Jun99

June 1999

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Bahrain: Government’s PR exercise is a short-lived one

The new UK Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Geoffrey Hoon, addressed a meeting in London on 23 June, evening. Mr. Hoon replaced the late Mr. Derek Fatchett who was responsible for the Middle East. The new minister hailed Qatar’s Municipal elections as well as the Amir of Kuwait for his adherence to the constitution. He also spoke about the smooth transition of power to the new Amir of Bahrain.

The new minister was asked about the human rights situation in Bahrain and about his views towards the demands raised by the people of Bahrain. Mr. Hoon referred to the pledges made by the new Amir for reforming the situation and the release political prisoners. He emphasised the British historical relations with Bahrain and reiterated that the British government would use its good office for more development in Bahrain.

He also welcomed the Bahraini government decision to allow Amnesty International (AI) to visit the country. AI is starting an investigative visit to Bahrain next week and this will be the fulfilling of the promises made to both the UK Government and to AI to allow such a visit to go ahead.

This explains why the government of Bahrain has been embellishing the releases of citizens who had been interned and tortured for more than three years. This also explains why the intelligence department summoned one of Sheikh Al-Jamri’s sons and forced him to speak to Reuters and other media organisations to deny reports about the ill-treatment of Sheikh Al-Jamri.

The Amir was quoted as saying that he released “his sons”, while those who “committed crimes will remain in jails.” This is a dangerous statement. If these people had been detained and tortured without reason, will the Amir order the trial and punishment of the torturers?

The people of Bahrain are aware of the government’s need for a public relation exercise. However, the reforms that are sought by the people can easily be addressed if the Amir is to choose a different policy towards the nation. The ancient government that still controls the society limits the channels of communication between the ruler and the ruled and insists that these channels must be under the control of the security forces and the intelligence department. The latter are staffed and controlled by mercenaries imported from outside Bahrain for the sole purpose of repressing the nation.

The new Amir has yet to choose a different course of action. The public relation exercise will soon come to an end after the completion of visits by Amnesty International and by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The latter will visit Bahrain on 20 October. Once these short-term pressures are over, the public relation exercise will be over and the ugly face of repression will show-up.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

25 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

Bahrain: Citizens are suffering while medieval press talks about a “gratitude”

The health of the detained pro-democracy leader, Sheikh Abdul Amir Al-Jamri, has deteriorated in the past two weeks. He was spotted in an exhausted condition in the Military Hospital last week and his condition was described as worrying. Sheikh Al-Jamri had been placed in solitary and semi-solitary confinement since January 1996. The jailers continue to ill-treat him in various ways. He is completely isolated from the outside world. Members of the intelligence department, keen to disorientate Sheikh Al-Jamri, transmit false news to him. Bugging devices are placed everywhere inside his cell and during any short interview he is allowed with his family. The short interviews take place once every two months and the undisciplined intelligence officers usually sit around his sides.

While the pro-democracy leaders are being ill-treated, the government’s newspapers continue their medieval political language. Stories about the “gratitude” of the Amir and the prime minister continue to be published. The freeing of youths that had been tortured for more than three years without charges and trial is considered as a “gratitude”. This medieval mentality is sickening those who are being released following ordeals of prolonged torture and ill-treatment.

One o he detainees, Abdul Jalil Al-Sha’er, from Barbar, had been transferred to Salmanya Hospital a week ago suffering from the torture he had been subjected to inside the cells of the interior ministry. He is now being treated in Ward 23 where his condition is not yet recovering. Two weeks ago, the elderly Haji Abdulla Fakhro 70, was also transferred to hospital from his cell.

The notorious torturer and the person in-charge of the North-West Region Police HQ, Farooq al-Ma’awdah met with dignitaries of Duraz on 19 June and informed them he had received orders from higher authorities to allow the re-opening of their community centres (Matams) which he had attacked and closed down in the past two years. Three months ago, Al-Ma’awdah said to the same dignitaries that the centres would never open so long as they refused his humiliating conditions.

Seven citizens were brought before the unconstitutional State Security Court on 19 June. The session was held in camera. The court, presided by a member of the ruling family and staffed with Egyptian judges (on short-term renewable contracts) had been condemned by all international human rights organisations. It violates the Constitution of Bahrain and the UN conventions. The government is rushing citizens through this court to sentence as many people as possible before the arrival of a UN team on 20 October. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will visit Bahrain on that date and this is why the government is releasing those detained for several years without charges or trial. According to legal sources the court’s sentences are being assessed by the UN human rights working groups and those who are jailed by this court can be considered as arbitrarily detained people.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

20 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

Bahrain: Women beaten up in front of Amiri Court A group of women were beaten up just outside the Bahraini Amiri Court in Rifa’a by security forces on 12 June. The security forces dragged, beaten up and forced the women to turn back, thus preventing them from reaching the Amiri Court to submit a petition requesting the release of their relatives. One of the women, Layla Khalil Dashti, was told by an officer that the Amir “does not interfere in such issues.” He is only there “to assist those who request for plots of land to build houses or those who need tickets to travel abroad for treatment along other matters of this nature.” He has “nothing to do with internal political affairs” said the security officer. On 14 June, the group of women then attempted to hire a coach from a Al-Nussir Agency in an attempt to drive their way to the Amiri Court to submit their petition. The security forces attacked the agency, closed it down and arrested its owner. Several women were arrested and tortured, including Kareemah Hassan Al-Mosawi and Ramlah Mohammed Hassan. The lawyer of the women was summoned shortly after he met with the women. Abdulla Hashim, a prominent and outspoken lawyer, was summoned on 15 June and threatened against taking any legal action regarding the assault on his clients. Bahrain Freedom Movement 17 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

 

Bahrain: Two women arrested for writing a letter to the Amir

Two ladies were arrested on 14 June and are being punished because they wrote a letter and attempted to hand it to the Amir. Karimah Hassan Al-Mosawi, 31 years old, a mother of two children and Ramlah Mohammed Hassan, 23, were both arrested because they wrote a letter to the Amir requesting him to release political prisoners. Karimah’ husband, Hussain Al-Tattan, is serving a 7-year sentence. Ramlah has several of her relatives inside the jails. She was also arrested last years and had suffered severe torture for several months.

The intelligence department firstly summoned the two ladies. Both were told that they are not allowed to write any letter to the Amir. The ladies refused to give up their plan for submitting the letter, hence they were arrested. The arrest of these ladies exposes the fictitious claims of the government that a new era of reform has begun.

A further evidence that human rights situation is continuing to deteriorate comes from inside the jails. During the last week, two persons were brutally tortured in Jaw prison for their protest against the inhuman treatment they received. The two detainees, Shaikh Hussain Al Daihi and Shaikh Ali Ashur, have suffered physical injuries and are now denied treatment as a further punishment. They were told to strip down and handcuffed if they wanted to see their families. When they refused to see their families in that state they were beaten and placed in solitary cells in section (5) of Jaw prison.

On 14 June, the Amir paid a visit to Jedhaf, one of the areas that had witnessed many of the events of the uprising. Such a visit is welcome. However, the Amir has not yet managed to address any of the grievances of the nation. Those who had been released were teenagers and youths who had been in detention for years without charges or trials. Such releases were hailed as “gratitude”, thus adding insult to the injury. All those who had been released had confirmed that they never stated the many things reported (on their behalf) in the government’s newspapers.

The backward and torturous mentality of the ancient government predominates the political scene. A defence lawyer of seven Bahrainis told Reuters that their “ trial, which first began in January, would resume on Saturday before Bahrain’s State Security Court”. The resumption of political trials is a triumph for the prime minister who wants to continue using his “iron-fist” policy against the peaceful citizens of Bahrain.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

16 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

Mideast Mirror (Alef Publishing Ltd, 4 Stratford Place, London W1N 9AE, Tel: 0171 408 1771, Fax: 0171 408 1911)

11 June 1999

“Why Bahrain is releasing detainees?”

Mansour al-Jamri of the opposition Bahrain Freedom Movement tells Mideast Mirror the government is trying to beat an Oct. 20 deadline, when a UN team will visit Bahrain to investigate arbitrary detentions, but he says the new Emir seems inclined to introduce change for the better if and when he takes charge of internal affairs from the prime minister.

The Bahraini authorities’ decision to release some 300 detainees held in connection with he disturbances which erupted in late 1994 does not appear to be part of a process of reaching a political accommodation with the opposition, according to Mansour al-Jamri, a prominent member of the London-based opposition Bahrain Freedom Movement (BFM).

The move is essentially designed to release or sentence more than 1,000 held without charge or trial before next October’s visit to Bahrain by a delegation from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which will investigate whether there are any “arbitrarily detained” people in the Gulf island state, Jamri told Mideast Mirror Friday.

Jamri said Bahrain’s new Emir, who ordered the release, appears to be inclined to introduce change for the better. But for him to do that, he must first take over control of internal policy from his uncle and prime minister, who adamantly opposes any reform.

RELEASE: Jamri was commenting on last weekend’s announcement that the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa, had ordered the release of 320 detainees held during anti-government protests and 41 people sentenced for criminal acts.

He also pardoned 12 Bahraini political exiles, who had asked for a pardon and pledged “good behaviour,” an official statement said.

A Bahraini official subsequently announced that 41 Shiite Moslems detained during the unrest were freed Tuesday and another 40 or so were expected to be released later in the week.

Hundreds of people had been detained in Bahrain since unrest erupted in December 1994, led by the majority Shiite community seeking political and economic reforms from the Sunnite Moslem government. More than 30 people were killed in the disturbances, which abated in 1998.

The pardon was announced following the end of a three-month mourning period for the death on March 6 of Bahrain’s late Emir, Sheikh Issa bin-Salman Al-Khalifa.

UN VISIT: Jamri welcomed the release of detainees –as did the BFM in a statement earlier this week- but he said it would affect less than a fourth of the people held behind bars in connection with the unrest and appeared essentially aimed at preempting any criticism by the UN team that will visit Bahrain on October 20.

He said Manama allowed the visit by the delegation representing the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, to be led by respected French judge Louis Joinet, in order to ward off a condemnation of its record on human rights by the UN Human Rights Sub-commission during its annual session in Geneva last August.

The UN body condemned the Bahraini government’s violation of human rights during its August 1997 meeting, he explained. It was poised to adopt an even more strongly-worded resolution in August 1998 had Manama not agreed to allow the UN delegation to visit as well as to drop its reservations on Article 20 of the convention Against Torture.

Though the visit should have taken place within a year of the August 1998 meeting, Manama negotiated a postponement until October 20, and it seems the government is no in a race against the clock to either free or sentence the 1,000-plus “arbitrarily detained” people by that date, Jamri said.

This also explains why sentences have been hastily passed over the past couple of months, with up to 20 people sentenced at a time in some cases, he said.

Anyone detained for more that 48 hours without charge or trial would fall in the “arbitrarily detained” category, Jamri said. But under Bahrain’s State Security Law, people are detained without charge or trial for up to three years, and the detention is “renewable” once the three yeares have elapsed, he remarked.

Jamri said a least 1,500 people are in jail in connection with the unrest, around 500 of whom have been sentenced. This means that the release which started this week would benefit less than one-fourth of the total, he noted. As to the 12 “political exiles” who have been pardoned, Jamri said, they are effectively not opposition activists. The Bahraini government has banished many Shiites who are not involved in politics, and these are among them, he added.

Jamri, who is the son of leading Shiite opposition activist Sheikh Abdolamir al-Jamri, said the new Emir had intervened to put his father’s trial on hold, and it was not clear what would happen next.

The trial of Sheikh Jamri, a member of elected parliament dissolved by the provious Emir in 1975, opened last February, three years after he was detained on charges of inciting unrest. He was accused of spying for a foreign country [a reference to Iran], running an illegal organization, fanning unrest, and circulating false news. If found guilty, Sheikh Jamri could face a maximum penalty of execution.

Mansour al-Jamri told Mideast Mirror his father’s trial had been adjourned to March 7 after the first session, but the hearing did not take place because Sheikh Issa died the day before. Since then, the new Emir ordered that the trial be put on hold.

EMIR vs PRIME MINISTER: jamri said he did not know what would happen next, but he hoped the suspension of the trial was a good sign.

As a matter of fact, he said Sheikh Hamad has stated that he wants to introduce change and appears inclined to allow a measure of liberalization. He has already lifted some restrictions on the press, which is now tackling the once-taboo subject of restoring the elected legislature, Jamri remarked.

Moreover, he said, the new Emir has named two qualified and liberal-minded advisers- Hassan Fakhro for economic affairs and Mohammad Jaber al-Ansari for cultural and scientific affairs. His Western-educated son and Crown Prince, Sheikh Salman bin-Hamad, is also a positive influence.

However, Sheikh Hamad and his entourage are still not in control of internal policy, according to Jamri. While the new Emir calls the shots in foreign and defense affairs, internal matters, whether political or economic, remain very much in the hands of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman, who is fiercely opposed to any change, he said. That the prime minister is in charge of the home front was evidenced by the recent, very limited cabinet reshuffle which did not feature any significant change.

Jamri made clear the BFM would back any moves toward democratization the new Emir takes and noted it had sent him condolences on his father’s death. However, the release of detainees which began this week cannot at this point be said to be part of a broader liberalization drive, he said.

From what has transpired so far, it appears Sheikh Hamad is “pro-some change. Exactly what that change is, we still don’t know,” jamri said.

Bahrain: Political liberalisation requires dedication and seriousness

The prevention of Al-Oroba Club from hosting a seminar that was supposed to have taken place on the evening of 9 June (last Wednesday) is casting doubts about the seriousness of the government for opening up the political environment. Dr. Sabeeka Al-Najjar was invited to speak on “Women and political participation”. Shortly before it started, the club was ordered to cancel the meeting by Mohammed Al Bin-Ali, who works in the office of the Interior Minister.

Similarly, the reaction of the government to the broadcasting of an interview with a member of the opposition on Sunday 7 June on Al-Jazeera Satellite TV reflects the lack of seriousness towards political openness. On that day, members of the opposition were interviewed by several media organisations including the BBC Arabic Service and Al-Jazeera. However, the reaction of the government was to lodge a formal complaint (against Al-Jazeera) to the GCC Secretary General on 9 June. The submission of the complaint followed an emergency meeting between the prime minister, the foreign, the interior and the information ministers. The government’s journalists in Al-Ayyam and Akhbar Al-Khalij were ordered to launch a low-level attack against the opposition in the editorials of 9 June.

News from the United Nations in Geneva revealed that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has decided to launch a full investigative mission next October. It is expected that on 20 October a mission led by Judge Louis Joinet will visit Bahrain and will conduct investigations in relation to all those arbitrarily detained in Bahrain. The government is racing against time to administratively sentence as many citizens as possible before then. The release of innocent citizens held for many years without charges or trials would be one of the ways to avoid exposure to the UN investigation.

The Paris-based Committee for Defence of Democracy wrote to the French Foreign Affairs Ministry on 7 June calling on them to adopt a moral Approach similar to the British and not turn a blind eye to human rights violations in Bahrain. The committee submitted another memorandum to the French Socialist Party reminding them of their moral responsibility towards human rights and called on them to take actions towards the violation of basic rights in Bahrain

Bahrain Freedom Movement

11 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

Bahrain: Repressive measures continue and a detainee is in hospital

Amnesty International (AI) issued a press release on 8 June 1999 welcoming the announcement of the government’s decision to release 320 citizens. AI said “This is a positive step in the right direction and further measures to improve the human rights situation in the country are needed”. The organisation requested details regarding all those released including their identity, dates of arrest, reason for arrest, charges that were brought against them, their place of detention and sentences that have been passed against any of them. AI said “a number of people are still being detained solely for their peaceful opposition to the government. The detention of such people must come to an end.”

The Middle East Mirror (MEM) wrote on 9 June that “two state-guided newspapers” aired their anger on 9 June after Al-Jazeera satellite television interviewed Dr. Mansoor Al-Jamri . The MEM reported the editorial simultaneously published in Akhbar Al-Khaleej and Al-Ayyam. Both editorials used a bad language incompatible with today’s world of politics. Both columnists receive orders from the interior and information ministries before publishing such comments.

Inside Bahrain, the people are disappointed with the evaporation of optimism that had spread in the past three months. Security forces were deployed around the country and the dictatorial practices of the old regime were brought back.

The prestigious Al-Oroba Club was prevented from hosting a seminar that was supposed to have taken place on the evening of 9 June. Dr. Sabeeka Al-Najjar was invited to speak on “Women and political participation”. At first the authorities allowed the seminar to go ahead. But shortly before it started, the club was ordered to cancel the meeting. The order came from Mohammed Al Bin-Ali, who works in the office of the Interior Minister. It is worth noting that the government’s body that authorised the meeting was the General Organisation for Youth and Sports, which is responsible for regulating clubs’ activities. This cancellation shows how the unaccountable interior ministry interferes in public life and extinguishes any drive for liberalisation in the country.

It was reported that Mr. Abdulla Fakhro had been transferred to Salmanya Hospital intensive care unit after suffering heart problems inside his detention cell. The respected elderly person had been detained under the provisions of the unconstitutional State Security Law. The ill-treatment of Mr. Fakhro is indicative of the style of the non-changing ancient regime in Bahrain.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

10 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

News Service: 111/99 AI INDEX: MDE 11/14/99 8 JUNE 1999

Bahrain Amnesty International welcomes the release of political prisoners

Amnesty International today wrote to the Amir of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, and welcomed the order issued a few days ago to release 320 political detainees and prisoners, and allow 12 Bahraini nationals to return to the country.
This is a positive step in the right direction and further measures to improve the human rights situation in the country are needed, Amnesty International said. The organization requested details regarding all those released including their identity, dates of arrest, reason for arrest, charges that were brought against them, their place of detention and sentences that have been passed against any of them. A number of people are still being detained solely for their peaceful opposition to the government. The detention of such people must come to an end. Others continue to be held in prolonged administrative detention without charge or trial. These people must either be charged with a recognizable criminal offence and promptly brought to trial or be released, the organization continued. Amnesty International also urged the new Bahraini Government to put an end to the practice of forcible exile. Source: Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United

Kingdom

Bahrain: Cautious welcome by the opposition for release of some detainees

The opposition welcomed the announcement by the government on 6 June that it would free more than 300 detainees held during anti-government protests. The announcement said that the Amir ordered the release of 320 detainees and 41 people sentenced for criminal acts. He also “pardoned” 12 Bahraini political exiles, who had asked for a pardon and pledged “good behaviour,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for the BFM said, “the Bahraini opposition welcomes all moves that foster a political relaxation and openness. Those released represent less than quarter the number of detainees. However, the opposition hopes that the Amir will start addressing the core issues and not only the symptoms. The people in Bahrain are awaiting the initiation of reforms, which had been spoken about by the Amir in the past three months. Integral to these reforms are the restoration of the constitution, the release of all political detainees and prisoners, and allowing all political exiles to return home without pre-conditions”.

The opposition also called on the Amir to assume the responsibilities for the internal political crisis. It was the mismanagement of the government that dragged the country into the turmoil. One of the mistakes of he government was to treat the crisis in security terms rather than considering political solutions.

The London-based Al-Quds newspaper published an article for the Bahraini personality, Mr. Abdul Rahman Al-Nuaimi in which he described the disappointment of the nation with the re-appointment of the same cabinet that had been responsible for dragging the country to its lowest political performance. He called on the Amir to take brave decisions towards the problems of the country by addressing the grievances as well as the legitimate demands that have been raised by the Bahraini people.

On 6 June, the Bahrain Monetary Agency announced that Bahrain’s foreign trade showed a 24.6 million dinar ($70 million) surplus in the first quarter of 1999 after a 57.1 million dinar deficit three months earlier. Experts stated that “the surplus that has been achieved in the first quarter was due to decline in imports rather than rise in exports. Decline of imports is an indicative of reduced economic activity. More importantly, for the year ending 1998, Bahrain reported a trade deficit of BD73m (or $195m). In 1997, there was a trade surplus of BD149m. In 1998, total exports amounted to BD1,229m and imports BD1,302m. In 1997, total exports were BD1,649m and imports BD1,514m.”

Bahrain Freedom Movement

8 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

Update on 6 June:

MANAMA, June 6 (Reuters) – Bahrain said on Sunday it would free more than 300 detainees held during anti-government protests, the official Gulf News Agency (GNA) reported. It said Bahrain’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa ordered the release of 320 detainees and 41 people sentenced for criminal acts. He also pardoned 12 Bahraini political exiles, who had asked for a pardon and pledged “good behaviour,” the statement said. Hundreds of people have been jailed in Bahrain, the Gulf’s main financial and banking hub, since unrest erupted in December 1994, led by the island’s majority Shi’ite Moslems seeking political and economic reforms from the Sunni-led government. More than 30 people have been killed in the disturbances which abated in 1998. A government official told Reuters the pardon covered around half the number of the detainees held during the protests. The pardon followed the end of a three-month mourning period for the death on March 6 of Bahrain’s late Emir Sheikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa.

MANAMA, June 6 (Reuters) – Bahrain said on Sunday it would free a group of detainees held during anti-government protests, an official statement said on Sunday. The statement, faxed to Reuters, said Bahrain’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa ordered the release. It said Sheikh Hamad “pardoned a group of detainees who were involved in security crimes against the society. The pardon also includes another group who were sentenced for criminal acts.” The statement did not say how many detainees would be freed, but a diplomatic source close to the government told Reuters “a large number of detainees and prisoners” would be released. The pardon followed the end of a three-month mourning period for the death on March 6 of Bahrain’s late Emir Sheikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa. Hundreds of people have been jailed in Bahrain, the Gulf’s main financial and banking hub, since unrest erupted in December 1994, led by the island’s majority Shi’ite Moslems seeking political and economic reforms from the Sunni-led government.

More than 30 people have been killed in the disturbances which abated in 1998.

Bahrain: Ancient regime is back in action

Several check points were established on 30 and 31 May following the re-confirmation of the ancient government back in office. Jeeps full of foreign security men began touring the residential area in a coward show of force.

As soon as the old government was re-confirmed, the repressive practices of the security forces were back in action. On 30 May, Hanan Salman Haider, the girl who had been detained for several months late last year, was re-datelined for one day. Undisciplined security officers subjected her to ill-treatment and interrogation.

On the same day, Jaffer Al-Sayyah, from Sitra, was re-detained. He had completed his three yeas jail sentence and was released last year. However, all his friends who had been released following the completion of their sentences were re-detained. His re-detention is meant to be a message to citizens that the interior ministry is back in action without a change in mentality.

Similarly, inside the jails, many citizens continue to suffer torturing and solitary confinement. The twelve citizens who were transferred from Jaw to Qala’a following attacks by security forces on their cells, are suffering severely. They are being tortured to serve as an example for other prisoners. Another citizen, Hussain Abdul Karim Abdulla, from Bilad al-Qadim, had been transferred to a solitary cell following receiving a 4-year jail sentence.

The Labour Ministry sent a memorandum to clubs and charity funds ordering them to acquire a prior permission before holding any function and before using any loud speaker. The late Amir has signed a decree banning the use of loud speaker in mosques and public places without prior permission. Few days later he died and the loud speakers decree was ignored. If it had been implemented, then mosques and other places would have been banned from using the microphones. However, now that the mourning period is over, the ancient regime is re-asserting its dictatorial powers.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

3 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

Bahrain: Old government sworn in; a citizen tortured

An Amiri decree named only three new ministers replacing two out-going ministers and creating a new minister of state post. The new finance and economy minister Abdulah Hassan Seif was the governor of the widely criticised Bahrain Monetary Agency. Recently the Agency was accused of silence and cover up over the issue of forged bank notes sold in the country. Former Bahraini diplomat Ali Ibrahim al-Mahrous was appointed as Public Works and Agriculture Minister, replacing Majid Jawad al-Jishi who became a minister of state. Another member of the Al Khalifa family was appointed as a Minister for Electricity and Water.

Bahrain’s cabinet resignation on Sunday 30 May, came a head of a widely optimistic popular expectations of a real change. Shaikh Khalifa has headed Bahrain’s cabinet since 1973 and several ministers have held their posts since then. The prime minister reshuffled his cabinet in 1995.

Several days before the reshuffling of the cabinet the official media has heightened peoples’ expectations for reform. Government’s trumpet-blowers were ordered to magnify the intentions of the new Amir to exercise a substantial change. The reasons for such a propagandist approach were not clear. The absolute and ancient cabinet stayed in power. This has delivered a message to Bahrainis that the government is unbeatable and that its backward mentality in running the country still holds.

In his statement after his reappointment, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to his old policy of denial of the political rights of Bahrainis. He reiterated the role of the Consultative Council as an alternative to the constitutional parliament. As the time of the coronation of Amir approaches, citizens are widely sceptical about the continuing propaganda for change alluded to by the official media. People are wondering whether this is just another lie.

A tortured citizen dying in hospital:

On the hand a citizen, Abbas Saeed Hassan Sabt, 19, is suffering from critical illness in Salmania Hospital section 412. Mr. Sabt was first admitted to the Bahrain Defence Forces’ Hospital (BDF) on 28 June 1998, then transferred to Salmania Hospital on 13 July 1998. Mr. Sabt had been brutally tortured by the notorious Khalid Al-Wazzan upon his first arrest in February 1997. He was re-arrested and detrained for a second time in Al Kahmis Centre in which he received a second dose of torture. He was finally re-arrested and detained in Budayia Centre on 12 April 1998. In there his torture was supervised by the notorious Ali Al Khllifa and the mercenary Farooq Al Ma’awda. Several methods of torture were used on Mr. Sabt. They include: forcing him to stand for fifteen days, flogging his feet and beating and kicking him on his head and kidneys. He is now fighting for his life after being diagnosed of suffering from a fatal illness.

UN concern for human rights in Bahrain

A UN committee concluded its meeting in Geneva on 31 May. The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Bahrain (CDHRB) submitted an intervention regarding the situation in Bahrain. The CDHRB said that the government has dealt with Bahrainis on the basis of ethnicity and discrimination. Those, for instance, who come from Iranian origins were denied full citizenship even though they have been living in Bahrain for generations said the CDHRB. At the same time, thousands of mercenaries were imported and granted full citizenship. On the other hand, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticised the Bahrain government for its failure to submit any report to the Committee since its accession to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the early nineties.

Sources in Geneva reported that a UN Special Rapporteur is due to visit Bahrain next October (rather than this month) to investigate the human rights situation in the country. The visit comes after the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights has condemned the human rights violation by the Bahraini authorities. The government conceded last August to make way for this visit and was given until next August when the UN Sub-Commission will assess its compliance.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

2 June 1999

Fax: (44) 171 278 9089

Human Rights Watch Report (June 1999)

Bahrain

See http://www.hrw.org/hrw/advocacy/internet/mena/bahrain.htm

Bahrain

The Internet is the arena of two conflicting objectives of the Bahraini government: its bid to become “the telecommunications hub of the Gulf”⁽⁷⁴⁾ and its determination to suppress information critical of the rule of the Al Khalifa family. Authorities have on the one hand promoted the Internet, making access available since 1995 and easy to obtain. No authorization is required to launch a web site. Several Internet cafés serve the public. On the other hand, the security services are aware that the Bahraini opposition has skillfully used the Internet to collect and disseminate information. They have blocked web sites and reportedly employ technical experts to assist in conducting surveillance of Internet use.

According to one Bahraini professor who was interviewed in February 1999 and requested anonymity, “the situation of the Internet is good, better than the overall human rights situation, because the government understands its importance for maintaining a competitive business edge, especially in a service economy.” Bahrain’s constitution guarantees freedom of speech, of the press, printing and publication, “in accordance with the conditions and procedure specified by the law.” It also guarantees privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications. Article 26 states, “No communications shall be censored nor the contents thereof revealed except in cases of necessity prescribed by the law and in accordance with the procedures and guarantees stated therein.”

Despite these constitutional provisions, authorities exercise sweeping control over all local media and make public criticism of government officials and policies off-limits. According to the U.S. State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1998, “Telephone calls and correspondence are subject to monitoring. Police informer networks are extensive and sophisticated. During the year, the Government frequently infringed on citizens’ right to privacy, using illegal searches and arbitrary arrests as tactics to control political unrest….E-mail access to information is unimpeded, although it may be subject to monitoring.”

Bahraini authorities did not respond to Human Rights Watch’s letter and follow-up inquiries requesting information on Internet policies. Internet service is a monopoly of the public telecommunications company Batelco. Prices are moderate but can add up since there is no option for unlimited service at a fixed price.

There are conflicting reports on the extent to which authorities block politically sensitive web sites. However, various sources concur that the web site of the Bahraini Freedom Movement ()–or at least the content beyond its home page–is systematically blocked. Unlike the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain does not appear to have implemented an ambitious system to block pornography. It has preferred to encourage users concerned about sexually explicit materials to install filtering software.

Authorities are less concerned with blocking web sites than with closing down the sources of critical information leaking out of the country, according to the professor cited above. A small number of Bahrainis have reportedly been detained or questioned on suspicion of using electronic means to transmit information to political opposition groups outside the country. The best known case is that of Sayyid ‘Alawi Sayyid Sharaf, a Batelco engineer. On the night of March 25, 1997 security forces raided Sharaf’s home, confiscated his computer and detained him. He was held for nearly two years before being released without charge. According to a Bahraini who met Sharaf after his release, he came under suspicion not through high-tech means of surveillance but through the traditional police methods, including the interrogation of third parties and the use of informants. Amnesty International stated that Sharaf had reportedly been tortured while being held incommunicado by intelligence officials.⁽⁷⁵⁾

74. See, for example, “Bahrain: The Powerhouse of the Gulf,” an eight-page advertising supplement in the December 21, 1998 issue of Newsweek magazine, U.S. edition.

75. Amnesty International Urgent Action Appeal 42/97, March 25, 1997.

June 1999The period of mourning draws to an end

The best opportunity for change

Change is always difficult to contemplate. But big characters throughout history are those who bestowed progressive changes onto their societies. Those who sought to run their countries unchallenged had often landed their people into human suffering. The international community has, over the past centuries, been looking for disciplines to prevent the emergence of dictatorships and totalitarian regimes. Since the second world war the efforts have intensified and several international treaties and conventions have been put in place.

However, the crisis is far from over, and dictatorships have acted against their spirit with impunity. It is also clear that lack of interest on the part of the international community to take a decisive action against violators of international laws has played in the hands of despots and renegades. The United Nations Human Rights Commission has proved ineffective in resolving crisis surrounding human rights violations around the world.The international human rights organisations lack the necessary tools to ensure adherence to the democratic spirit.

The proposed International Justice Court is being hindered at all levels even by democratic countries. And as the world braces itself for the festivities of the new millennium, questions are still being raised in the strongest terms as to whether the world has become a much more safer place to live in than it was ten centuries ago.

It is ironic to see how alienated are the strong democratic powers from the principles they had set themselves to achieve, most notably, democracy, respect of human rights and upholding justice. It is even more shocking to see how strong parties abandon their declared policies of supporting pro-democracy tendencies around the world when their narrow interests are threatened. The education offered to grass roots on the grand policies often fades away in the first test, and principles are often traded for concepts like “pragmatism” and “real politique” dictate the policies of the state run by the progressive party.

The people of Bahrain, for example, have demonstrated to the world the resilience in phrasing their demand and the flexibility that is often absent from the manifestos of the representatives of oppressed people. The most vicious dictatorships has enjoyed the blessings of the “democratic” friends, and the values of human rights and democracy have been traded for short-term profiteering.

The images of innocent young men butchered by mercenaries only managed to move the hearts of few politicians here and there, and the late Derek Fatchett, the British minister of state for foreign affairs, was one of them. They had to endure 25 years of savagery organised by a former British officer, and no eyebrow was raised in the echelons of powers in the capitals of the democratic world.

It is the feeling of loss of the human touch that leads to despair, but the freedom-loving groups and individuals have been ready to have yet another go at the dictatorial rule. Upon demise of the late Amir, the new ruler has offered an olive branch which has so far remained without leaves.

The past few weeks have witnessed a sudden “openness” in the local media with commentators venturing out to talk about the Constitution and the elected National Assembly. It is thought that the directions to engage in this debate has come from higher powers, perhaps, the Amir himself. However, the debate has remained confined to a few number of columnists who, until few weeks ago, considered the call for the reinstatement of the Constitution and the election of the National Assembly the mother of all sins.

Nevertheless, as always, the opposition has welcomed this initiative, and has encouraged public engagement in the debate. It has remained faithful to its decision to cease all protests until the Sheikh Hamad, the new Amir, has had enough time to consider the situation and declare his new policies. But at the same time the opposition feels that the goodwill gestures it has offered have not been reciprocated in kind. Whether that is due to lapse of judgement or a conscious decision is not clear. What is clear, however, is that there is a great need for a serious engagement in a constructive dialogue with all the parties concerned.

The opposition is well aware of the existence of elements that belong to the mentality of torture and mass reprisals, and that these elements will do their utmost to impede the much-awaited reforms. It also acknowledges the fact that Sheikh Hamad’s hands are tightly bound by the legacy and the mentality of his uncle, the prime minister. It, however, reserves judgement as to whether it feels there is a real movement towards real reforms. It hopes that the release of prisoners (if it ever happens) would be part of of a grand policy to transform Bahrain from being run by dictators to a country where collective decision-making forms the main trend in it.

It has been expected for some time that a UN exploratory mission on arbitrary detention and torture would visit the country before August, and it is hoped that the releases would not be part of the misinformation the government has been employing to deflect international criticism on human rights violations. It also hopes that the new media openness is not short-lived and without sinister motives.

The recent development in the Gulf has made it difficult for the new administration in Bahrain to continue its old policies of repression, dictatorship and curtailment of freedoms. Now that the women in Kuwait have been given the go-ahead to participate both in contesting and voting in the elections, it will be an extremely embarrassing tale to continue to deny men and women the right of political participation in Bahrain.

Together with Qatar, Kuwait has proved the ability of the local citizens to exercise their natural rights, and it is ironic that neither men nor women are given the right to vote in a constitutional election process. It is hoped that Sheikh Hamad will realise that the people of Bahrain do not need food and generous material gifts, they really need the right to determine their own destiny through a constitutional process. It is not too late for the Amir to take a pro-reformist decision, but the will must be there to do this. After 25 years of continuous struggle the time has now come to take a respite whilst awaiting the Amir’s final verdict. It is hoped that the new phase wuld be marked by constitutional rule and not by the forces of torture and repression.

Bahrain Freedom Movement

1 June 1999

Fax (44) 171 278 9089

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