UPR Mid-term Session

The Kingdom of Bahrain publicly committed to presenting its mid-term report on the implementation of the 2012 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations during the 27th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva this month. In the wake of protests and human rights abuse in 2011, the Bahrain government accepted all of the recommendations from the 2011 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) as well as 158 of the 172 recommendations from their 2012 UPR. 

The UN has also called on Bahrain to release Maryam al-Khawaja and has expressed concern over on-going human rights violations. On August 30th, upon arriving in Bahrain, Maryam al-Khawaja was taken into custody and charged with allegedly assaulting a lieutenant and a police officer after refusing to hand over her mobile phone during a search. Maryam has denied the charges and called them "vindictive and fabricated." If found guilty, she could face a maximum of two years imprisonment. She has come to Bahrain to visit her a father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a prominent human rights activist who is currently serving a life sentence for attempting to overthrow the Bahrain government. He staged a 110-day hunger strike in 2012 and is currently on a hunger strike again. 

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bahrain upheld a ten year sentence against photo-journalist Ahmad Humaidan. Humaidan was convicted of taking part in an attack on a police station in April 2012. According to various human rights organisations, he was simply covering the demonstrations and was not involved in the violence. Humaidan continues to maintain his innocence. He has been detained since December 2012. 

Despite repeated promises to implement reforms and to engage in national dialogue with opposition groups, the Bahrain government has repeatedly failed to do so and by continuing to detain the al-Khawajas, it is a clear indication that they are not serious about their promises. Furthermore, Bahrain's refusal to act will only damage their potential as a regional economic force and present and future investment from its global partners like India. India which holds vital stakes in the security and stability of the Gulf region, is an important partner for Bahrain with bilateral trade exceeding USD 1.3 billion in 2013-14. At present, there are over 350,000 Indian nationals who reside and work in Bahrain. 

The NCF will provide an in-depth review of the mid-term report once it is made available to the public. 

Bahrain update

In a continuation of the sporadic violence began by the pro-democracy uprising in 2011, an explosion in the predominately Shi’ite town of East Eker in early July killed a police official on patrol. The police officer is the thirteenth officer reported to have been killed as a result of pro-democracy fuelled violence. The Sunni monarchy has generally responded with harsh punitive measures against protesting Shias, who constitute the majority of the population of Bahrain.

On 2 August, several vehicles were also set alight as unrest began in the capital, Manama. A group of masked youths were reported to be responsible for the attacks on cars and shops in the area, but the violence is also likely linked to the periodic violent protests associated with the 2011 uprising. Despite these two incidents, the scale of violence and unrest in Bahrain is still considered to be limited.

 Diplomacy and External Affairs

On the diplomatic scene, the US Assistant Secretary of State of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour was recently expelled from Bahrain in July after meeting with members of the Shia opposition group, al Wefaq. While Bahrain’s officials have insisted that relations with the US remain sound after the incident, the leader of al Wefaq, Sheik Ali Salman has been charged for illegally organising the meeting without the approval with government officials. The charge itself is that of “contacting a representative of a foreign government in violation of the political associations law and related ministerial decisions”.

Domestic Affairs

Internally, Bahrain has as recently as last week announced plans to further regulate the appointment process for public sector jobs, with a special focus on undersecretaries, assistant undersecretaries and directors. The nominations for appointment will now be managed by a committee chaired by the vice president of the Civil Service Bureau. 

Bahrain Update

Khalil al-Marzooq appeared in court today (18th November) to appeal a travel ban imposed on him. Khalil al-Marzooq, an MP and political assistant of al-Wefaq's Secretary-General was banned from travelling and arrested in September for his political views and encouraging anti-government violence. He appeared in court today after spending 38 days in detention. His appeal was subsequently rejected. He is also being charged under anti-terrorism codes which can lead to him being stripped of his citizenship. His next hearing has been set for 12th December where al-Marzooq's lawyers will challenge the charges against him.   

The al-Wefaq National Islamic Society have always maintained that al-Marzooq's trial is politically motivated and lacked credibility. Al-Marzooq's arrest has sparked international condemnation of Bahrain by the US, the EU and international human rights organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. 

National dialogue which was due to resume were stalled following his arrest. On 3rd November, Sheikh Ali Salman, al-Wefaq's Secretary-General was charged with insulting the Ministry on Interior and was subjected to a 6 hour interrogation. He has accused the government of using national dialogue as a cover for on-going abuses. For now, the opposition has not ruled out further talks and the Bahrain government has also reaffirmed their commitment to dialogue. 

Human rights activists also appealed to the United States government to withhold the sale of arms to the Bahrain government and put pressure on them to adopt long-delayed reforms. In the last 13 years, the US government has sold some $1.4 billion worth of weapons to Bahrain.US based NGO, Human Rights First stated that "As Bahrain slides towards greater instability, it is time for the United States to adopt a more active approach, making clear that there will be serious consequences for the Bahrain regime if it continues to fail to reform." 

Bahrain is also home to the US Gulf fifth fleet and a $580 million military project to develop the naval base is also under way. The Obama administration has been heavily criticised for its "ambiguous and inconsistent" approach to Bahrain. Despite the violent crackdowns on protesters and detention of hundreds of activists, the US has failed to act or impose any sanctions on the Bahrain government. 

A recent report titled "Plan B for Bahrain: What the US should do next" by Human Rights First states that, "The United States should adopt a new approach to Bahrain to promote long-term stability and reduce the chances of one day having to decide where it should relocate the Fifth Fleet."

There has been little follow through on the recommendations made and no government official has been held accountable for the deaths of activists and key political figures in detention. Human Rights First's Brian Dooley in his brief stated that "Bahrain is a strategic regional ally of the United States and is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. The United States should rethink its strategy as human rights abuses persist on the fleet's doorstep."

US group backs opposition

The American Group Human Rights First are taking a strong stance on Bahrain. They have just issued a report and their conclusions are as follows:

Since 2011 the United States has devoted considerable
diplomatic resources to Bahrain, in a two-fold strategy:

1. encourage the government of Bahrain to fulfill its promises to implement recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report commissioned in 2011 by Bahraini King Hamad; and 
2. bolster the crown prince and the “reformist” wing of the monarchy in the hope that it can deliver reform.

This strategy has largely failed, and the United States
needs to develop an alternative to support a stable
transition to democracy and the rule of law. There is no
status quo in Bahrain, and an inflammation of national and
regional sectarianism further threatens a peaceful solution
to the crisis. Political and economic stability is an illusion,
and pro-democracy activists are growing desperate. There
will either be reform, or a descent into worsening violence
with a sectarian edge that some U.S. officials are already
privately comparing to Lebanon and Syria.

The focus of a new strategy should be to publicly seek
new partners inside or outside the government who can
bring about the required transition, including more public
support for opposition figures inside and outside of jail.
Bahrain needs a leadership to walk the country out of its
current crisis, one that recognizes that time is running out
for a peaceful transition to real democracy and the rule of
law. In the absence of such leadership and reform,
protestors are increasingly likely to look for succor from
Iran.

A second key element of the strategy should be to
undermine the creeping sectarianism taking root in
Bahrain, with some restaurants and coffee shops being
designated as “Sunni” or “Shia.” Workplace and school
interactions between people from different sects are
increasingly strained, and the makeup of the security
forces should reflect the communities they serve.

Wholesale reform of the security sector is crucial, including
accountability for past violations. The United States can
support Bahrain security sector reform through rigorous
implementation of the ‘Leahy Law,’ designed to withhold
assistance from any unit of the security forces of a country
where there is credible evidence that anyone in that unit
has committed a gross violation of human rights.

If the political and human rights situation in Bahrain does
not improve, the vital military assets of the Fifth Fleet could
become a tool not only for a corrupt regime, but also a
symbol of American weakness and hypocrisy. The United
States may not be able to control the outcome, but––for its
own strategic interests and the good of the Bahraini
people—it should do everything it can to persuade the
regime to choose the right path.

The government of Bahrain regularly blames Iran as an
outside agitator of the protests, and in November 2013
four men were sentenced to life and six others to 15 years
in jail on charges of establishing a militant cell linked to
Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Claims that Iran is helping to
mastermind the protest movement have been made for
some years now, with little evidence produced. As the BICI
report drily noted, “The evidence presented to the
Commission by the GoB on the involvement by the Islamic
Republic of Iran in the internal affairs of Bahrain does not
establish a discernible link between specific incidents that
occurred in Bahrain during February and March 2011 and
the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The current thaw in U.S.–Iran relations might lessen
tensions over possible Iranian involvement, but real fears
remain that Iran would be happy to exploit the turbulence
in Bahrain. Such intervention appears likely to become a
self-fulfilling prophecy the longer the current impasse
continues, with protestors seeing little movement from the
regime and few consequences from international
governments for the lack of reform. The temptation for
protestors to turn to Iran for help is likely to increase.
In developing a new strategy, the U.S. government should
publicly inform the Bahraini government that the future of
the Fifth Fleet requires political and social stability, which,
at a minimum, requires the protection of human rights and
their defenders, and there will be consequences to the
partnership if the government of Bahrain does not
adequately reform to provide that.

The December 2013 Manama Dialogue––an annual forum
organized by the International Institute for Strategic
Studies to exchange views on regional security
challenges––offers an immediate opportunity for the U.S.
government to press this approach directly at a senior
level. The United States should send senior officials from
the State Department and the Department of Defense to
the regional security summit to make clear, in person, to
their Bahraini counterparts that the current situation is
untenable and that political prisoners should be
immediately released.

New measures could range from incentive to punitive, but
the U.S. government cannot accept promises of reform as
evidence of reform.

Specifically, the U.S. government should:

• Publicly state U.S. concerns about the deteriorating situation and the potential for large-scale violence, emphasizing that it can be avoided only through reform, not repression.
• Amplify this message via senior officials in State Department and the Department of Defense urging the release of the peaceful opposition figures and other political prisoners, and ask to visit them in prison in the meantime. President Obama should publicly reiterate the call for the release of all peaceful political leaders from jail.
• Publicly announce it will continue to meet Bahraini opposition figures without the presence of a Bahraini government representative, and promptly do so.
• Send senior representatives from the Departments of State and Defense to the Manama Dialogue in December 2013 to press for the release of political prisoners and other essential reforms.
• Defend U.S. officials under attack by the government of Bahrain and its representatives for their advocacy of human rights and reform, including by publicly responding to the attacks and issuing demarches.
• Press to reduce the influence of those responsible for human rights violations inside and outside of the government. It should consider imposing visa bans and freezing assets of those it believes guilty of human rights violations.
• Withhold arms sales and transfers to the police and military, contingent on human rights progress, starting with a request for the current representation levels of Shias in the police and military to be made publicly available with a view to establishing recruitment and promotion targets for underrepresented groups.
• Vigorously implement the Leahy Law governing U.S. military and other security assistance to Bahrain.
• Promote the State Department March 2013 guidelines titled U.S. Support for Human Rights Defenders to Bahraini civil society, including in Arabic.
• Engage, via the U.S. embassy in Manama, more closely and regularly with a broad range of human rights defenders in Bahrain by calling and visiting them, and visiting their families if they are in jail.
• Publicly call for international media and international human rights organizations to be afforded meaningful access to Bahrain.

Amnesty International on Marzooq Arrest

The arrest of the prominent opposition leader Khalil al-Marzouq in Bahrain last night is the authorities’ latest move to tighten the noose on political opposition in the country and silence anyone seen to be critical of the authorities, Amnesty International said.

“Khalil al-Marzouq is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned only for of his vehement criticism of the government. He must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

“His arrest is yet another blow to the National Dialogue which the Bahraini authorities have been flaunting as a reason to cancel the visit of the UN expert on torture to the country. However harsh his speech towards the authorities, he should not have been arrested for expressing his views.”

Khalil al-Marzouq, the Assistant Secretary General of al-Wefaq, the registered political association representing the majority Shi’a population in Bahrain, and former Head of the Legislative and Legal Committee in parliament, was arrested on 17 September.

He was interrogated by the Public Prosecutor in the presence of a lawyer for seven hours.

Khalil al-Marzouq has been charged with incitement to violence after he gave speech critical of the government on 6 September at a political rally attended by nearly 6,000 people near the village of Saar. During the speech a masked man passed near the podium and gave him a white flag which Khalil put aside. The flag allegedly symbolises the “14 February Movement”, a loose network of youth groups established in 2011 which has called for the end of the monarchy. Some of the movement’s members are on trial, accused of using violence.

Amnesty International has reviewed the video of the 6 September speech by Khalil al-Marzooq and the flag incident, but does not believe there is any incitement to violence in them.

The Public Prosecution ordered Khalil al-Marzouq’s detention for 30 days pending an investigation. If convicted he faces a lengthy jail sentence and the possibility of his nationality being revoked.

Khalil and al-Wefaq have repeatedly stated that they are against the use of violence and are committed to achieving change through peaceful means.

“Over recent months, the Bahraini government has increased its threats and attacks against political associations which are critical of the government, in particular al-Wefaq. This must stop and Bahrain’s allies can no longer hide behind the National Dialogue to mute their criticisms under the pretext that it could derail the process,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

This latest arrest comes only days after a joint statement by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Bahrain, signed by 47 countries, expressed concerns about the ongoing human rights violations in Bahrain.

As a response to Khalil al-Marzooq’s detention and other serious ongoing human rights violations the political opposition associations have today announced their decision to suspend their participation in the National Dialogue which had just resumed after two months of summer break.

In July the King issued several decrees which, among other things, banned demonstrations, sit-ins and public gatherings in Manama indefinitely and toughened punishments laid out in the 2006 anti-terrorism legislation. In early September the Minister of Justice issued a decree adding new restrictions on political associations. Political associations must now notify the Ministry of Justice three days before any meeting with a foreign diplomat and must take place in the presence of an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Opposition behaving like petulant children

The Bahrain opposition failed to turn up for the National Dialogue this week. This is beyond childish. We have an expression for it in English. We call it "Cutting off your own nose to spite your face". It is the height of stupidity.

The group that calls itself Citizens for Bahrain   has just written to us as follows:

Citizens for Bahrain has expressed its hope on several recent occasions that all sides will renew their efforts to make the National Dialogue a success; in the belief that this is the only satisfactory route out of the ongoing political crisis.

Therefore, we strongly condemn the failure of opposition groups to show up at this week’s session. The pace of the Dialogue is already far too slow, with various groups temporarily pulling out under different weak pretexts. It is unacceptable for certain parties to withdraw every time something occurs that they don’t like – this is a recipe for indefinite stalemate. It is also important that the Bahraini Authorities avoid unnecessary measures that damage confidence and trust between the parties of the Dialogue.

All groups should be putting the national interests ahead of their own special interests and factional agendas if they desire a solution, which benefits Bahrain. Extremists and those who do not desire dialogue and are not willing to reach a consensus should not play a part in efforts to agree on a shared vision for Bahrain’s political future.

Too much time has already been wasted and Dialogue participants should be answerable for the fact that after several months of halting efforts, they still have not agreed on an agenda for their meetings. This is resulting in the Dialogue process losing credibility among citizens.

More dangerous still – a vacuum in the Dialogue process gives encouragement to militants and terrorists who want to destroy the fabric of our society.

The hopes and expectations of all Bahrainis are upon the shoulders of those participating in the National Dialogue. We hope these esteemed figures have the necessary political will to shoulder their responsibilities.

Diplomats should ignore Bahrain's new law

There's a new law in Bahrain. And it means a considerable infringement on freedom of speech. Very disturbing really:

On September 3, Bahrain announced another limitation on its very limited democracy, which allows elections but not political parties. The new rule was clear, at least in Bahrain-speak: the island's political "societies" need to ask for permission to meet with foreign diplomats at least three days in advance and, if permission is granted, accept that a government-nominated observer will also attend. The new regulation was no doubt aimed at Shiite opposition groups, which withdrew from parliament in 2011 after a government clampdown on violent demonstrations led neighboring Saudi Arabia to intervene with tanks and soldiers to bolster the government of the Sunni monarch, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.

See: BAHRAIN'S CHALLENGE TO U.S. DIPLOMACY