“Together, the EU and the US account for around half of global GDP and almost two-thirds of global military spending,” say two leading rights advocates. “A coordinated, transatlantic approach to human rights would mean the world’s rising authoritarian powers could no longer act with impunity.”

Some 52 years after Amnesty International founder Peter Benenson initiated the global human rights movement with an article in the London Observer, “the world has undergone profound changes,” Edward McMillan-Scott and Chen Guangcheng write for The Guardian:

The iron curtain has fallen, democracy has taken root in eastern Europe, Latin America and much of Africa, and rapid advances in technology have made us more globally interconnected than ever before. Nonetheless, arbitrary imprisonment, torture and execution on political grounds remain commonplace. China, the world’s rising superpower, continues to systematically engage in the political repression and torture of its citizens, with an estimated 7 to 8 million Chinese currently being held in prison or labour camps.

This week, at the European parliament, they launched a transatlantic pact between the EU and US to highlight human rights violations around the world:

The Defending Freedoms Project, in association with Amnesty International and ChinaAid [a National Endowment for Democracy grantee], calls on members of the European parliament and US congressmen and women to adopt and advocate on behalf of prisoners of conscience from around the world. Examples include Gao Zhisheng, the prominent Chinese human rights activist who has been repeatedly imprisoned and severely tortured for the last seven years. Or Nabeel Rajab, the Bahraini pro-democracy campaigner who has been beaten, jailed and denied medical treatment.

“By generating attention and support to these individual cases, it is hoped that combined pressure from the US and EU will help to secure their release,” they suggest.

“As we saw most recently during the Arab spring, all people around the world instinctively crave the same basic freedoms: the right to speak your mind without fear of torture or imprisonment, to be free from extra-judicial execution and disappearance and to criticise your government without putting yourself or your loved ones in danger,” they write.

But the advanced democracies must be consistent if they want to avoid accusations of double standards.

“It often appears there is one rule for small, insignificant countries and another for rising superpowers seen as ‘strategic partners’,” says McMillan-Scottand Chen, a recipient in absentia of the National Endowment for Democracy‘s 2008 Democracy Award:

For too long, western governments have stood by as authoritarian regimes around the world engage in systematic repression with impunity. The EU-China human rights dialogue, established 14 years ago, has yielded no tangible results, serving instead as a fig leaf for European leaders’ general reluctance to challenge China robustly on its human rights record.

RTWT

“Of the half dozen Arab states that were shaken by popular demands for democracy when the Arab Spring erupted two years ago, Bahrain is the easiest to forget,” says a prominent democracy analyst.

“In sharp contrast to Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen — where dictators were toppled — (or even Syria, with its ongoing civil war), Bahrain’s authoritarian monarchy has crushed the democratic opposition,” writes Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s  Hoover Institution:

Of the six countries gripped by revolutionary fervor, Bahrain is the smallest in size and population, with most of its 1.3 million people (nearly half of them non-citizens) crowded onto an arid, largely barren island about a third the size of Rhode Island. It is not nearly as rich as its small Gulf neighbors, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and its oil exports now rank a paltry 48^th in the world. Among the states of the Arab Middle East, Bahrain may be the most dependent on a powerful neighbor, Saudi Arabia – which intervened militarily in March 2011 to rescue the besieged and deeply unpopular al-Khalifa monarchy.

“But along with its mounting problems, Bahrain has a geostrategic trump card: location,” notes Diamond, writing for The Atlantic.com. “Jutting out in the center of the Persian Gulf, less than 100 miles from Iran, it hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the pillar of naval security in the region and an indispensable counterweight to Iran’s ambitions for regional hegemony.”

A Bahrain court last week upheld conviction of 13 leading democracy advocates. The judgment follows last month’s confirmation of a prison sentence for a popular democracy advocate, Nabeel Rajab.

The Gulf Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights issued a statement of concern over Rajab, who is president of the BCHR, director of the GCHR and deputy secretary general of the Paris-based Federation for International Human Rights. Other international human rights groups, including the World Movement for Democracy, have called for letters of appeal and protest to be addressed to the authorities.

But human rights and democracy advocates have been disappointed by the Obama administration’s perceived reluctance to press Manama to enter a genuine dialogue with opposition elements committed to democratic reform.

“It is an old story in the foreign policy of this, the world’s most powerful democracy,” writes Diamond:

We need a substantial security presence in the Persian Gulf now, as much as ever. But we do not need to buy in to the regime’s false framing of this as a sectarian conflict pitting a loyal American ally against an Iranian fifth column. Neither should we underestimate the cards we hold. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are more directly threatened by Iran than we are, and they need the stabilizing presence of the U.S. Fifth Fleet at least as much as we, the United States, perceive a national security interest in being there. As has so often been the case when interests collide with principles on the world stage, we retreat too quickly into cynicism, failing to exercise the full extent of our leverage.

The situation in Bahrain is not only deeply unjust; it is also unsustainable. Sooner or later a deeply aggrieved and enraged majority will erupt again, and when they do, their anger and profound disappointment will be directed at the United States as well.

Larry Diamond serves as senior consultant (and previously was codirector) at the International Forum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy.

RTWT

A Bahrain court today upheld the convictions of 13 leading pro-democracy activists, in a judgment that government critics cited as confirmation that the ruling Sunni monarchy is uninterested in negotiating a political solution with the largely Shia opposition movement calling for democratic reform.

“The mind-boggling verdicts in these cases did not mention a single recognizable criminal offense, instead pointing to speeches the defendants made, meetings they attended, and their calls for peaceful street protests in February and March 2011,” said a spokesman for Human Rights Watch. “Bahrain’s Cassation Court has proven its inability to protect the most basic rights guaranteed in Bahrain’s Constitution and the international treaties it has signed.”

Amnesty International called the convictions an outrage and slammed the decision as “further proof of how the country’s justice system simply cannot be relied on.” 

“The decision ends all appeals for the dissidents, who were sentenced to between five years and life in prison for their leadership roles in the revolt that began in February 2011, The New York Times reports:

The 13 are part of a group of 20 opposition leaders who were sentenced by a military tribunal on charges that included trying to overthrow the government. Other dissidents were sentenced in absentia.

Since pledging to accept reform recommendations made by an independent panel that investigated the uprising — including to commute sentences of those charged with “political expression” — the government has continued to silence its critics. In November, the government stripped 31 people, including former opposition members of Parliament and exiled dissidents, of their citizenship.

“They are trying to pull us toward a security solution,” said Radhi Mohsen al-Mosawi, the acting secretary general of the National Democratic Action Society.

“They have made things so difficult for them, and for us,” said Mr. Mosawi, who added that his group still favored negotiations for a constitutional monarchy. “Our demand is a peaceful demand. It is a minimum demand.”  

The court’s decision follows last month’s confirmation of a prison sentence for a popular democracy advocate, Nabeel Rajab.

The Gulf Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights has issued a statement of concern over Rajab, who is president of the BCHR, director of the GCHR and deputy secretary general of the Paris-based Federation for International Human Rights. Other international human rights groups, including the World Movement for Democracy, have called for letters of appeal and protest to be addressed to the authorities.

The monarchy’s mass dismissal of labor union activists, who supported a general strike called by the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions in support of the non-violent democracy movement, has “sparked a divide between pro- and anti-government labor groups, and has prompted unions in the United States to call on the Obama Administration to revisit its free-trade agreement with this key Washington ally,” reports suggest:.

Since the general strike, Bahrain’s Labor Ministry says all public sector workers have been rehired and only 2 percent in the private sector, or 176 people, remain out of work. The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, however, says the number is closer to 500, and many others were asked to accept lower status jobs. Few received back pay.

Critics say the government, in its attempt to divide the opposition, backed a new union umbrella group — the Bahrain Free Labor Union Federation — that promotes itself as “non-political.” The new group supports the government on most labor issues, including the matter of fired workers.

The authorities “have launched an all-out attack on the Bahraini trade union movement,” says the Solidarity Center.

“Thousands of workers have been dismissed for taking part in trade union activities supporting the peaceful calls for greater democracy and reform,” said the Washington-based democracy support group, calling on activists to send a protest message through LabourStart.

“The government is trying to create a federation it can control,” said Abdul Radhi, the assistant secretary general of the original union federation.

“Some members want complete political reform,” through removal of the monarchy, he said. “Some want a constitutional monarchy. Generally, we support the King’s original project when he said he wants Bahrain to be a model of democracy.”

“There is no dominant ideology,” he said. “Our work is based on trade unions.” ?

RTWT

The Solidarity Center is one of the core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington-based democracy assistance group.

Amnesty International USA holds an event outside Washington, DC’s Newseum to launch more than 200 tethered balloons depicting the face of Bahraini political prisoner Nabeel Rajab (left) in order to highlight the power of free speech, and to launch its annual Write-a-Thon to mobilize activists, and supporters of human rights to write letters, Tweet, and blog on behalf of prisoners of conscience and victims of persecution worldwide.

November 20, 2012. 8 a.m. The Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Contact: Anya Palkowski, 212-633-4268, apalkowski@aiusa.org

Two migrant workers were killed and a third seriously injured in five explosions in two areas of Bahrain’s capital Manama today.

The bombings came less than a week after the Sunni monarchy banned all public protests in a move that observers feared would play into the hands of more militant opposition factions.

“As always, we condemn violence,” said Maryam al-Khawaja (right), acting head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, “but, given the Bahraini authorities’ background in spreading disinformation, we call for an independent investigation into the deaths of the two migrant workers.”

Matar Matar of the opposition Shiite party Wefaq said he doubted that opposition activists were behind Monday’s attacks….

“This incident is strange – why would anyone target workers?” he said. “I’m worried that police and military are losing control of their units or it is [preparation] before declaring martial law.”

Leading Shiite clerics had called on followers to avoid escalating the conflict with the government. He suggested the police or military might have been responsible, or a rogue unit.

The explosions are “definitely a side effect of cracking down on peaceful protest,” said Claire Beaugrand, Gulf senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. “The radicals will probably say that Wefaq has lost its credibility … The grassroots have become more and more disillusioned, more desperate, and more willing to tacitly or silently support alternative action.”

Bahrain is under pressure to implement the recommendations of a report by a team of international lawyers and human-rights experts that accused the government of widespread torture and violence against protesters during the unrest last spring.

“In the absence of a political solution, things can only get worse,” said Jasim Husain, a member of Wefaq,. “Extremists are exploiting the lack of political reform.”

Today’s violence is in stark contrast to the peaceful mobilizations that have marked the country’s pro-democracy movement to date, as The Washington Post reports:

Three hundred people marched peacefully through streets filled with charred debris one recent night, waving Bahraini flags and shouting slogans against King Hamad and the United States. Without warning, helmeted riot police in SUVs came screeching up and began firing tear gas at the demonstrators, who panicked and ran.

Screaming women stumbled over their long black abaya robes, old men and children in sandals sprinted as hissing tear gas canisters whizzed past. A group of about 20 teenage boys began throwing molotov cocktails at the police officers.

Eyes watering and coughing up gas, human rights activist Said Yousif al-Muhafdah ran to his car and tapped out two messages reporting news of the clash, in Arabic and English, to his more than 70,000 followers on Twitter.

“We only want democracy,” Muhafdah said recently. “In the United States, you have a new elected president every four years. But here we are living with a king and the same prime minister for 42 years.”

Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, hired Muhafdah “to set up Facebook and Twitter accounts and to start posting video to YouTube and photos to Flickr,” the Post reports.

In August Rajab was sentenced to three years in prison, a punishment that prompted local protests and international criticism from human rights groups and the U.S. State Department.

But pro-democracy and human rights groups criticized the U.S. failure to oppose the candidacy of Bahrain’s nominee, a career official in its Foreign Ministry, to the UN Human Rights Council.

“In a letter to [US Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton, 14 nongovernmental organizations, including the Project on Middle East Democracy, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House, urged the United States to oppose the candidacy in light of Bahrain’s egregious record on human rights,” writes Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy.

“The United States joined the Human Rights Council in 2009 promising to fight against “the pernicious machinations of countries seeking to obscure and deny their abuses” through the council,” he writes:

The U.S. administration could limit military assistance and training to Bahrain; sanction Bahraini officials responsible for gross human rights violations; more strictly enforce the rights requirements of the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement; or call for a special session on Bahrain at the U.N. Human Rights Council. Any of these steps would signal that Washington is finally willing to walk and chew gum, backing up its rhetoric with action.

The Project for Middle East Democracy is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington-based democracy assistance group.

Russia’s expulsion of USAID and Egypt’s prosecution of pro-democracy non-governmental groups are the most publicized cases of a concerted offensive against civil society and, more specifically, against the principles and practice of cross-border democracy assistance. Such actions violate not only international law, but fundamental moral precepts, according to a new report.

“Civil society is at the core of human nature. We human beings want to get together with others … and act collectively to make our lives better,” says Archbishop Desmond Tutu, endorsing a valuable new edition of the Defending Civil Society report. “Civil society is the expression of those collective actions.”

“Through strong civil societies, enjoying the freedoms of association and assembly, we encourage and empower one another to shape our societies and address issues of common concern,” the Nobel laureate says.

The right of civil society organizations (CSOs) to seek and provide assistance – including financial support – is enshrined in international law, including treaties and conventions to which authoritarian violators are signatories, the report demonstrates.

“The right to seek and secure resources, including the cross-border transfer of funds,” is one of a series of “well-defined international principles protecting civil society and underscoring proper government-civil society relations, which are already embedded in international law,” notes the report:

These principles include the right of CSOs to entry (that is, the right of individuals to form and join CSOs); the right to operate to fulfill their legal purposes without state interference; the right to free expression; the right to communication with domestic and international partners; the right to freedom of peaceful assembly; the right to seek and secure resources, including the cross-border transfer of funds; and the state’s positive obligation to protect CSO rights.

Within broad parameters, CSOs have the right to seek and secure funding from legal sources, including individuals, businesses, civil society, international organizations, and inter-governmental organizations, as well as local, national, and foreign governments.

The report, an initiative of a partnership of the World Movement for Democracy and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), was repeatedly cited during the World Movement ’s 7^th assembly in Lima this week.  

“Today, civil society is facing serious threats across the globe,” the report continues:

Civil society activists continue to face traditional forms of repression, such as imprisonment, harassment, disappearances, and execution. However, many governments have increasingly become more subtle in their efforts to limit the space in which civil society organizations (CSOs), especially democracy and human rights groups, operate.

In many states today – principally, but not exclusively authoritarian or hybrid regimes – traditional repression techniques are often complemented or preempted by more sophisticated measures, including legal or quasi-legal obstacles, such as barriers to the formation of organizations, barriers to operational activities, barriers to advocacy and public policy engagement, barriers to communication and cooperation with others, barriers to assembly, and barriers to resources.

Governments have tried to justify and legitimize such obstacles as necessary to enhance accountability and transparency of CSOs; to harmonize or coordinate CSO activities; to meet national security interests by countering terrorism or extremism; and/or in defense of national sovereignty against foreign influence in domestic affairs. This Report exposes such justifications as rationalizations for repression, and, furthermore, as violations of international treaties and conventions to which the states concerned are signatories.

Over the last several years, significant steps have been made to confront the worrying trend of increasingly restrictive environments for civil society around the world, and to advocate for enabling environments. Under auspices of the Community of Democracies, a group of concerned governments established a Working Group on “Enabling and Protecting Civil Society” to monitor and respond to developments concerning civil society legislation around the world.

Some 14 governments have jointly pledged financial support for the “Lifeline: Embattled NGO Assistance Fund” to help civil society activists confronting crackdowns. In September 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a historic resolution on the “Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association,” establishing a Special Rapporteur on the issue for the first time. The Organization of American States (OAS) also adopted a resolution in June 2011 on “Promotion of the Rights to Freedom of Assembly and of Association in the Americas.”

Like the original edition of the Defending Civil Society Report published in 2008, this second edition provides illustrative examples of the legal barriers used to constrain civic space. In addition to including more recent illustrative examples, this Report also expands discussion of major challenges, such as restrictions on the use of new technologies, measures against public movements and peaceful assemblies, and the unintended consequences of efforts to enhance the effectiveness of foreign aid.

The Report articulates the well-defined international principles protecting civil society and underscoring proper government-civil society relations, which are already embedded in international law. These principles include the right of CSOs to entry (that is, the right of individuals to form and join CSOs); the right to operate to fulfill their legal purposes without state interference; the right to free expression; the right to communication with domestic and international partners; the right to freedom of peaceful assembly; the right to seek and secure resources, including the cross-border transfer of funds; and the state’s positive obligation to protect CSO rights.

The Report calls on:

• Democratic governments and international organizations to recognize, protect, and promote fundamental rights, such as the rights to freedom of assembly and of association, using new technologies;
• Democratic governments and international organizations to raise the level of their engagement through mechanisms that already exist, yet have not been employed to their maximum potential, such as the Community of Democracies’ Working Group on Enabling and Protecting Civil Society, and the UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate;
• Civil society organizations to deepen their understanding of legal frameworks governing them, and to build their capacity to engage in the reform of regressive frameworks; and
• Democracy assistance organizations to facilitate national, regional, and international discussions among their civil society partners and governments to develop ideas for reforming legal frameworks so that the space for civil society work in every country is protected.

The report is available in full in the latest issue of the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law.

A Bahraini court today denied a request to release leading human rights activist Nabeel Rajab who is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for organizing and participating in peaceful protests in support of democratic reform.

The court “rejected a request to release Nabeel Rajab and suspend” his sentence, Rajab’s lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said on his Twitter account.

Rajab began a hunger strike on October 6 after Bahraini officials initially granted and then denied his request to attend a three-day condolences gathering for his recently-deceased mother, AFP reports:

The government did release him temporarily for her funeral on October 4, where he allegedly “violated” the terms of his release by urging Shiites to continue anti-government protests…..The courts have merged Rajab’s three separate cases of “incitement and illegal assembly” into one single appeal, with the next hearing set for October 16.

Separately, the attorney general announced in a statement on Monday that charges against a police officer accused of shooting dead a Shiite protester on August 17 have been dropped. The policeman had acted in “self-defense” after the man who was killed “attempted to throw a Molotov cocktail at him,” the statement said.

International human rights groups, including the Gulf Center for Human Rights, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the World Movement for Democracy are calling for letters of appeal and protest to be addressed to the authorities (contact details below).

The Gulf Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights have issued a statement of concern over Rajab, who is president of the BCHR, director of the GCHR and deputy secretary general of the Paris-based Federation for International Human Rights:

Prison authorities today refused to release Rajab and fellow activist Mohamed Jawad Parweez to allow them to attend a condolence gathering for Rajab’s mother – who is also Parweez’s sister. The Public Prosecutor had earlier granted a temporary release allowing both Rajab and Parweez to attend the gathering which lasts for a few hours each day. But when their families went to the prison this morning, they were told that the temporary release had been cancelled.

Earlier on 4 Oct 2012, Rajab was allowed to attend his mother’s funeral of his mother along with Parweez who appeared in a wheelchair due to injuries sustained as a result of severe torture to which he was subjected following his arrest in March 2011.

The official Bahrain news agency published a statement in which the Chief Prosecutor alleged that Rajab violated the conditions of his release by giving a provocative speech after the funeral in which he called on people to continue the struggle for rights and democracy. The speech – available online here with English subtitles – is clearly a peaceful expression of opinion.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), is “highly concerned about [Rajab’s] physical and psychological integrity,” “deplores” his arbitrary detention and “reiterates its call to the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him and to put an end to all acts of judicial harassment against him.”

The Observatory urges the Bahraini authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Rajab, as well as of all human rights defenders in Bahrain…. and urges the Bahraini authorities to ensure that international observers will be able to attend Mr. Rajab’s next appeal hearing on October 16 without any hindrances.

For more information, please contact:

·       FIDH: Arthur Manet/Audrey Couprie: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18

·       OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41 (0) 22 809 49 39

Letters of appeal and protest should be faxed to the authorities via the following addresses:

King Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa

Office of His Majesty the King

P.O. Box 555

Rifa’a Palace, al-Manama, Bahrain

Fax: +973 17664587

Prime Minister

Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

P.O. Box 1000, al-Manama, Bahrain

Fax: +973 17533033

Minister of Interior

Shaikh Rashid bin ‘Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa

Minister of Interior

Ministry of Interior

P.O. Box 13, al-Manama, Bahrain

Fax: +973 17232661

Human rights and democracy activists are calling for urgent action over the case of Nabeel Rajab, who began a hunger strike today, insisting that he will abstain from food, water and medication in protest at his unjust treatment.

Rajab is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for organizing and participating in peaceful protests in support of democratic reform.

The Gulf Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights have issued a statement of concern over Rajab, who is president of the BCHR, director of the GCHR and deputy secretary general of the Paris-based Federation for International Human Rights:

Prison authorities today refused to release Rajab and fellow activist Mohamed Jawad Parweez to allow them to attend a condolence gathering for Rajab’s mother – who is also Parweez’s sister. The Public Prosecutor had earlier granted a temporary release allowing both Rajab and Parweez to attend the gathering which lasts for a few hours each day. But when their families went to the prison this morning, they were told that the temporary release had been canceled.

Earlier on 4 Oct 2012, Rajab was allowed to attend his mother’s funeral of his mother along with Parweez who appeared in a wheelchair due to injuries sustained as a result of severe torture to which he was subjected following his arrest in March 2011.

The official Bahrain news agency published a statement in which the Chief Prosecutor alleged that Rajab violated the conditions of his release by giving a provocative speech after the funeral in which he called on people to continue the struggle for rights and democracy. The speech – available online here with English subtitles – is clearly a peaceful expression of opinion.

Human rights and democracy advocates expressed shock and indignation at Rajab’s three-year sentence for anti-government activities.

“Even those of us who have followed Bahrain’s violent crackdown on human rights are shocked by today’s move,” said Brian Dooley of Human Rights First. “It’s a breathtakingly bad decision, showing that the regime’s rhetoric about reform and reconciliation is a sham. The charges are patently politically-motivated, and designed to silence him. He has consistently called for protests to be peaceful, and there is no justification for his jailing.”

The “unexpectedly stiff sentence will raise questions about the Western-backed Sunni monarchy’s commitment to reform,” AP reported.

“You can jail me for 3 years or 30 years, but I will not back down or retreat (from my human rights work),” Rajab said after his sentence was read out.

The GCHR and BCHR today urged the US administration as well as other governments that have influence in Bahrain including the UK government, the EU, and the leading human rights organizations to:

1. Call for the immediate release of human rights defender Nabeel Rajab as well as all other detained human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience in Bahrain; 2. Put pressure on the government of Bahrain to drop all charges against detained human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience; 3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

Western governments and human rights groups today condemned Bahrain’s crackdown on pro-democracy activists.  

Human rights groups and Western government officials including Catherine Ashton, Europe’s foreign-policy supremo, expressed disappointment at Bahrain’s High Court’s sentencing of twenty pro-democracy activists on charges of espionage and conspiracy to overthrow the monarchy.  

The court upheld verdicts against 20 activists but reduced the sentence of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja (right), who holds joint Danish-Bahraini citizenship, and a dozen other activists sentenced to 15-25 years in prison. The Bahraini court’s claim that leaders of last year’s pro-democracy movement had “intelligence contact” with Lebanon’s Hezbollah “could dim prospects for defusing unrest in the small Gulf Arab state,” reports suggest.

The 20 activists are viewed by many Bahrainis as figures “whose release could reinvigorate the protest movement, which demands parliamentary powers to legislate and form governments.”

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), expressed “grave concern” at the confirmation of heavy prison terms against Al-Khawaja and at “the repressive line kept by the authorities against human rights defenders.”

Bahrain’s courts “continue the judicial harassment of human rights defenders in reprisal for their role in the protest movement that erupted in 2011,” the group said. The new sentences come two weeks after a three-year prison sentence against Nabeel Rajab (left), president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and FIDH Deputy Secretary General.

The sentences suggest that there is little prospect of dialogue between the Sunni monarchy and largely Shia opposition generating reform, analysts suggest.

“If they are political, the verdicts would appear to be a strong message to the opposition to keep expectations from any dialogue very low,” said Jane Kinninmont, a Bahrain expert at Chatham House, the London-based foreign policy think-tank.

“The authorities may be trying to show their strength ahead of a planned dialogue with political societies,” she argued, saying this could backfire if protests and clashes escalate. This may also send a message to the international community about the limits of pressure. Strong Saudi backing for Bahrain has made it less interested in what the West has to say.”

“The verdicts show the regime’s claims to want reform are a sham,” said Brian Dooley of Washington-based Human Rights First. “The crackdown continues in the courts and on the streets and it’s time the international community rethought its relationship with the dictatorship.”

The moderate leadership of the Shia al-Wefaq party is torn between pursuing a dialog with the regime and fear of alienating the youth-based street activists, Kinninmont suggests. Nonetheless, encouraged by Manama’s western allies, high-level contacts between the government and the main opposition group, al-Wefaq, continue as the ruling family seeks talks to end street protests that are damaging Bahrain’s economy.

The opposition has urged the government to release the imprisoned political leaders as a confidence-building gesture before any direct talks but the authorities have repeatedly ruled out this option.  The government also wants al-Wefaq and Issa Qassim, the country’s senior Shia cleric, to condemn violent protests.

“The fundamental issue is that the government wants protests to stop but they won’t sit down with those organising the most disruptive protests [the youth movement] and so they want al-Wefaq to police the protests, which puts al-Wefaq in a difficult position,” Kinninmont said.

The unresolved conflict is threatening to inflict severe damage on the country’s fragile economy:

On Monday, official statistics showed the economy slowed sharply in the second quarter. Adjusted for inflation, GDP fell 1.3 per cent between the first and second quarters after growing 0.9 per cent during the last quarter of 2011. It was the first quarterly decline since the pro-democracy demonstrations of February 2011 caused a 6.6 per cent slump in output.

….fostering confidence through political stability, rather than depending on state spending, will be key to turning around the fortunes of the economy, which before last year’s unrest was picking up steam as a low-cost alternative to Dubai as a regional launchpad for Gulf business.

The king’s royal court, led by hardliners reluctant to compromise, is believed to have come to the conclusion that some sort of dialogue with the opposition will be needed to staunch the daily cycle of tyre-burning and stone-throwing. Analysts believe that Al-Wefaq, the leading Shia opposition group, will eventually enter some sort of talks, despite pressure from the street to reject reconciliation until political prisoners are released.

A coalition of human rights, labor, and advocacy groups, including the Solidarity Center and the Project for Middle East Democracy, is trying to use economic leverage to pressure the regime to reform. The groups recently dispatched an open letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, urging her to publish the findings of an investigation into Bahrain’s compliance with its labor rights obligations under the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The AFL-CIO labor confederation has filed a formal complaint, alleging violations of Bahraini trade unionists fundamental rights, following a crackdown on the country’s labor unions.

The BCHR and GCHR today called on the Obama administration and other governments with influence in Bahrain including the UK government, the EU and leading human rights organizations to:

1. Call for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience in Bahrain.

2. Increase the pressure on the Government of Bahrain to stop the ongoing daily human rights violations as well as escalating attacks on human rights defenders.

3. Put pressure on the Government in Bahrain to allow journalists and human rights organizations access to the country to document human rights violations and to report on the ongoing situation.

4. Immediately stop all arms sales to the Government of Bahrain due to the continuous human rights violations.

5. Initiate a discussion on international consequences, including but not limited to diplomatic and economic sanctions, towards the Government of Bahrain due to the continuation of human rights violations.

The Project for Middle East Democracy adds:

Demonstrations reportedly broke out in protest of the convictions, and one protester was allegedly injured by a gunshot to the torso. The demonstrators chanted, “Your verdicts against our revolutionary figures are unjust!” Opposition party al-Wefaq rejected the verdicts, which former parliament member Abdul Jalil Khalil called, ”clearly not a step toward beginning to solve the issues in Bahrain.” Meanwhile, plans to build a Catholic church continue to meet opposition from Bahraini clerics and their followers. One critical cleric was initially removed from his post at a prominent mosque by the government, though outcry from his followers prompted the regime to reverse its decision.

Finally, Justin Gengler calls the aforementioned convictions “certainly not a surprise” and asks, “having fanned the flames of sectarian politics for so long, how can the government begin to pull the country back from the brink without igniting an even wider political conflagration by alienating its critical [Sunni] support base?” Additionally, Glenn Greenwald examines why CNN opted not to air a portion of an Arab Spring documentary filmed during the peak of the country’s unrest that shows the Bahraini government in an unfavorable light. Greenwald delves deeper, saying CNN International’s “editorial conduct toward Bahrain, combined with its aggressive pursuit of money from the regime, raises serious questions about its ability, or desire, to maintain journalistic independence.”

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and POMED supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington-based democracy assistance group. The Solidarity Center is one of the NED’s core institutes.

Human rights and democracy advocates have expressed shock and indignation at a three-year prison sentence against a prominent Bahraini opposition activist for anti-government activities.

Credit: BCHR

The “unexpectedly stiff sentence against Nabeel Rajab (right) will raise questions about the Western-backed Sunni monarchy’s commitment to reform,” AP reports, “and embolden anti-government protesters who have been demonstrating the past 18 months for greater rights in the Gulf island kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet.”

“You can jail me for 3 years or 30 years, but I will not back down or retreat (from my human rights work),” Rajab said after the sentences were read out, according to his son.

“Even those of us who have followed Bahrain’s violent crackdown on human rights are shocked by today’s move,” said Brian Dooley of Human Rights First. “It’s a breathtakingly bad decision, showing that the regime’s rhetoric about reform and reconciliation is a sham.  The charges are patently politically-motivated, and designed to silence him. He has consistently called for protests to be peaceful, and there is no justification for his jailing.”

Rajab is the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights. Both groups condemned today’s sentence “in the strongest terms.”

The groups called on the Obama administration and the European Union to demand the immediate release of Rajab, his fellow human rights defenders Nabeel Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and Zainab Alkhawaja, and all other prisoners of conscience.

The US and EU should “pressure the Bahraini government “to guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.”

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed “concern” at the sentence, adding that she expected Rajab’s case to be reconsidered in the appeal process.

“Fair and impartial justice is a key requirement to overcome the current challenges in Bahrain,” she added, urging “all components of Bahraini society to contribute to dialogue and national reconciliation in a peaceful and constructive manner, without further delays.”

The sentence is “an outrageous violation of the right of freedom of expression” and “a further stain on the international reputation of the government of Bahrain, and it will not go unnoticed by the United States government, Congress, and people, “said Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy.

“Nabeel is a deeply respected human rights defender with many friends in the United States and in the international community more generally,” he said. “We will continue to protest his arrest and to insist on his release, along with the release of all other prisoners of conscience in Bahrain.”

In 2011 Rajab received the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award in recognition of his efforts “tirelessly and at considerable personal peril to advance the cause of democratic freedoms and the civil rights of Bahraini citizens”.

Rajab is also vice president of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), which condemned the sentence and called for his immediate release.

“Arbitrarily imprisoning human rights defenders will not stop the people from aspiring to freedom and democratic change,” said FIDH president Souhayr Belhassen. “We hope that the international community will firmly condemn this decision and will call for Nabeel’s release.”

The verdict is “likely to undermine a U.S. call for dialogue to defuse political tension on the island,” Reuters reports.

Bahrain, a U.S. ally and base for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since pro-democracy protests led by its Shi’ite Muslim majority erupted last year after successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

Rajab is the founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and has led many protests against the wide powers of the Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty which rules the island kingdom. A hero to protesters, but villain for Bahrainis who fear the protests will bring Shi’ite Islamists to power, Rajab is already serving three months in jail over a tweet criticizing the veteran prime minister. A court said it insulted Bahrainis.

“It is a very stiff and unexpected ruling, I am surprised. They are peaceful protests, not violent ones,” said Rajab’s lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi: Others found guilty in similar cases, he said, were sentenced to a maximum of six months in jail and some were freed on bail.

Rajab (left) recently wrote on Twitter, “where he has more than 155,000 followers, that Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa should step down,” the BBC reports”

Last week, several members of the US Congress wrote to the Bahraini King Hamad al-Khalifa expressing concern over Mr Rajab’s case and urging the release of “Bahrainis being held for crimes related to freedom of expression”.

Amnesty International has deemed Rajab a prisoner of conscience.

“The charade of justice has gone on too long, all prisoners of conscience must be set free immediately and unconditionally,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the rights group’s Middle East and North Africa deputy program director.

The unrest in Bahrain “has put Washington into an awkward position,” notes Reem Khalifa:

U.S. officials have called for efforts to reopen political dialogue in Bahrain, but are careful not to press too hard against the nation’s leadership and possibly jeopardize its important military ties.

Shiites account for about 70 percent of Bahrain’s population of just over half a million people, but claim they face widespread discrimination and lack opportunities granted to the Sunni minority. The country’s leaders have offered some reforms including restoring jobs for many Shiites pushed out from their posts at the start of the uprising and giving parliament more power.

But the opposition says they fall short of Shiite demands for a greater voice in the country’s affairs and an elected government.

“The government of Bahrain is gravely mistaken if it thinks it can resist forever the legitimate  desire of the people of the country for a democratic system that respects the rights of all citizens,” said the NED’s Gershman. “The sooner it recognizes the need for a democratic opening, the greater the chances will be for peace and stability.  Until then, we pledge our solidarity with Nabeel and others who are unjustly imprisoned.”

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights adds:

Rajab’s family had recently written an appeal to the international community regarding his imprisonment and 19 members of US congress had signed a letter demanding that Rajab and all other political prisoners be released.

Nabeel Rajab has been targeted for his work since several years back, however as his role become more vital in the last year in reporting the severe violations to human rights in Bahrain following the crackdown on protesters, the acts of retaliation by the regime against him has increased. He was dragged from his house after midnight on March 20, 2011 by masked security forces and he was beaten and harassed while blind folded and handcuffed. His house has been attacked with tear gas bombs twice in April and May 2011 putting the lives of his family at risk, the authorities never hold the responsible accountable for these attacks. (More details: bahrainrights.org/en/node/4144). Rajab was interrogated several time about the statements he gives on twitter, including an interrogation at the military prosecution in May 2011. He was banned from travel for several months in 2011 to stop him from participating in global human rights events and meetings. The regime also made it difficult for Rajab to work and ruined his personal business. Even his family members were targeted as his children were harassed in school and his wife, was sacked from her job after a campaign of harassment so that the regime could make sure that Rajab’s only income was stopped.

However, since the beginning of 2012, the regime has moved to the practice of judicial harassments against Rajab, raising up to 5 cases against him until today, accusing him with “Participation in illegal gathering and calling for a march without prior notification”, “calling to illegal gathering over social networks”, “Insulting an official authority over twitter”, and defamation of AlMuharraq people over twitter. Rajab has been arrested and detained several times in the last few months starting May 2012 and the last arrest was on 9 July 2012. He has been convicted in all these cases by the Bahraini court and he was fined BHD 300 for insulting official authority over twitter on 28 June 2012, and received a total of 3 years and 3 months imprisonment sentences in the other cases.

For a longer history of harassment against Nabeel Rajab read this report.

The BCHR and GCHR call on the US administration as well as other governments that have influence in Bahrain including the UK government, the EU and the leading human rights organizations to:

1. Call for the immediate release of human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and Zainab Alkhawaja, as well as all other prisoners of conscience.
2. Increase the pressure on the Government of Bahrain to stop the ongoing daily human rights violations as well as escalating attacks on human rights defenders.
3. Immediately stop all arms sales to the Government of Bahrain due to the continuous human rights violations.
4. Initiate a discussion on international consequences towards the Government of Bahrain due to the continuation of human rights violations.
5. Pressure the Government of Bahrain to guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington-based democracy assistance group.