Bahrain Courts of Injustice, bully, intimidate, Political Oppostion in effort to Kill Democracy

Ongoing judicial harassment against Bahraini activists for their cooperation with UN system
28 October, 1013 – ABNA

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) express their serious concern over the ongoing campaign of judicial harassment against human rights defenders in Bahrain who cooperate with the UN system. In the recent days, Human rights defender Mohamed Al-Maskati was interrogated on charges related to freedom of expression, while another 2 defenders of his organization, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), are currently behind bars.

On 22 October 2013, human rights defender, co-founder and president of the BYSHR Mohamed Al-Maskati was summoned to Al-Khamis Police Station where he was interrogated on charges of “inciting hatred against the regime” in relation to a speech he made on 8 September 2013 in Jidhafs Town, where he talked about the concept of nonviolence and the importance of demanding rights through peaceful techniques as well as human rights as set in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Defender Al-Maskati was released after he signed a pledge to appear before the Public Prosecution office upon request. His case may be transferred to court at any time.

Mohamed Al-Maskati is a renowned human rights defender, an advocate of non-violence and a trainer of Digital Security for human rights defenders. He has been actively cooperating with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in recent years and has visited the Special Rapporteurs in August 2013. He also met several diplomatic missions in Geneva in coordination with many regional and international Human Rights organizations.

This summon comes at the end of a long list of judicial and extra-judicial harassment to human rights defender Al-Maskati. Since June 2013, he is going through a trial at the Lower Criminal Court, facing possible prison sentences on charges of “participation in illegal protests” in relation to his participation in a peaceful protest entitled “Self determination”. The next hearing will be on 9 December 2013.

Last year, on 16 October 2012, Al-Maskati was detained for about 24 hours and questioned at the Public Prosecution office on charges of “rioting and participating in an illegal gathering” few weeks after he delivered an oral intervention at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, where he informed the (HRC) about the massive intimidation campaign against him. Although he was released after interrogation, but the charges remained pending since then. After tweeting about his attendance at the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva in September 2012, Al-Maskati received continuous threats via anonymous phone calls. He was threatened with death if “he damaged Bahrain’s reputation in Geneva”, and he was also a target of a smear campaign run by a pro-government newspapers following his return from Geneva.

Another two members of BYSHR are currently behind bars. Human rights defender and BYSHR co-founder Naji Fateel is detained since May 2013 and has been sentenced on 29 Sep 2013 to 15 years in prison after a show trial that fails to live up to fair trial standards. He was reportedly subjected to torture in detention. Human rights defender and member of BYSHR, Hussain Abdulnabi, is still detained while facing a trial since 6 Sep 2013. Some reliable reports confirmed that the security forces have a plan to target other members of the BYSHR. …more