Bahrain: After destruction of the actual protesting site at “the Pearl”, the government shifts to eliminate virtual protests

Bahrain: After destruction of the actual protesting site at “the Pearl”, the government shifts to eliminate virtual protests

Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Defending and promoting human rights in Bahrain

Information community on the internet faces the danger of disappearance due to the brutal crackdown on freedom of expression

Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

17th May 2011

Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) expresses its deep concern regarding the continuous crackdown on the freedom of individuals to express their views and the suppression of Bahraini authorities to freedom of expression in various ways. This report focuses on the repression of freedom of expression through the web space that targeted activists and bloggers on the internet through killing threats and detention leading to a state of extreme self-censorship. Many websites that discuss the local affairs and political events, including discussion forums and blogging pages of Bahraini activists, have been blocked or closed by authorities in Bahrain. The diversity of electronic contents on the web is compromised as more bloggers are disappearing everyday along with the closure of their websites and pages. …more