Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2006 - Bahrain

Establishment of an "NGO Support Centre"⁶

On October 10, 2006, the Minister for Social Development launched an "NGO Support Centre" under his auspices, which was officially established to provide training, expertise and financial assistance for NGOs.

However, the statutes of this new institution grant the Minister almost absolute powers in relation to the registration and dissolution of civil society organisations, and entitle the authorities to directly interfere with their activities and operations. The Minister for Social Development may also limit the organisations' freedom to conduct activities abroad or to obtain funding without his prior consent.

Ongoing repression of BCHR and its members⁷

Dissolution of BCHR

On February 22, 2006, the Supreme Court of Appeals of Bahrain, in an appeal lodged by the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), upheld the decisions of lower courts to dissolve the organisation, which is thus banned from carrying out any of its activities.

On March 8, 2006, the Minister for Social Development issued a formal warning stating that sanctions would be carried out against BCHR if it did not cease its operations.

As its members ignored this warning, the BCHR website was blocked in Bahrain by the Batelco company, the main Internet access provider in the country, on October 26, 2006. The homepage, however, remains accessible from outside the country.

BCHR had already been closed down on September 29, 2004 as a result of a decision of the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, who had then threatened members of the organisation with criminal sanctions if they did not comply with this dissolution order. In spite of these threats, BCHR members had publicly announced, on January 6, 2005, that they were resuming their activities.

On January 31, 2005, the High Court had further dismissed a civil complaint against the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs lodged by BCHR on October 12, 2004. This decision was upheld by the Administrative Court on April 14, 2005.

Lack of investigation into acts of harassment against Mr. Nabeel Rajab

As of the end of 2006, the two complaints for "harassment" filed with the Public Prosecutor in June and July 2005 by Mr. Nabeel Rajab, BCHR vice-president, had not yet been addressed. These two complaints notably referred to numerous anonymous letters and SMS messages sent on May 18, 2005 to his home, to the Bahraini authorities and to staff members of his private company, that were accusing him of "espionage" and "treason".

Prior to these events, Mr. Rajab had participated in several meetings of the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 11 and 13, 2005, to which he had submitted an alternative report on torture in Bahrain.

Judicial proceedings against Mr. Abdulrauf Al-Shayed

Following the 2006 dissolution of the BCHR and the subsequent announcement that the organisation was determined to resume its activities, the members of three civil society committees supported by BCHR – the National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture, the Committee of the Unemployed and the Committee for Adequate Housing – were regularly called in for questioning by the police, such as Mr. Abdulrauf Al-Shayed, spokesperson for the National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture.

On July 1, 2006, Mr. Al-Shayed was convicted in absentia for his alleged "involvement in a prostitution network", sentenced to one year in prison and subsequently released on bail. In particular, he was accused of engaging in a fraudulent marriage with an Uzbek citizen in 2003, so that she could legally reside and work in Bahrain, and of acting as her procurer.

Mr. Al-Shayed, who has since then taken refuge abroad, filed a complaint for "impersonation" and appealed against the verdict. However, the Court rejected his appeal in absentia and ordered his arrest.

Lack of verdict in the proceedings initiated by GFBTU⁸

By the end of 2006, the Supreme Court of Appeals had failed to render its verdict in the appeal lodged by the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) against the decisions of the High Court and of the Court of Appeal, which held that the complaint initiated by GFBTU in June 2004 did not fall within their jurisdiction. This complaint questioned the legality of a circular addressed to all ministerial departments by the Bureau of Civil Service in 2003, which prohibited the creation of unions within ministries.

Harassment and end of judicial proceedings against Ms. Ghada Jamsheer⁹

In 2006, all legal proceedings brought against Ms. Ghada Yusuf Moh'd Jamsheer, president of the Women's Petition Committee (WPC) and of the Bahrain Social Partnership for Combating Violence Against Women, were closed after the Prosecutor decided to drop some of the charges and to acquit Ms. Jamsheer in other cases.

In 2005, Ms. Jamsheer had been involved in several proceedings initiated by the Attorney General for, inter alia, "insulting the Shari'a judiciary", and was facing up to fifteen years' imprisonment. These charges had been brought in connection with her activities in favour of a reform of Shari'a family law and the Bahraini judiciary, the adoption of a unified Family Code, and the reinforcement of the role of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Nevertheless, in November 2006, Ms. Jamsheer was regularly followed and harassed by secret services after she gave an interview on the necessity of democratic reform in Bahrain to the US-based and Arabic-speaking Al-Hura television channel.

Registration of the Bahrain Women's Union¹⁰

On September 16, 2006, the Bahrain Women's Union held its first general assembly after its request for registration, submitted in 2001 to the Ministry of Social Affairs, was finally accepted. This association brings together 14 women's rights organisations registered with the

Ministry of Social Affairs, as well as other women's committees and independent activists.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

6. See BCHR.

7. See Annual Report 2005.

8. Idem.

9. Idem.

10.Idem.