Mr. Ben Emmerson
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism
Email: srct@ohchr.org
Manama, 30 July 2013
Dear Special Rapporteur,
The National Assembly (80 members from the Council of Representatives and Shura Council) held on Sunday – 28 July – an extraordinary session in order to discuss giving extensive powers to the Executive Authority in the area of counter-terrorism, the session was attended by 12 ministers, among them was the Minister of Interior and Minister of Justice. The Assembly endorsed 22 recommendations which are submitted to the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa; the King later issued a statement in which he agreed to all the recommendations (recommendations attached).
The recommendations included extensive powers to the Executive Authority and especially the Security Forces, and they were presented in the context of ‘counter-terrorism’ in Bahrain. The Legislative Authority gave extensive powers to conduct wide-ranging amendments to Law (58) of the year 2006 regarding terrorism.
In July 2006, the former Special Rapporteur Mr Martin Scheinin addressed a letter to the Bahraini Authorities in which he criticized the law, and he expressed his concern regarding the broad definition of terrorism, and that some actions are not considered terrorist, and that some articles hold the person accountable according to intention, and that some actions do not cause the death or harm to anyone, in addition to that the law restricts freedom of establishing associations and assemby, and that the law lends itself to criminalizing peaceful demonstrations which are considered one of the rights of civil society.
Since February 2011, the human rights situation in Bahrain has dramatically worsened, with widespread and serious human rights violations carried out against those who have partaken in or are perceived to have supported pro-democracy protests in the country. The BICI found evidence of torture, deaths in custody, and arbitrary detention, and concluded that the abuses “could not have happened without the knowledge of higher echelons of the command structure” of the security forces. The government has so far failed to ensure a process of independent review and accountability for individuals, particularly at the command and supervision level, who may be responsible for these violations. Instead the government has continued a widespread campaign of harassment against opposition activists, demonstrators, and human rights defenders.
The government of Bahrain has attempted to deflect international criticism by accepting more than 143 of 176 recommendations during its recent Universal Periodic Review, but for the most part has denied that human rights violations have occurred and avoided putting its statements into practice, including seriously addressing continuing violations and accountability for past abuses. We remain highly concerned over the lack of independent, effective and transparent investigations with regards to allegations of torture, lack of due process and killings of protestors. Contrary to the government’s assertions, in our assessment the key recommendations made by the BICI are not being implemented.
The Bahraini Ministry of Interior announced a number of security incidents during the past months – bombings, finding stores that contain homemade bombs and weapons – and within few hours the Ministry arrests the suspects, as it indicates in its press statements, however the Ministry of Interior does not allow independent and unbiased investigation in these security incidents, and it did not present any real evidence other than the press statements.
The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights-BYSHR had documented dozens of cases where the Public Prosecution uses the Terrorism Law, where the presence of a lawyer is not permitted during the preliminary investigation, in addition to the torture allegations in the Criminal Investigation Department.
The Bahraini Authorities also used the law against human rights defenders, as had happened to Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Mr Naji Fateel – administrative member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights – as they were arrested and trialed according to the Terrorism Law, and they were subjected to torture and abuse (for more information on Naji Fateel: http://byshr.org/?cat=53 )
The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights-BYSHR calls you to request a visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain and to inform the Authorities to stop using the anti-terrorism law that restricts fundamental liberties and contributes in repression.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati
President
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
Letter (PDF)