ADHRB Weekly Newsletter #346
View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** Bahrain
------------------------------------------------------------

[link removed]


**
From 14 Countries and 22 Capitals and Cities: Voices Demand the Release of Bahraini Political Prisoners
------------------------------------------------------------

With the hashtag #ReleasePoliticalPrisoners, students and activists all over Europe expressed their concern and demanded the immediate release of political prisoners in Bahrain. On March 17, 2020, Bahrain completed the release of 1,486 prisoners, 901 of whom received royal pardons on “humanitarian grounds.” The remaining 585 were given non-custodial sentences. While this is a positive step, the releases so far have excluded opposition leaders, activists, journalists and human rights defenders – many of whom are older and/or suffer from underlying medical conditions and ought to be prioritized for release.

Those excluded include prominent opposition leaders and human rights defenders, those deemed arbitrarily detained by the United Nations and Prisoners of Conscience by Amnesty International. This includes Hassan Mushaima, Abdulwahab Hussain, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, Dr Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, Sheikh Ali Salman, Sayed Nizar Alwadaei, Nabeel Rajab and Naji Fateel.

Read the full article and watch the video here. ([link removed])

------------------------------------------------------------

Bahrain: A Deep Rooted Culture of Impunity



In July 2011, the Bahraini government established the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which was charged with investigating allegations of human rights abuses in connection with the government’s suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations that erupted in February 2011. Later that year, the BICI published a report which confirmed that government officials employed excessive force discriminatory tactics in the execution of their official duties. Moreover, the BICI found that Bahrain’s security forces had killed at least 18 demonstrators and detainees without justification.

The commission recommended that investigations should be conducted into such deaths “with a view to bringing legal and disciplinary action against such individuals, including those in the chain of command, military and civilian, who are found to be responsible under international standards of superior responsibility”. However, while authorities have been aggressively prosecuting individuals solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, there have been few prosecutions of security personnel implicated in the severe and widespread abuses documented by BICI. Those that have been prosecuted have largely been low-ranking officers, and even with these instances, many have resulted in acquittals or disproportionately light sentences.

Read the full article here. ([link removed])

------------------------------------------------------------


** Rights Group Urge US Congress to Support Global Magnitsky Enforcement
------------------------------------------------------------


The initiative led by Freedom House, letters in support of congressional funding for implementation of Global Magnitsky sanctions were signed by 50 organizations and individuals and sent to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Background:

The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (PL 114-328, Subtitle F) allows the president to block US visas and freeze US-based assets of foreign individuals and entities who engage in or support those engaged in human rights abuses or acts of corruption.

Since the Global Magnitsky Act was signed into law in 2016, sanctions have been imposed on 199 human rights violators, corrupt actors, and associated entities in 25 countries around the world, including a notorious businessman who stole billions from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), senior Burmese military officials responsible for atrocities against Burma’s ethnic minorities, one of the biggest arms dealers in the Balkans, and members of the hit squad dispatched by the government of Saudi Arabia to murder journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This remarkable success is a testament to unprecedented cooperation between Congress, the Executive Branch, and civil society.

Read the full article and download the letters here. ([link removed])


** Profile in Persecution
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]


**
Husain Ali Mohamed
------------------------------------------------------------

Husain is a high school student. When he was 11 years old, he was arrested for a week with no reason provided; at age 13 he was arrested again. Husain was 17 when he was recently arrested twice and subjected to arbitrary detention and torture. During his detention, he missed out on his high school education and he now remains in the New Dry Dock Detention.

On 18 January 2019, Husain’s family house in Bani Jamra was raided by officers in civilian clothing and officers from the riot police. They did not provide any reason for his arrest nor a warrant. Husain was subjected to enforced disappearance for 12 days, after which his family received a call from the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) to bring him clothes and soap. He was then released on 23 February 2019.

Husain was arrested for the second time on 30 April 2019: a message was sent on his phone ordering him to go to the CID with his legal guardian. When Husain went to the CID with his father, officers took him inside and asked his father to leave. Husain was arrested and detained at the CID for approximately 20 days. The authorities did not give any reason for summoning Husain to the CID and arresting him.

Read the full report here. ([link removed])


** ADHRB at the UN
------------------------------------------------------------


** Why are Bahraini Human Rights Defenders missing from the Human Rights Council?
------------------------------------------------------------


ADHRB has reported that Human Rights Defenders (HRD) travelling from Bahrain to engage with the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) have been missing from the latest and previous Council Sessions. Recent developments caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 prevented many HRDs from travelling to Geneva and attending the 43rd Session of the HRC. However, the effect COVID-19 on travel restrictions does not entirely explain the HRDs that were missing well before the outbreak. Since 2016, Bahrain began to systematically impose travel bans as a means of conducting reprisals against anyone seeking to engage with UN human rights mechanisms. Between June and September 2016, the Government of Bahrain subjected nearly 30 activists to travel bans. ADHRB has documented persistent patterns of reprisals against HRDs who attempt to engage with the UN, which accounts for their absences from HRC sessions.
Read the full report here. ([link removed])


** Around the Gulf
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]


**
Dispatch: The Dutch arm exports to human rights violators
------------------------------------------------------------

The Netherlands entered the top-10 of global arms export in the 2013-2017 period according to the Trends in international arms transfers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI uses a Trend Indicator Value (TIV) that attributes to surplus weapons a 40% value of their original cost and small arms and ammunition are not included in the SIPRI figures. In 2018, The Dutch Government replied to SIPRI’s ranking stating that the results would have been different if all forms of exports of military equipment were included (e.g. ammunition) and if the sales or license value were the starting point for the ranking.

Despite the Dutch government’s intention to not sell arms to countries committing human rights violations, Dutch manufactured arms and weapons have surfaced in countries such as Bahrain that were being used as a method to repress the civil liberties of the populous. In addition, and in spite of the Dutch Parliament weapons ban against states that are belligerents in the Yemen war, Dutch banks have continued to invest in companies that have businesses with key actors involved in conflicts and human rights violations.

Read the full statement here. ([link removed])

[link removed]

============================================================


Are you a victim of a human rights abuse in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, or other GCC states?

Document your case with the Special Procedures of the United Nations through
** ADHRB's UN Complaint Program ([link removed])
.

Copyright © 2017 ADHRB, All rights reserved.
Contact us at: ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
| ** update subscription preferences ([link removed])

** Twitter ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain . 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW . Suite 205 . Washington, DC 20036 . USA

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]