Human Rights (BCHR), received a three-year prison sentence in August 2012

on charges relating to organising and participating in peaceful protests. FIDH found thathis trial and appeal was was fraught with serious human rights violations.

25Said Youisf

AlMuhafdhah, the Vice President of BCHR, has been subjected to several arrests,detentions and police harassment. He was most recently arrested on 23rd March, 2013 at a

protest calling for the release of Nabeel Rajab and charged with illegal gathering.

What next?

In February 2013, a new dialogue initiative was launched, despite the fact that key

opposition figures, like the Bahrain 13, remain behind bars. As President Obama said of a

previous initiative in 2011, you cant have a real dialogue when parts of the peacefulopposition are in jail.

26The dialogue takes place against the above backdrop of

repression, which has left many convinced that the government is not serious about

reform. As a consequence, anger on the streets is rising and activists who promote

peaceful means are losing their influence. If the current path persists, the situation in thecountry is likely to deteriorate even further.

John Horne, March 2013

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Further reading:

Jane Kinninmont, June 2012. 'Bahrain: Beyond the Impasse.'

[Online] http://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/183983

POMED, November 2012. One Year Later: Assessing Bahrains Implementation of the

BICI Report.

[Online] http://pomed.org/wordpress/wp-

content/uploads/2012/11/POMED_BahrainReport_web-FINAL.pdf

Amnesty International, November 2012. Bahrain: Reform Shelved, Repression

Unleashed.[Online] http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/AI-Bahrain-

report-mde110622012.pdf

Bahrain Center for Human Rights, February 2013. Two Years of Deaths and

Detentions.[Online] http://bahrainrights.hopto.org/BCHR/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Second-

Anniversary-Report-Published.pdf

References:

1 http://www.bici.org.bh/2 http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/22/bahrain-promises-unkept-rights-still-violated3 http://pomed.org/one-year-later-assessing-bahrains-implementation-of-the-bici-report/4 http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/bahrain-promises-reform-broken-repression-unleashed-2012-11-21-05 http://bahrainwatch.org/pr/6 http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/28/bahrain-no-progress-reform7 http://adhrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Joint-Statement-on-the-OHCHR-and-the-human-rights-situation-in-Bahrain.final_.pdf8 http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/01/31/bahrain-widespread-suppression-scant-reforms9 http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2013/bahrain10 http://bahrainwatch.org/access/11 http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/523512 http://www.redress.org/downloads/publications/130123%20Submission%20on%20Saudi%20Arabia%20and%20Bahrain.pdf13 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323393304578358251782285888.html14 http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/550615 http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/556316 http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/5611

17 http://bahrainjdm.hopto.org/2012/07/23/police-dodge-security-clean-up-by-torturing-detainees-at-secret-sites-the-times-london/18 http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/523519 http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/reports/weaponizing-tear-gas.html20 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-2160102221 http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/press/press-releases/militarization-of-bahraini-health-system-causes-widespread-fear-and-

avoidance-of-treatment.html22 http://www.cpj.org/2013/02/attacks-on-the-press-in-2012-bahrain.php23 http://surveillance.rsf.org/en/bahrain/24 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/02/uk-firm-spyware-bahrain25 http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/obsrapportbah2013eng.pdf26 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/19/remarks-president-middle-east-and-north-africa