JUN 94

PART 1

PART 2

PAGE 4 VOICE OF BAHRAIN JUNE 1994 Lawyers Committee for Human Rights: Bahrain’s Record on Civil Freedom is Appalling Since 1978 the Lawyers Corarnittee for Human Rights has been working to promote international human rights, Refugee Law and legalprocedures in the United States and abroad. In its 1994 report (issued in March) the Committee compiled the following repc)rt on the human rights situation in Bahrain: According to the US l:)epartment of State, “Because of the restriction on freedom of associalion and cxprcssion in Bahrain, any indepcndcnt, domestically based investigation and public criticism of the govemment’s human rights policics would facc major obstacles.” Since achieving independence from Britain in August 1971, the State of Bahrain has enjoycd only two years of constitutional govemmenL The Bahraini Constitution, drafted by an clccIcd Constitutional Assembly, came into force on June 9, 1973. It upheld many basic freedom, including the freedom to form associations “in conformity with thc law.” A National Assembly, made up of 30 elccled representatives and 30 govcmmcnL appointees, was created in Deccmbcr 1973. 11 swiftly carnc into conflict with the govcrnmcnl, howevcr, which is dominated by thc ruling al-Khalifa farnily. In Augusl 197S, citing a lack of co-operation from thc National Assembly, the Amir suspended the assembly, together with substantial parts of the Constitulion. Sincc then, Shvikh ‘Isa bin Salmarl alKhalifa has ruled by decree, with a government dominalcd by his family mcmbcrs, who occupy all key positions including Head of State, Prime Minister and the Ministries of Justice, I)efence and Intcrior. In 1974 Sheikh ‘Isa look acdvantage of a parliamentary recess lo introduce a l)cc rue Law on Stalc Sccurily Mcasurcs. The law, which rcnl ains in forcc to thi s day, gave thc M inislcr of interior broad powers to detain without chargc or trial, for rcncwablc lhrcc-year periods, anyonc suspected of endangering or planning to cndanger the security of the slate or LO disturb ioubl ic order. Thcsc powers havc been used extensively over the past 20 ycars to clamp down on dissidcnt opinions of all kinds. With virtually all avenues for voicing criticism of government policy shut down, some popular grievanscs continued to bc cxprcssed through Bahrain’s network of social, cultural and sporting, clubs. In an effort lo regulate Lhe activities of these non-govcrnmcntal associalions and organisations, Lhe govemmcnt rc sorted to a ncw law on associalionss Law No. 91 of it Thc law, undcr which all types of associalion arc rc4uircd to register, explicitly prohibits involvement in politics. It provides extensive scopc for governmental interference in the running of an association. For exa nple, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs must be givcn access to all minutes of meetings of a society’s executive body. Articlcs 15-22 of thc law requirc that all reports or documents intended for public distribution, or distribution among the mcmlDcrs of and association, nlust rcccivc prior approval Ironl oI ficials at thc Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. In addition, the internal rcgulallons of all associations must comply with a standard formula drawn up by the Ministry. The authorities also maintain tight control over the financial affairs of non-governmental associations. The receipt of funds from outside of the country requires the prior permission of the authorities, as do domestic fund-raising efforts. The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs is vested with the power to dissolve any society, dismiss its board of directors and appoint a substitute, and to install a director of the govcmment’schoice. TheMinistermay alsooblige societies to merge, and reassign their assets and property. Societies have no legal redress against these ministerial decisions. In view of the highly restrictive nature of laws governing freedom of association in B ahrain, it is hardly surprising that no domestic human rights organisations have developed. Thc Bahraini government would not wish its poor human rights record to be the subject of domestic public scrutiny. The only legal Bahraini organisation to offer any kind of challenge to governmental control has been the Bahraini Bar Society. When Bahraini lawyers sought permission to form an independent self-govemmg association in 1979, their request was denied. Instead lawycrs were obliged to form a society under the law of associations then in force. With the passing of thc new law on associations in 1989, the Bar Society brought a case to the Superior Civil Court arguing that its provisions were both draconian and arnbiguous. The Bar Society objected, inter alia, to the prohibition on a associations becoming involved in politics, on the grounds that this ban was over-broad and poorly defined. It also objected to the requirement for all public activities undertaken by an association to obtain prior written permission from thc tvIinisterof Labourand Social Affairs, with failure to clo so constituting a punishable offence. The Bar Society argued that this pro vision risked leading to arbitrary punishment. To date, the Superior Civil Court has not issued a ruling on the Bar Society’s objections. According to one B ahraini lawyer interviewed by Lawyers Committee in 1992, the Bahraini government has tried to persuade the Bar Society to drop its case, offering a number of concessions. These include allowing the Society to attend meetings of the Arab Lawyers Union and of other regional and international legal organisations. The B ar Society has taken advantage of this opportunity. However, its case remains pending before the court. Inside Bahrain, the Bar Society has done nothing to break the silence on public discussion of the eountry’s human rights problems. Even a country like B ahrain, where dissenting opinion and activities have been tightly controlled for more than twenty years, is not immune to global and regional trends that favour more participatory forms of governrnent. IRlections in Kuwait in October 1992 and in Yemen in April 1993, accompanied by a flowering of political debate in both countries, have created expectations that other Gulf states will be forced to accon rnodated a more open debate about government policies, including in the field of human rights In an apparentresponse to these pressures, the Amir announced the forrnation of a 30-person Consultative Council on December 20, 1992. This Councils made up solely of appointees, meets in secret and has so far contributed nothing to alter a legal and policy climate intensely hostile to the activities of all non governmental organisation. The above report is part of the newly published “Shakling the Defenders, Legal Restrictions on Independent Human Rights Advocacy Worldwide, A report of the Lawyers Comrnittee for Human Rights, 330 Seventh Avenue, 10th Floor, New York 10001, USA, issuedinMarch 1994, ISBN 0-934143-69-2”. =============== More Pilgrims Die at Hajj They Did it Again The ncws that more than 200 pilgrims have bcen killed during the last season of Hajj (pilgrimage) has causcd a furors in the Islarnic world. Anger, frustration and condemnation arc widesprcad and the Saudis have to counter thesc claims by proving otherwise. Although this timc thc incident might have been caused simply by overcrowding, the failure of the Saudis to offer full explanation of the tragedy has added to the mistrust of people towards the Saudi government. In 1990, more than 1400 pilgrims died as they werc forced into a stampede inside a tunnel. The tunnel was closed on one side to allow the motorcade of one of the Saudi royal family member to pass. In the ensuing confusion the pilgrims were crushed to death. At the time relations betwccn Saudi Arabia and Trukcy wcre strained as the Turks accused the Saudis of both negligence and mismanagement. The Saudis paid largc sums tO Turkey to contain the situation. Earlicr, morc than 400 Iranians were killed by Saudi police as they demonstrated in the streets of Meeca in 1987. The Saudis have accused the Iranians of disrupting the Ha.ii by their demonstrations. However, the two latter incidents could only add to
the anger of Muslims towards the custodians of the Holy Haramain for their inability to maintain peace and descipline despite their rhetorics of upgrading the facilities at both Mecca and Medina. The Saudis gave the figure of 829 fatalities in this Hajj, but failed to give an exact figure of the number of victims of the stampede on 23rd May 1994, at the Jamarat (the stone-throwing ritual performed by the pilgrims to signify the stoning of the devil). It is expected that the total number of fatal ities of the latest incident will be far higher than the 200 quoted by the Saudis. Infact they did not announce the news until the pilgrims contacted their home countries and revealed the news to rclatives.Since then more details have surfaced but the total picture could not be known for some tinne to come. The Saudis have once again failed their duty.

JUNE 1994 VOICE OF BAHRAIN PAGE 3 CDLR: The Situation in Saudi Arabia is Volatile The situation in Saudi Arabia continues to be tense after a series of detentions during the months of March and April. The economic situation coupled with lack of democracy and basic human rights make the situation even worse Although the war in the Yemen has provided a respite for the Saudis the general atmosphere is of gloom and pessimism. Change is inevitable according to experts on Saudi affairs. It may be some time before change is effected but the present situation could not continue unabated. Even the Americans feel obliged not to oppose a change in the Saudi Icadership. The Committee for the Defence of Legal Rights in Saudi Arabia ssued her 8th corarnunique on 8th May 1994. Here is the text: The Saudi security forces have continued their dctcntion campaign against whoever is suspected of sympathizing with or supporting the reform movcmcnt. According to the reports received by the CDLR office in London the following persons have recently been detained: l . Dr. Hussein Mash-hoor Al-Hazimi assistant professor at the Physics Department in King Saud University in Riyadh. I)r. Al-Hazimi who studied for his masters in the U.S.A and for his Ph. D. in the U .K in radiation and Health Physics was detained on the evening of Thursday 5/May/1 t394 after his house was stormed and thoroughly scarchcd. The father of four belongs Lo [hc Lribc of Al-Hawazim a well-known and highly rcspcctcd tribc in Lhe Jizan area in the south of Arabia. Dr. Hussein is highly reputable in scientific circlcs and is highly respcctcd within his tribe and in his province His fa[hcrj Sheikh Muhammad Mash-hoor Al-Hazimi is a chief in his tribe and an authoritative figure in thc Jizan prov snsc.

2. Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Al-Mas ‘ari cousin of Prof. Muhammad Abdallah Al-Mas’ari was dctainccl on thc afLcmoOn of Sunday 1/Mayll 9’94 after both his office at thc Library of Imam Muhammad bin Sa’ud University and his house al As-Suwaidi district of Riyadh were storrrlcd anct thoroughly searched. Mr. Al-Ma