المركز يساند فعالية العاطلين ضد مجلس النواب ويدعو لان تكون بداية لحملة احتجاجية متصاعدة

Washington Post - 24 June 2005
By Nora Boustany

When King Hamad bin Isa Khalifa of Bahrain embarked on political reform in his small kingdom four years ago and offered amnesty to student activists living in exile, Abdul Hadi Khawaja decided it was time to go home.

Khawaja had left his homeland in the early 1980s, spending years in Geneva, Copenhagen and London, where he completed his studies. He had tried to return once before, in 1993 for his father's funeral, but his name remained on a blacklist. He was detained at the airport for 10 days before being deported to Lebanon, he said.

CAT/C/CR/34/BHR. (Concluding Observations/Comments)

COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE
Thirty-fourth session
2-20 May 2005

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 19 OF THE CONVENTION

Conclusions and recommendations of the Committee against Torture

BAHRAIN

1. The Committee considered the initial report of Bahrain (CAT/C/47/Add.4) at its 653rd and 656th meetings (CAT/C/SR.653 and 656), held on 12 and 13 May 2005, and adopted, at its 663rd meeting (CAT/C/SR.633), the following conclusions and recommendations.

قوات الأمن البحرينية تفرج عن معتقلي اعتصام العاطلين بالقرب من الديوان الملكي
بما فيهم الحقوقي رجب
مكان الخواجة لازال مجهولا
ولجنة التضامن معه تعقد إجتماعاً عاجلاً

تقرير حول التطورات الاخيرة المتعلقة بالأوضاع المعيشية والحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية- تزايد معدلات التجنيس السياسي وتوظيف الاجانب

Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) - 12 June 2005

12/06/05: WLUML has received an urgent request from The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) calling for support for women's rights campaigner Ms. Ghada Jamsheer.

Dear friends,

WLUML strongly urges you to take action in support of women’s rights campaigner Ms. Ghada Jamsheer. Ms. Jamsheer is the head of the Committee of Women’s Petition (CWP), a network of Bahraini women activists campaigning for the codification of Bahrain’s family laws and the reform of Shari’a Family Courts.

Ms. Jamsheer faces three trials for publicly criticizing family court judges and, if convicted, faces up to 15 years in prison. The trials are scheduled for 15 and 19 June and 2 July 2005.

Gulf Daily News - Vol XXVIII NO. 80 - Wednesday 8 June 2005

By ABDULRAHMAN FAKHRI

A HATE campaign against a Bahraini human rights activist has been stepped up. At first, Nabeel Rajab and his family, friends and staff at his private business were bombarded with mail and telephone text messages accusing him of spying and treason.

Now someone is sending letters including his picture on A4-size paper, again accusing him of spying.

The latest phase of the hate campaign started on Sunday, says the president of the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab.

Released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
June 3, 2005

BAHRAIN (TIER 2 – WATCH LIST)

Bahrain is a destination country for women and men who migrate legally from South Asia and the Philippines and — to a lesser extent — from China, Indonesia, the former Soviet Union, Morocco, and Ethiopia, but fall victim to conditions of sexual servitude, debt bondage, and other exploitative conditions that constitute involuntary servitude.

The Government of Bahrain does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Bahrain is placed on Tier 2 Watch List because of the lack of evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year. Although Bahrain has developed a national plan of action and created an inter-ministerial taskforce on trafficking, these efforts were not accompanied by concrete actions to address the substantial trafficking problem it faces. During the reporting period, the government did not prosecute any person on trafficking charges, despite continued reports of foreign workers in conditions of involuntary servitude. A promised government-run shelter for trafficking victims has not opened and some prominent Bahrainis reportedly continue to illegally sell "free visas" to workers, thereby indirectly facilitating the trafficking of victims. Bahrain should develop and implement appropriate anti-trafficking measures to address these concerns.