Photo: Mr. Sayed Ahmed Ridha Humaidan, While he was taking pictures in one of the protests.

29 December 2012

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its great concern for the arrest of the independent and prominent photojournalist Mr. Sayed Ahmed Ridha Humaidan – 25 year old – who was arrested by the police, dressed in civilian clothes, on Saturday 29 December 2012 while he was with his colleagues in one of the malls.

Details received by the BYSHR indicate that Mr. Humaidan was on that day with his colleagues in City Center Mall – a shopping mall – on 29 December 2012 at 12:50 after midnight, when approximately 15 security men – dressed in civilian clothes – arrested him amid the shopping mall and took him to an unknown destination.

Mr. Ahmed Humaidan had won more than 140 international awards in photojournalism, and he is considered the second most Arab photographer to win awards in photography competitions, as well as being a member in an international organization for photography (such as: Photographic Society of America “PSA” and International federation of photographic art “FIAP” )

Photo: A photo won an international award

Mr. Humaidan had participated since 14 February 2011 – Arab Spring protests in Bahrain – in exposing the human rights violations against the peaceful protestors, and he had published dozens of photos that display the oppression of the security forces.

The BYSHR expresses its fear that Mr. Ahmed Humaidan has been subjected to revenge and mistreatment due to his role in exposing the human rights violations and especially that no information is available about where he is being detained and that he has not contacted his family or lawyer yet.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) demands:

1. Disclosing the place of detention of Mr. Ahmed Humaidan and to immediately release him;
2. Provide the legal and moral protection for independent photographers and to stop imposing restrictions on their peaceful work;
3. Independently and urgently investigate the incident of the death of Mr. Ahmed Ismail who was shot with an anonymous bullet while he was filming the oppression of the security forces towards the protesters. (Refer to the BYSHR statement: http://byshr.org/?p=1028)

Bahraini authorities prevented today -November 30, 2011- the representative of Human Rights Watch from attending the trials of journalist Reem Khalifa and members of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Teachers Society.

The trial of journalist Reem Khalifa was postponed to December 15, 2011.

The trial of members of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Teachers Society (BTS) was postponed to January 9, 2012. Additional information on trial ( http://byshr.org/?p=855)

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern regarding the trial of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Teachers Society (BTS) and journalist Reem Khalifa.

Bahrain suspends Al-Jazeera operations indefinitely

New York, May 19, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by the Bahraini government to indefinitely suspend Al-Jazeera from reporting from the Gulf kingdom

On Tuesday, Bahrain’s Ministry of Culture and Information decided to “temporarily freeze the activities of the Bahrain bureau of the Qatari satellite news channel Al-Jazeera for having violated professional norms and for failing to observe laws and procedures regulating journalism, printing and publishing,” according to the official Bahrain News Agency. The statement went on to say that the suspension would remain in place until a decision is reached that would ensure that Bahraini media can operate in Qatar.

The ministry’s decision comes just one day after Al-Jazeera aired a program about poverty in Bahrain. On Tuesday, the same day the ban was announced, Bahraini authorities denied entry into the country to an Al-Jazeera crew who had come to interview a former United Nations official who was visiting, the news channel reported. Al-Jazeera noted that the freeze includes both the station’s Arabic- and English-language channels as well as the activities of the station’s Bahrain-based online correspondent.

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Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) has emphasized in several occasion on the importance of protecting journalists against prosecution and trial because of their work on the concerns of Bahraini citizens. In this regard, BYSHR held a seminar on 7 April 2007 titled “Putting Journalists to Trail in the light of Democratic Transformations”. Seminar participants asserted that press and journalists are facing danger because of Printing and Publishing Law, which targets the work of journalists on one hand, and some Bahraini civil society powers on the other hand.

BYSHR emphasizes on Bahraini journalists’ right to freedom of expression; their main tool to express their adopted issues without the interference of Bahraini authorities or some members of civil society, who are launch frequent attempts to panic journalists to stop handling national concerns.

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