Bahrain: Freed from jail, now all charges against Nabeel
Rajab must be dropped
GENEVA (16 July 2015) – Three United Nations human rights
experts* today call on the Bahraini authorities to drop all charges the
prominent Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, who was released from
prison earlier this week for health reasons. While welcoming Mr. Rajab’s
release, the experts called it “only a half measure, given that the he is still
facing charges that carry up to fifteen years of imprisonment.”
Mr. Rajab, who is the president of the Bahrain Centre for
Human Rights, was jailed in October 2014 in connection with statements made on
his Twitter account and was initially charged for ‘publicly insulting official
institutions.’ This was only months after he had completed a two-year prison
sentence after calling for and participating in peaceful demonstrations.
Despite his recent release, Mr.Rajab’s pending charges
include ‘disseminating false rumours in the time of war,’ ‘insulting public
officials’ and ‘disseminating false news causing damage to the public
security.’
“Criminalizing, prosecuting and imprisoning human rights
defenders for carrying out their vital human rights work and enriching public
debate are unacceptable under international law,” the experts stressed. “Human
rights defenders in Bahrain must be able to carry out their legitimate human
rights work without fear of retaliation or imprisonment.”
“We call for the immediate release of all Bahraini
activists, as well as political dissidents, detained for peaceful exercise of
their rights,” said the the experts, who have expressed serious concerns on a
number of occasions to the Bahraini Government concerning the harassment of
civil society and political activists in the country.
The UN experts continue to urge the authorities to review
domestic laws and practices to ensure compliance with Bahrain’s obligations
under human rights law, in particular the freedoms of expression and
association and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty.
(*) The UN experts: Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on
the situation of human rights defenders; David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and
Maina Kiai, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly
and of association.
ENDS
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
Learn more, log on to:
Freedom of expression: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomOpinion/Pages/OpinionIndex.aspx
Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/AssemblyAssociation/Pages/SRFreedomAssemblyAssociationIndex.aspx
UN Human Rights, Country Page – Bahrain:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/MENARegion/Pages/BHIndex.aspx
For more information and media requests, please contact
Jamshid Gaziyev (+41 22 917 9183 / defenders@ohchr.org)
For media inquiries related to other UN independent
experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917
9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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