"Bahrain’s allies should encourage the Bahraini government to take all the
necessary steps to reform laws undermining freedom of expression and assembly
and to release detained opposition figures.”
"In the latest instance of the crackdown on peaceful dissent, on November 13,
2018, a former member of parliament, Ali Rashed al-Sheeri, was detained after he
tweeted about boycotting the elections. On November 4, the Bahrain High Court of
Appeals overturned the previous acquittal of a prominent opposition member,
Sheikh Ali Salman, sentencing him to life in prison on charges of spying for
Qatar. Salman is the leader of Bahrain’s largest political opposition group,
al-Wefaq, which was outlawed in 2016.”
"By jailing or silencing people who challenge the ruling family and banning all
opposition parties and independent news outlets, Bahrain is failing to create
the conditions necessary for a free election,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle
East director at Human Rights Watch. "Bahrain should immediately release
political prisoners and review its decisions to shutter independent news outlets
and political opposition groups.”
Since the nationwide anti-government protests in 2011, Bahraini authorities have
arrested scores of prominent human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and
opposition leaders, charging them on dubious terrorism or national security
grounds, mostly for peaceful acts of protest. Security forces have been
responsible for torture and widespread ill treatment of detainees and have
dispersed peaceful protests with deadly force. The government has also dissolved
all opposition political groups, including the secular-left National Democratic
Action Society (Wa’ad) and the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. In 2017, the
last independent newspaper in the country, al-Wasat, was forcibly closed.
On June 11, King Hamad signed an amendment to the Law on the Exercise of
Political Rights that bans anyone who belonged to a dissolved political
organization or who was previously convicted and sentenced to more than six
months in prison from running for political office. This legislation effectively
disqualifies opposition candidates from participating in the upcoming elections.
Legislators from the United Kingdom, United States, and the European Parliament
have already released letters highlighting the current repressive climate in
Bahrain and its impact on the elections. The Bahraini government rejected the
criticism and insisted that "this year’s elections…will build on the success of
2014 and result in a parliament that is representative of the diverse range of
views that exists across Bahraini society.”
There are significant human rights concerns in both Bahrain’s behaviors
domestically and given its participation in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen,
which is committing serious violations of international humanitarian law, Human
Rights Watch said. The coalition has failed to credibly investigate potential
war crimes, and coalition members, including Bahrain, have provided insufficient
or no information about their role in alleged unlawful attacks.
On November 15, the US Senate voted not to block a $300 million arms sale to
Bahrain. Although 20 percent of the Senate, with members from both sides of the
aisle, voted to block the sale, the arms sale is set to go through.
"Bahrain’s allies, including the UK and US, should translate their criticism of
Bahrain’s human rights abuses into concrete action, including by not approving
future arms sales until such time as Bahrain releases all human rights defenders
and dissidents serving long jail terms for peaceful expression and holds
accountable officials and security officers who participated in or ordered the
widespread torture during interrogations since 2011.”
"Bahrain’s allies should stop supplying weapons to Bahrain and other parties to
the conflict in Yemen, while there is a substantial risk of these arms being
used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian
law or international human rights law there.”
Bahrain should repeal the amendments to the Law on the Exercise of Political
Rights and allow opposition candidates to run for office in the elections. The
government should free anyone detained arbitrarily, including those detained for
exercising their basic rights, such as Sheikh Ali Salman and Nabeel Rajab, and
reinstate dissolved independent media outlets and political opposition groups.
"Bahrain’s allies should not give Bahrain a free pass and conduct business as
usual while mass rights abuses persist,” Fakih said.
Source:AlManar