Note: a press report from Bahrain TV (with English subtitles)

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern for the Bahrain State Television broadcasting photos of a number of defendants in security cases, who were arrested, among them Naji Fateel – board member in the BYSHR– on Wednesday 12 June 2013.

List of Defendants in the Case of ‘14 February Coalition’ ( HERE)

Bahrain Television broadcasted a press report that includes names and photos of people who were arrested and are still undergoing investigation, and their cases have not been solved yet.

The report stated that they are accused of establishing the ’14 February Youth Coalition’ and which is a political movement that was established on 14 February 2011 – after the pro-democracy protests kicked off – this movement had led the movement on the ground in the Bahraini villages on a daily basis. The movement had kept its members confidential in the villages, and the Bahraini Authorities accuses the ’14 February Youth Coalition’ of the responsibility of the bombing taking place in the villages.

The press report included a number human rights and political activists inside Bahrain and abroad. Among them was Naji Fateel who was arrested on May 2, and was subjected to severe torture in the Criminal Investigation Building (BYSHR Statemement: http://byshr.org/?p=1381 )

Naji Fateel is considered one of the prominent activists in the human rights field and he contributed in the establishment of the ‘Non-violent Youth Center’, which is a center that was established in 2007. Naji was arrested after the Center’s establishment and he was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but was later released.

Naji Fateel since his arrest (May 2) was not permitted a family visit.

Pic: Naji Fateel with Margaret Sekaggya

The Bahraini Authorities violated the principle that ‘the defendant is innocent until proven guilty’, as the broadcast contributed in charging them and their families with accusations, and this formed a negative public opinion against them.

According to the information received by the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR):

1.Some of those whose photos were broadcasted, their cases are still undergoing investigation and have not been referred to court.
2.Some of those whose photos were broadcasted, testimonies of them being tortured during the investigation period were documented in the Criminal Investigation Building in order to confess against themselves or others.
3.Some of the lawyers did not receive the case files.
4.All of those who had their photos published did not receive final their final court verdict.

Article (1/11) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the basic principles of a fair and public trial before an independent and impartial judiciary was violated.

The BYSHR demands:

1.Hold accountable those responsible for broadcasting the photos of the defendants before their trial.
2.Immediate, urgent and independent investigation in the torture allegations.
3.Immediate release of Naji Fateel and to drop all charges against him.

List of Defendants in the Case of ‘14 February Coalition’ ( HERE)

6 June 2013

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) released its report on the judicial sentences issued against the protestors in Bahrain since 1 January until 1 June. The report includes the number of those convicted and their cases, in addition to the issued verdicts and the names of the judges who issued them.

The report clarified that 278 people were convicted as follows:

1.Acquittal: 20 people
2.Imprisonment (15 years – 10 years): 131 people
3.Imprisonment (9 years – 6 years): 7 people
4.Imprisonment (5 years – one month): 120 people

The total numbers of cases which have been settled are 29.

Judge Mohammed bin Ali Al-Khalifa (from the Ruling family) issued the more harsh verdicts against the defendants, as follows:

1.Judge Mohammed bin Ali Al-Khalifa (from the Ruling family): number of convicted (159 people – 18 acquitted), number of verdicts (185 years) number of cases (17 cases).

2.Judge Ebrahim Al-Zayed: number of convicted (33 people), number of verdicts (55 years), number of cases (3 cases).

3.Judge Jaber Al-Jazzar: number of convicted (74 people), number of verdicts (4 years and one month), number of cases (3 cases).

4.Judge Rashid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa (from the Ruling family): number of convicted (3 people), number of verdicts (1 year), number of cases (1 case).

5.Judge Jassim Al-Ajlan: number of convicted (1 person), number of verdicts (4 months), number of cases (1 case).

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

1.The judiciary must be independent from the executive authority and ruling family.
2.Immediately stop the trials related to freedom of opinion, expression and assembly.
3.Allowing freedom of opinion and assembly in accordance with international standards.

Full Report- English (HERE)

Full Report- Arabic تقرير بالعربي ( HERE هنا)

@Naji Fateel with Margaret Sekaggya

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern for the sentence issued from the Criminal Court (the Court of First Instance) yesterday – 22 May 2013- against Naji Fateel, Zainab Al Khawaja and Masooma Alsayed.

1- Naji Fateel, board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), was reportedly sentenced to six months in prison for the alleged “illegal gatherings.” This case in related to previous charges(2012).

Naji Fateel was arrested without a warrant by security officers in civilian clothes at his home in the village of Bani-Jamra at dawn on 2 May 2013, and then transferred to an unknown location. The first contact with his family took place on the evening of 4 May 2013 when he told them about his presence at the CID.

The public prosecutor charged human rights defender Naji Fateel with alleged “establishment of a group in order to disable the provisions of the Constitution” and ordered his imprisonment for a period of sixty days pending investigation under the internationally criticized terrorism law.

Naji Fateel has been subjected to severe torture during interrogation in the notorious Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID). Among the allegations are that he has received electrical shocks to his genitals, left foot, and back, and been subjected to simulated drowning, severe beatings, threats to publish photographs of his wife (taken from her camera which was confiscated when security forces raided the family home), verbal abuse using uncivilized words, hanging by his hands from the ceiling, sexual harassment and threats to rape him, standing for long hours, and sleep deprivation. ( For more information see our appeal: http://byshr.org/?p=1381)

2-Zainab Al Khawaja was sentenced to three more months in jail for taking part in an illegal gathering and insulting a police officer. She is already in prison on other politically-motivated charges.

Zainab Al-Khawaja: is a prominent human rights defender and blogger.She used his account on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/angryarabiya) for dissemination of human rights information.

3-Prominent activist Masooma Alsayed was also reportedly sentenced to six months on the taking part in an illegal gathering and insulting a police officer.

The BYSHR call on the Bahraini government to immediately release Naji Fateel, Zainab Al Khawaja and Masooma Alsayed. The authorities in Bahrain should stop harassing and targeting human rights activists and allow them to continue their legitimate activities without obstruction.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern for the sentence issued from the Criminal Court (the Court of First Instance) today – 15 May 2013- against 5 Twitter Users with one year of imprisonment, on the charge of ‘defaming the King’ Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

The Court issued its rulings against:

1.Mr. Mahmood Abdul-Majeed Abdulla Al-Jamri (34 years old): arrested on 12 March at dawn.
2.Mr. Hassan Abdali Isa (33 years old): arrested on 12 March at dawn.
3.Mr. Mohsen Abdali Isa (26 years old): arrested on 12 March at dawn.
4.Mr. Ammar Makki Mohammed Al-Aali (36 years old): arrested on 12 March at dawn.
5.Mr. Mahdi Ebrahim Al-Basri (25 years old): arrested on 11 March at dawn. His relatives confirmed to the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) that the contents of the house were destroyed and they were verbally abused. Mahdi also faced mistreatment in the Criminal Investigations. Mahdi is a practicing lawyer.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) emphasizes that the Bahraini Authorities had violated the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and what the Authorities are doing is considered a security campaign against freedom of opinion and expression.

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

1. the immediate release of those who were arrested due to freedom of opinion and expression and to drop all charges against them;
2. put an end to the restrictions against social media in Bahrain;
3. protect the free exchange of information on the Internet and not restrict it.

Pic: Naji Fateel with Margaret Sekaggya

7 May 2013

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its grave concern for the information received from trusted sources that Naji Fateel – an administrative member of the BYSHR – was subjected to brutal torture in the Criminal Investigation building.

According to the information received by the BYSHR, Naji Fateel was subjected to:

1.Electrocution (in the genital, on his left leg and on the back)
2.Simulated drowning
3.Beating (by using the feet, hands or unknown tools) on the left leg – Naji had an operation on his left leg due to a work injury, he had it fixed with a metal rod – and on his head and back.
4.Threatening to spread his wife’s photos (when Naji’s house was raided his wife’s camera was confiscated and it had her personal photos in it).
5.Hanging him by his hands from the room’s ceiling (his feet did not reach the room’s floor).
6.Libelling and insult (using sectarian and political expressions).
7.Sexual harassment and threatening with rape.
8.Standing up for long hours.
9.Not allowing him to sleep, sit or lay down.

Naji Fateel was handcuffed – from the back – and blindfolded while he was in the Criminal Investigation building; the handcuffs and blindfold were only opened after he was transmitted to the Dry Dock prison.

Naji Fateel was taken to hospital twice – the Ministry of Interior hospital – while he was in a state of coma due to the torture he faced.

He was taken to the Public Prosecution at night, and before the Public Prosecutor, Naji Fateel refused to be interrogated without the presence of a lawyer, he was then returned to the Criminal Investigation building where he was beaten more severely than before because he had asked for his lawyer. When he was returned at dawn on Saturday – 4 May 2013 – he signed papers before the Public Prosecutor and he was not permitted to see what was written.

On Saturday evening – 4 May 2013 – Naji Fateel called his family and informed them that he was in the Criminal Investigation building after he was cut off since his arrest on Thursday at dawn (2 May).

On Sunday at dawn – 5 May 2013 – Naji Fateel was transferred to the Dry Dock prison where he suffers from several injuries and severe fatigue.

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

1.The immediate release of Naji Fateel and dropping all charges against him.
2.Immediately and independently investigate the torture allegations and hold those responsible for torture and abuse accountable, and that includes those who interrogated him in the Public Prosecution and Criminal Investigation building.

Introduction:

Royal Decree No. 14 of 2002 established the National Security Apparatus, which was an amendment of the Amiri Decree No. 29 of 1996 regarding the management of the Ministry of Interior. According to the new decree, the National Security Apparatus replaces the General Directorate for State Security that was affiliated with the Ministry of Interior. This Apparatus is headed by a manager whose degree equals that of a minister at the cabinet.

Since 2002, the notorious National Security Apparatus initiated a surveillance and wiretapping campaign on dozens of activists. It began to launch mass arrests, the most violent in 2007; the case was known as ‘burning a police car and stealing a weapon’ when many activists were arrested after Ali Jassim’s funeral. Jassim reportedly died as a result of the Security Forces use of excessive force against protestors on 17 December, which various political and human rights bodies consider ‘Martyr’s Day’. The National Security Apparatus was known for practicing numerous types of torture:

1. Severe beatings.
2. Electrocution.
3. Hanging for long periods of time in painful positions.
4. Beating the detainees’ feet with rubber hoses and/or batons.
5. Threatening the detainees with murder or rape.

In March 2008, the authorities arrested approximately 30 people from the village of Karzakan with the charge of burning property that belongs to the ruling Al-Khalifa family and killing a Pakistani officer in the village. Officers affiliated with the National Security Apparatus reportedly practiced serious violations, among them included violently raiding houses at dawn and torturing countless detainees.

In December 2008, the authorities arrested approximately 25 people and the Public Prosecution charged them with accusations related to training in Syria, preparing explosives, and attempting to carry out a terrorist act. The National Security Apparatus interrogated them using methods of intimidation and torture.
The National Security Apparatus manages people detained in the building of the Ministry of Interior – called the Fort – and in the Criminal Investigation Department building.

The names of several officials from the National Security Apparatus who practiced torture became public: Colonel Yousif Al-Arabi, Major Fahad Al-Fadhala, Major Bassam Al-Miraj, Lieutenant Isa Al-Majali and First Lieutenant Bader Al-Ghaith. ( HRW Report: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2010/02/08/torture-redux-0 )

In 2011, King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa declared a state of emergency after violently cracking down on the pro-democracy protests in the Pearl Roundabout. The National Security Apparatus had obtained extensive powers, where it practiced the following:

1. Raiding thousands of houses, destroying their contents and targeting the residents.
2. Arresting thousands of citizens on political charges.
3. Abusing and torturing thousands of detainees.
4. Interrogating thousands of political detainees.

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report indicated that the National Security Apparatus is responsible for ‘interrogating and collecting intelligence information’ as well as ‘arresting people’ which confirms its involvement in the human rights violations that took place during the state of emergency (15 March – 1 June 2011). (BICI Report: http://www.bici.org.bh/BICIreportEN.pdf)

The BICI report went on to recommend that the National Security Apparatus should be limited to only collecting intelligence information and should not carry out any arrests of suspects.

Since the recommendations of the BICI report, many detainees and their families confirmed that masked men in civilian clothing from the National Security Apparatus raided their homes. Additionally, riot police cars and black cars with tinted windows (known to belong to the NSA) surrounded their homes.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) have documented that those arrested by the National Security Apparatus disappear for up to several days before contacting their families by phone.

Full Report (Here)

Pic: Naji Fateel with Margaret Sekaggya

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its grave concern for the arrest of the prominent activist Mr. Naji Fateel – 39 year old – who was arrested by the police, dressed in civilian clothes, on Thursday 2 May 2013 -At dawn- from his house in the village of Bani Jamra.

Mr.Naji Fateel: is a board member of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) and blogger who has been active in reporting human rights violations in Bahrain.He used his account on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/najialifateel) for dissemination of human rights information. He was previously detained between Dec 2007 and April 2009, and has been reportedly tortured.His house was stormed in search for him several times last year following the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

On March 11, 2011, received death threats by unknown.

On February 14, 2012, the security forces in Bahrain arrested Mr.Naji Fateel, as he was participating in a march towards the Pearl Roundabout in Manama city, exercising their right to peaceful assembly to this symbolic Roundabout, which was the centre of last year protests.

He is suffering from damage to his spine and detained incommunicado.

We believe that the Bahraini government has been emboldened by international silence on its recent arrests and harassment of human rights defenders and may take inaction.

The BYSHR call on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to urgently issue a press release condemning these acts and calling for all States to ensure that human rights defenders are able to cooperate safely with the UN human rights mechanisms. The Human Rights Council should also ensure that it raises these acts of reprisals with the State concerned in order to ensure accountability, non-recurrence, and full protection for the human rights defenders involved.

Letter (PDF-Here)

To: Mr. Joseph S. Blatter
President
International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA)

CC: Asian Football Confederation (AFC)

Subject: Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa’s nomination for Chairman of the AFC

We are writing this letter to urge you to reconsider nominating Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa for the position of the AFC Chairman and the position of membership of the executive office of FIFA in the next due election on 2 May, 2013. We hope that you bear in mind the sublime principles of sport and fair play that respect basic human rights and to distance all violators of human rights from reaching prestigious sport positions in order to embellish their notorious image.

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa is involved in human rights violations with the assistance of his office and consultants against players, administrators, referees and clubs who participated in the democracy protests in February 2011. We would like to bring to your kind attention the most important acts of revenge carried out by Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa against groups that are affiliated with football.

• On 20 April 2011, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa chaired a periodic meeting for the Bahrain Football Association [1], where he emphasized that the Association has to implement the resolutions of the inquiry commission [2] and to work on eliminating anyone who proves to have participated in the peaceful protests, whether administrators, referees, and the members of the running committees of the Bahrain Football Association.

• Turning the “Shabab” and “Malkiya” clubs to the second degree football league, and fixing the “Sitra”, “Tadhamun”, “Etifaq” and “Etihad” clubs in the second degree football league, in addition to fining each club with a sum of approximately $8,000 USD, because of the absence of the amateur football players from the matches due to the deteriorating security situation against the protest participants[3].

• Fining the “Shabab”, “Malkiya”, “Sitra”, “Tadhamun”, “Etifaq”, “Etihad”and “Ahli” clubs a sum of approximately $4,000 US, per club, per age group, that did not participate in the scheduled matches by the Association due to the deteriorating security situation against the protest participants [4].

• After the announcement published by the Bahrain News Agency, the Bahraini Authorities published photos of the athletes and tried them on live TV [5]. This campaign continued to summon athletes, raid their homes or even the training fields and arrest them as had happened to the two football players Alaa Hubail and Mohammed Hubail.

• The arrested (players, administrator and referees) were subjected to torture and abuse in prison by the National Security Apparatus.

• The Bahrain Authorities brought the detainees forth to a military trial after their arrest and the Court sentenced some of them, among them the National football player Mohammed Hubail, with two years in prison.

• The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) documented several cases where football players, coaches, referees and administrators were subjected to suspension or arrest and torture and even military trials [6].

To conclude, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights believe that the world’s most popular sports should respect human rights, and we ask you to put an end to the practice of using the sport of football to polish a poor background in human rights, and who use the sport as a tool for human rights violations and abuse. Please withdraw the nomination of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa’s to the position of chairman of the AFC.

Yours Faithfully,

Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati
President – Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights/ mohdmaskati@byshr.org

Ms. Maryam Al-Khawaja
Acting President – Bahrain Center for Human Rights/ maryam.alkhawaja@gmail.com

 
- Attachment (1)

List of names of affected players, administrators and referees:

1. The player Jafar Tawq, football player at Riffa Club (removed from club)
2. The player Mahmood Al-Ojaimi, football player at Riffa Club (removed from club)
3. The player Hasan Al-Barri, football player at Riffa Club (removed from club)
4. The player Nedhal, football player at Riffa Club (removed from club)
5. The coach Mohsen Abdul-Wahab, goalkeeper trainer at Riffa Club (removed from club)
6. The player Ahmed Al-Hujairi, football player at Hala Club (contract with club was annulled)
7. The player Alaa Hubail, football player at Ahli Club (removed from club + arrested and sentenced to 4 years)
8. The player Mohammed Hubail, football player at Ahli Club (removed from club + arrested and sentenced to 3 years)
9. The player Ali Saeed, football player at Ahli Club (removed from club + arrested)
10. The fan Ali Jawad, head of the Ahli Fan Club (suspending his membership in the club)
11. The player Sayed Adnan Sharaf, football player at Bahrain Club (removed from club)
12. The player Shaker Salman, football player at Bahrain Club (removed from club)
13. The administrator Abdul-razzaq Mohammed, administrator in the Bahrain Football Association (suspended from work + arrested)
14. The player Sayed Hasan Sayed Isa, football player at Ahli Club (suspended from playing + arrested)
15. The player Abbas Ayad, football player at Ahli Club (removed from club)
16. The player Mahmood Abbas, football player at Ahli Club (suspended from playing)
17. The player Abdul-Wahab Ali, football player at Ahli Club (suspended from playing)
18. The player Hussein Al-Shakar, football player at Ahli Club (suspended from playing)
19. Abdul-Hussein Habib, international football referee (suspended from refereeing + arrested)
20. The referee Jaffar Al-Khabbaz, a football referee, and referee observer in the Bahrain Football Association (suspended from refereeing)
21. The referee Ali Salman, a member of the referee committee in the Bahrain Football Association (suspended from work)
22. The referee Abdul-Hameed Abdul-Aziz, vice-president of referee committee in the Bahrain Football Association (suspended from work)
23. The administrator Faisal Al-Aali, head of the football unit at Ahli Club (suspended from work)
24. The coach Ali Sangoor, first team assistant coach (suspended from coaching)
25. The administrator Ali Mayoof, administrator of the football team at Ahli Club (suspended from work)
26. The administrator Nader Abdul-Jaleel, administrator of the football team at Ahli Club (suspended from work)
27. The coach Abd-Ali Al-Sikri, youth football coach at Ahli Club (suspended from coaching)
28. The player Abdullah Mahdi, football player at Ahli Club (suspended from playing)
29. The player Alaa Ayad, football player at Ahli Club (suspended from playing)
30. The player Hussein Majdi, football player at Ahli Club (suspended from playing)
31. The player Baqer Mohammed Al-Asfoor, football player at East Riffa Football Club (suspended from playing)
32. The player Sayed Abdul-Mutaleb Hashim Sharaf, football player at East Riffa Football Club (suspended from playing)

[1] http://www.bna.bh/portal/news/453609?date=2011-04-20

[2] The inquiry commission with athletes: formed by Sheikh Nasser, King’s son, to interrogate and punish athletes that participated in the pro-democracy protests where Sheikh Nasser threatened to “drop a wall” on athletes, via Bahrain TV.

[3] http://www.bna.bh/portal/news/453609?date=2011-04-20

[4] http://www.bna.bh/portal/news/453609?date=2011-04-20

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIF5ToOrRT8

[6] http://byshr.org/?cat=91