Report by : Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

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Introduction:

The Kingdom of Bahrain, since 2004, has been waging a campaign against the defenders of human rights in Bahrain. It started this campaign by closing down the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and forbidding the establishment of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights. This campaign has continued in an escalating manner, until the “Bandar” report appeared – Salah Al-Bandar is the former government adviser – where the report pointed out that there is a continuous plan to target human rights defenders and their organizations.

Since the issuance of the report – Bandar – the authorities started to wage organized campaigns against the defenders of human rights, and the campaigns intensified with the death of the activist Ali Jassim, who died in mysterious circumstances after his participation in the annual demonstration organized by the National Committee of Martyrs and Torture Victims in December every year.

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2008 Human Rights Report: Bahrain
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

February 25, 2009

Bahrain is a monarchy with a population of approximately 1,050,000, including approximately 530,000 who are citizens. King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa is the head of state and all branches of government. The king appoints a cabinet of ministers; half are members of the minority Sunni Al‑Khalifa ruling family. The 2002 constitution reinstated a legislative body with one elected chamber, the Council of Deputies, and one appointed chamber, the Shura Council. All political societies participated in the 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections. Trained local observers did not report significant problems during the elections, although allegations persisted that the government manipulated general poll center vote counts in some cases and gerrymandered political districts. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.

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Report by : Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

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Introduction

Bahrain started its first steps of political reform after the country shifted from country to kingdom in the year 1999, where the citizens voted for the National Action Charter with a percentage of 98.4%, after the king of Bahrain and the executive authority had given their promises of not changing the constitution of 1973 and to commit to the constitution’s articles. However, according to political and human rights bodies, these vows were broken and a constitution was drafted in 2002. Political and human rights bodies rejected it owing to the concentration of the political authority in the throne’s reign without referring to the citizens.

Bahrain launched a new era, according to the statements made by the executive authority regarding the authority leading the political reform in the country, after an era of systematic torture, arbitrary arrest, and extra-judicial killings in the period known as the period of “fire and iron” where a law was drafted in 1975 identified as the “State Security” Law, and which gave the right to the Ministry of Interior Affairs to arrest activists and hold them in custody without charge and for long periods.

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Bahrain: Arbitrary detention of human rights defender Abdul-Redha Hassan Al-Saffar
Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that the Bahrainian authorities have refused to disclose the whereabouts of human rights defender, Mr Abdul-Redha Hassan Al-Saffar, who was arbitrarily arrested, early in the morning of 21 December 2008, from his residence in Mahooze village by state security forces despite there being no arrest warrant against him. No reason has been given for his arrest and his whereabouts are as yet unknown.
Further Information

Posted 06 January 2009. Abdul-Redha Hassan Al-Saffar, 36 years old, has been active in helping the families of the detainees in Bahrain and has also worked to support the Unemployed Committee. He is well known for his role in organising peaceful sit-ins in collaboration with the families of detainees and the Unemployed Committee.

Front Line believes that the arbitrary detention of Abdul-Redha Hassan Al-Saffar is directly related to his legitimate and peaceful activities in defence of human rights, in particular his exercise of the right to assembly. In view of reports of Abdul-Redha Hassan Al-Saffar’s detention and the fact that his whereabouts are currently unknown, Front Line is gravely concerned for his physical and psychological integrity and believes that this may form part of a campaign to restrict the work of human rights defenders in Bahrain.

http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1749

Report by : Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

Full Report-EN

Full Report-AR

Introduction

The Kingdom of Bahrain signed on the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 13 February 1992, and it acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict on 21 September 2002.

The Bahraini government presented its first and second reports in the year 1994 in regards to the measures the country is taking towards the Convention on the Child, and in the year 2002, the Bahraini government presented a report on its international obligations on the rights of the child in the committee’s meeting number “796”.

According to the Bahraini constitution issued in the year 2002, article “37” states that treaties sanctioned by the State have the force of law.

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The following is a joint appeal to the King of Bahrain from BCHR and 54 other rights groups:

Sheikh Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa ,
King of Bahrain,
Riffa, Bahrain
Fax : +973 176 64 587

Your Royal Highness,

We the undersigned national and international human rights organisations and other groups defending freedom of expression urge the Bahraini authorities to immediately release those human rights activists and demonstrators who were unjustly detained following protests in December, and to immediately desist from torturing the detainees. We believe the charges against the activists, for violent actions which they did not commit, are a pretext to silence them as a reprisal for their outspoken and peaceful human rights work.

As in past years, on 17 December 2007, the Bahraini National Committee for Victims of Torture (NCVT) organised its annual march. On that day in 1994 two young Bahrainis were killed by Special Forces snipers from a helicopter shooting with live ammunition on a peaceful demonstration in Sanabis village calling for political reforms and democratisation.

On 17 December 2007, heavily armed members of the Bahraini Special Security Forces (SSF) were deployed to head off the march, which was prevented from kicking off in Manama. Confrontations quickly spread to nearby villages. In Sanabis village, some protestors were attacked by the SSF and armed militia who besieged the area and showered it with tear gas and rubber bullets. Ali Jassem Makki was allegedly attacked and fatally beaten by the SSF. Protests erupted in many other villages, resulting in many wounded.

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Secretary / Special Rapporteur on violence against women

Higher Commissionaire of Human Rights

Geneva, Switzerland

25 June 2007

Kindest regards from Bahrain,

We would like to thank you for your efforts to protect women against rights violation. You are the international authority specialized in protecting women against targeting and violence.

Dear Rapporteur,

Bahrain has signed the Fighting Violence against Women Agreement on June 18, 2002, and has subjected to implementation on July 19, 2002. This agreement obliges Bahrain to protect women against violence practiced by either the society or local authorities. The agreement works on finding national legislations to protect women rights in different fields.

Dear Rapporteur,

Bahrain is still practicing violence against women through Family Courts, which are known for their corrupt and systematic suppression against women, who call for their slightest rights to live with dignity.

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In June 2005 the Bahrain Youth Human Rights Society attempted to register as a civil society group, but the Ministry of Social Development did not respond to the application. Unofficial sources claimed that the society contained an insufficient number of members over the legal age of 18 and, therefore, could not legally register. Members of the society speculate that they have not been allowed to register due to their relationship with members of the now dissolved BCHR.