Bahrain: Implements State of Emergency (Martial Law) without Official Declaration

Bahrain: Implementing a State of Emergency (National Safety) without an Official Declaration
16 November, 2012 – Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rghts

Background:

In March 2011 after hundreds of thousands protested in the Lulu (Pearl) Roundabout (Manama), the King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa issued a “Royal Decree No. 18 of 2011″, and this Decree was a declaration of a State of National Safety, a “state of emergency in the country”, and this continued for three months where the Bahraini Authorities practiced dreadful violations of human rights (refer to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry – BICI – report which was established by the King to investigate the violations : http://www.bici.org.bh/BICIreportEN.pdf)

Photo: Pearl roundabout after entering the army and the suppression of demonstrators

Photo: King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa

Articles of declaring the State of National Safety “emergency state”:

The declaration of the State of National Safety which was issued by an order from the King consists of 15 articles in which the responsibility of the police, army, and National Guard was specified in Article “5″, where they were given the following measures:

1. Evacuate or isolate certain areas to maintain security and public order.
2. Regulate and ban public gatherings if they are deemed to be a threat to public order or national safety.
3. Regulate traffic and movement; impose curfews and places limits on travel outside the Kingdom whenever this is for the benefit of the citizens.
4. Temporarily regulate access to certain areas whenever it is in the public interest.
5. Organize opening and closing times for shops and public places whenever required by the public interest.
6. Search persons and places when suspicions exist of a violation of the provisions of this Decree or the decision or orders issued by the authority responsible for its implementation.
7. If a foreigner is deemed a threat to public security and safety or citizen, they may be deported or prohibited from entering the Kingdom.
8. If evidence arises that an association, club, union or other legal person is undertaking activity that disturbs public order, or working in the interest of a foreign State, or spreading a spirit of disunity among the citizens to cause disorder or disobedience in the Kingdom, its activity may be suspended.
9. If it appears that some of the printed, audio or visual media or informational networks would prejudice national security or undermine the Constitution, social or economic order of the Kingdom, it may be seized and denied publication or broadcast.
10. Regulate means of transport by land, sea and air and use them temporarily, provided that the owners and users of these means of transport are fairly compensated.
11. Arrest and detain suspects and persons deemed threatening to the security of citizens.
12. Withdraw Bahraini citizenship from all those whose presence is deemed to be a risk to public order and security and expel them from the country or detain them at secure locations. …more