Bahrain

• Human rights

  • Bahrain Human Rights Society
  • Amnesty Bahrain
  • Business & Human Rights Resource Center

• Politics

  • National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
  • Democratic Progressive Tribune

For general comments or inquiries about the BCHR, please email:
info [at] bahrainrights.org

You can also contact us individually:

• Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, President:
  abdulhadi.alkhawaja [at] bahrainrights.org
• Nabeel Rajab, Vice-president:
  nabeel.rajab [at] bahrainrights.org

Inquiries or suggestions regarding this website can be sent to:
admin [at] bahrainrights.org

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, registered with the Bahraini Ministry of Labor and Social Services since July 2002. Despite an order by the authorities in November 2004 to close it, the BCHR is still functioning after gaining a wide internal an external support for its struggle to promote human rights in Bahrain.

Vision:

A prosperous democratic country free of discrimination and other violations of human rights.

Mission Statement:

Report Spotlights Violence and Slavelike Conditions in 12 Countries

Human Rights Watch

(Jakarta, July 27, 2006) – Domestic workers face a wide range of grave abuses and labor exploitation, including physical and sexual abuse, forced confinement, non-payment of wages, denial of food and health care and excessive working hours with no rest days, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today.
Governments typically exclude domestic workers from standard labor protections and fail to monitor recruitment practices that impose heavy debt burdens or misinform the workers about their jobs.

International Commission of Jurists - 27 July 2006

Administration of Justice - Counter Terrorism and Human Rights - Newsroom
27th July 2006

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today urged the King of Bahrain in a letter not to promulgate a law on counter-terrorism that risks creating a legal framework prone to abuse. In the letter the ICJ expressed particular concern about the scope of new offences and definitions and the exclusion of judicial scrutiny over arrest and detention, which increase considerably the risk of torture and other human rights violations.

Amnesty International

AI Index: MDE 11/003/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 197
27 July 2006

Bahrain: Counter-terrorism bill threatens human rights

Amnesty International is calling on the Bahrain government to reconsider its new counter-terrorism bill. As it stands now, the new bill undermines human rights protection in the country.
The Bill, entitled ‘Protecting Society from Terrorist Acts’, was approved by both the House of Representatives (Parliament) and the appointed Shura (Consultative) Council on 16 July and 22 July 2006 respectively. It has now been referred to His Majesty Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain, for final ratification.

UN News Service - 25 July 2006

25 July 2006 – An independent United Nations human rights expert today urged Bahrain’s Government to amend a new counter-terrorism bill, expressing concern that the law could harm human rights in the country and would be “particularly troubling” as the Kingdom is a member of the newly constituted UN Human Rights Council.

The bill, titled “Protecting Society from Terrorists Acts,” is awaiting ratification by the Head of State before becoming law, but the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin, called for the legislative and executive branches to “reconsider.”

أعضاء الشورى والنواب الذين يشرعون القوانين التعسفية يجب أن يدفعوا الثمن
حزمة من القوانين سيؤدي تطبيقها لتحويل البحرين إلى مملكة الخوف
تغليف التسلط بالديمقراطية سيؤدي لمزيد من الإحباط والتطرف

قضية عباس عبدعلي:
تواطؤ التحقيقات والنيابة لاعتقال الضحية والتستر على الجناة
الخادمة الفلبينية تتعرض للاعتداء والضغط وتشويه السمعة والاعتقال التعسفي
وربما الإبعاد من البلاد

AFP - 20 July 2006

King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa ratified a controversial law on public assembly that restricts the right to meet and lays down prison terms for unauthorised protests, the official news agency BNA said.

The new law was adopted on July 11 by parliament and confirmed by the government before going to the king for ratification.

It provides for jail terms of up to six months or fines for those who organize unauthorised protests or demonstrations where there is trouble.

The law prohibits demonstrations in public places such as airports, hospitals, near diplomatic missions and the offices of international organisations and also bans the use of weapons and stone-throwing.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
USA
Public Statement

AI Index: MDE 11/002/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 186
17 July 2006

Amnesty International is calling on the Bahrain government to investigate several cases in which human rights defenders in the Gulf kingdom have been subjected to harassment, including prosecution on false criminal charges, threats or assault in recent months. The organization is urging the government to establish an independent and impartial investigation into these incidents and to prosecute or take disciplinary action against any state officials found responsible for human rights violations.

CAGEPRISONERS PRESS RELEASE - 15 July 2006

The recent tragic death of three detainees whilst detained in Camp Delta has resulted in renewed calls for the facility to be closed down. These men along with hundreds of other innocent people have been arrested unlawfully and detained with neither charge nor trial.

Reports of inhumane treatment and torture of both physical and psychological have been revealed to face detainees daily when imprisoned at the base. The international community along with the UN have persistently called for closure of Guantanamo and regardless of much pressure, very little has been carried out in order to getting any closer to the permanent closure of the base.

Gulf Daily News - 12 July 2006
By Kanwal Tariq Hameed

PEOPLE are being urged to join a demonstration in front of UN House, Hoora, at 6pm on Saturday, calling for the immediate release of Bahrain's three detainees at Guantanamo Bay,

It will also call for the closure of the prison camp, said National Release Campaign Committee spokesman Nasser Al Fadhala. He said that the event would coincide with similar demonstrations being held around the world in front of UN Houses.

HUMAN rights activists in Bahrain have welcomed a decision by the US government to apply the minimum standards of the Geneva Convention to Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Gulf Daily News - 12 July 2006
By KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED

HUMAN RIGHTS activists yesterday condemned the public "humiliation" of a Filipina housemaid caught in the middle of a case over the severe assault of a Bahraini man near his house in Aker.

The Interior Ministry alleged earlier this week that Abbas Abd'ali, an Interior Ministry employee in his late 20s, was beaten up by enraged villagers, after a night out with a resident's housemaid according to police.

He had claimed earlier that he was ambushed and beaten up, after being identified as the brother of a political activist, by a group of men who surrounded him in with their cars as he drove home in the early hours of July 7.

Aljazeera.com magazine - 11 July 2006

100 orange balloons will be released into the sky beside the UN House in Bahrain, as a giant distress call on behalf of the 400+ men (including three Bahrainis) who are being held without access to free and fair trials at Guantanamo Bay. The demonstration will begin at 5.30 pm.

Former Bahraini detainees, who were returned from Guantanamo last November, will be attending and are expected to talk about their experiences during incarceration. They were all released without charge after being held for more than three years. Families of the three Bahrainis who are still being held without trial at Guantanamo will also attend.

Injuries of Abbas Abdali, brother of activist Musa Abdali, after being attacked by masked men on July 6, 2006.

Injuries of Abbas Abdali, brother of activist Musa Abdali, after being attacked by masked men on July 6, 2006.

Injuries of Abbas Abdali, brother of activist Musa Abdali, after being attacked by masked men on July 6, 2006.

Injuries of Abbas Abdali, brother of activist Musa Abdali, after being attacked by masked men on July 6, 2006.

Injuries of Abbas Abdali, brother of activist Musa Abdali, after being attacked by masked men on July 6, 2006.