Invitation

Reform in Bahrain: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?

Start: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 10:00 AM

Location: Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 Directions to AEI

In February 2001, Bahrain introduced a series of reforms to open its political system. The following year, the government promulgated a new constitution, established a bicameral legislature, and issued calls for Sunni-Shiite equality. Western governments hailed the country as a beacon for democracy in the Middle East. But six years and two parliamentary elections later, Bahrain’s liberal experiment has failed to meet expectations. Tensions are high. Will sectarian strife spur greater reform or will it cause retrenchment? What does Bahraini political reform mean for the United States?

These and other questions will be the subject of an AEI panel discussion with Salah al-Bandar, secretary general of the Gulf Centre for Democratic Development in London; Abdul Hadi Al-Khawaja, executive director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights; and Toby Jones, a visiting assistant professor of history at Swarthmore College. Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at AEI, will moderate.

9:45 a.m. Registration

10:00 Panelists: Salah al-Bandar, Gulf Centre for Democratic Development Abdul Hadi Al-Khawaja, Bahrain Center for Human Rights Toby Jones, Swarthmore College

Moderator: Danielle Pletka, AEI

11:30 Adjournment

More Information Jeff Azarva American Enterprise Institute 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-862-5926 Fax: 202-862-7163 E-mail: JAzarva@aei.org Media Inquiries Veronique Rodman American Enterprise Institute 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-862-4870 E-mail: VRodman@aei.org

You can find this online at: http://www.aei.org/event1460

Bahrain Center for Human Rights 7 January 2007 Ref: 07010801

[acidfree:815 align=right][acidfree:719 align=right] Yesterday was the first court session of what has been locally dubbed as the "Publication Detainees" case. The prisoners of conscience, Dr. Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahlawi (dentist, age 35) and Hussain AbdulAziz Al Hebshi (insurance sales executive, age 32) attended Lower Court at the Ministry of Justice this morning, along with their lawyer Mr Mohamed Ahmed.

The two detainees of conscience have been detained since 16 November 2006, on charges of possessing internet-downloaded publications calling for the boycott of the last election, deemed by the government as "subversive literature". (For background, see BCHR Ref: 06120601 and Ref: 06111900). The Public Prosecution (PP) set forth the charges on the basis of Articles 160, 161 and 168 (See Appendix below) of the denounced Bahraini Penal Code of 1976.

These charges are classified as State Security measures and would subsequently result in harsh penalties including imprisonment for up to seven years in total.

The judge presented the charges to the two detainees, as per the PP, who denied them, and refused their lawyer's request to have them release the fact that there is new evidence and interrogations. The session was rescheduled to January 14th, 2007, amounting to almost two months continuous incarceration for the pair.

The BCHR reminds the Bahraini Authorities of its obligations to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to the UN Human Rights Council, to which Bahrain has been enjoying membership since last May. These obligations include respect of freedom of expression and ensure the compliance of the Bahraini legislations and practice with the international charters and covenants.

The BCHR cherishes Articles 19 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ICCPR which considers freedom of expression and transfer of information and knowledge as basic human rights to be protected and promoted.

The BCHR considers the two activists, Mohammed and Husain, as detainees of conscience and demands their immediate and unconditional release, thereby helping Bahraini prisons to be cleansed of any political and detainees of conscience.

Appendix: Some of State Security Stipulations of Bahraini Penal Code of 1976

• Article 160: Punishable by imprisonment for a term not more than five years, for whoever promotes or favours, in any way, the overthrow or change of the political, social or economic of the State by force or threat, or any other illegal means.
• Article 161: Punishable imprisonment or a fine for whoever possesses, directly or by mediation, or acquires publications containing favourism or promotion of the foremost provided for in the preceding Article, if it were about to be distributed or exposed to others, as well as who possesses any means of copying, recording or broadcasting, dedicated even temporarily, for the printing or recording or broadcasting of appeals, songs or propaganda, for a particular sect, association, commission, organization designed to the purposes set forth in the preceding Article.
• Article 168: Punishable with imprisonment of upto two years and a fine not exceeding two hundred Dinars, or either, for whoever deliberately broadcasts news, statements or false or tendentious rumors, or spreads provocative announcements if it would disturb public security or sow terror among people or damage public interest. This penalty is punishable for whoever possesses, directly or by proxy, or acquires leaflets or publications containing some of what is provided in the preceding paragraph, if intended for distribution or exposition to others, and also who possesses any means of copying, recording, or publication, even for short term, for printing, recording or broadcasting anything said.

BCHR urges GCC governments to demand the repatriation of its nationals

Bahrain Center for Human Rights 7 January 2007

Ref: 07010700

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights was pleased to note the demand made last month by Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, in which he called on the US government to hand over Yemeni citizens who remain incarcerated without trial at Guantanamo Bay. We urge the governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to take similar steps to demand the repatriation of their citizens who are being illegally detained at the prison.

The Yemeni government's move should indicate to other countries in the region that they can -- and should -- speak out directly on behalf of their own citizens against the US government's disastrous policy in the 'war on terror'.

"This plea is particularly urgent as the world prepares to mark the deplorable fifth anniversary of the day when men were first brought to Guantanamo Bay, on January 11, 2001," BCHR vice president Nabeel Rajab said.

"The Gulf and US governments have long-standing and extensive ties," he added. "We expect that if this demand were made by such a close ally to the United States, it would surely merit some positive action from their government.

"January 11 will mark the fifth year in an ongoing humanitarian travesty. The human rights of detainees and their families have been violated for too long - it is time to bring home the remaining people from Guantanamo Bay."

'Legal equivalent of outer space'

Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile." Articles 10 and 11 state that anyone charged with a crime is entitled to a public and independent hearing, in which they shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The United States government blatantly violates all three of these articles by continuing to hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Of the approximately 775 detainees who have been held at Guantanamo in the past five years, only 10 have been charged for trial by military commissions, which were then ruled unlawful by the US Supreme Court. None of the detainees have been convicted of a criminal offence by the USA.

As one US official has called it, the detention center is the "legal equivalent of outer space", for the detainees can not be tried in US courts, and the US government refuses to grant them full POW status. All of this does not even mention the well-documented allegations of torture and degrading treatment.

For these reasons, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights joins countless prominent international rights organizations – the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International, to name just a few – in calling for the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp to be shut down and for the immediate repatriation of GCC citizens who are being held there extrajudicially. The GCC governments need to play their crucial role in protecting the rights of its citizens by voicing this demand to the US.

BCHR calls for domestic workers to be covered by Labour Law and given weekly holiday Urges unions and women's groups to get involved

Bahrain Center for Human Rights 2 Jan 2007 Ref: 07010200

Migrant domestic workers in the Gulf countries are among the most vulnerable sections of the society. As both females and migrants, often with very little formal education, domestic workers are the most in need of protection by the State. On the contrary, in the Gulf, domestic workers have been specifically excluded from the purview of the Labour Law, and therefore any legal rights as workers. In effect, they work as the property of their employers with no mechanism to ensure they are provided a safe workplace and are not being abused.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights therefore calls upon the governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to amend their Labour Laws such that domestic workers are included under its scope. The BCHR furthers calls on the authorities and civil societies to take immediate steps to require that employers give domestic workers at least one day off from work each week.

This is in line with Article 25 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which states that:

"Migrant domestic workers shall enjoy treatment not less favourable than that which applies to citizen of the country of employment in respect of remuneration and other conditions of work, such as overtime, hours of work, weekly day off, holidays with pay, safety, health, termination of the employment relationship and any other conditions of work which, according to national labour law and practice, are covered by these terms."

Abuse of domestic workers too frequent

Article 10 of the International Convention states that "No migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Article 16 adds that they "shall be entitled to effective protection by the State against violence, physical injury, threats and intimidation, whether by public officials or by private individuals, groups or institutions."

However, in Bahrain and the Gulf, every week, the local media reports on cases of domestic workers, women from South and Southeast Asia, who have been abused and denied basic rights. There are horrific tales of women who have run away from their local employer's homes in search of help. The complaints range from being overworked or not receiving wages, to being beaten or raped.[1]

"With the shocking and huge number of cases that we read in the daily newspapers, we do not see any local citizens brought to justice for committing such abusive acts", BCHR Vice-president Nabeel Rajab said."The cases that make it to the media, however, are just a fraction of the actual cases of domestic worker abuse in the region. Most of the victims suffer in silence," he said.

Abused domestic workers frequently fall victim to clinical depression, and reports of workers who try to escape the suffering by attempting to commit suicide are very common. In April 2006, in the the space of just a month, three housemaids attempted suicide at the Philippine Embassy's shelter for distressed workers [2]. According the US State Department's 2005 Report on Human Rights Practices in Bahrain, "between 30 to 40 percent of the attempted suicide cases handled by the government's psychiatric hospitals were foreign maids" [3].

Courts fail to provide protection

If an abused domestic worker is lucky, her sponsor may eventually put her on a plane back to her home country, without any compensation for the suffering. Such was the case of Indian housemaid P. P. Ayesha in 2006, who was kept in virtual slavery for three months without pay and beaten on separate occasions by a recruitment agency employee and two Bahraini sponsors.[4]

Unfortunately, most abused domestic workers agree to go back home without seeking justice because they have no other choice. A legal case in Bahraini courts would be long and drawn out, so this is rarely an option -- unemployed migrant workers would have no alternate means to support themselves during the duration of a trial, let alone pay for legal expenses. Furthermore, the lack of independence of the judiciary means that employers and sponsors can use their social status to influence court decisions in their favour.

[acidfree:334 align=right] There is only one known case of domestic worker abuse in Bahrain in which the courts have convicted the employer. In this case, the employer was an Indian national – the guilty verdict would have been very unlikely had she been a Bahraini national. The victim, Anita Devi Verma, suffered multiple head wounds, bruises and burns before being saved by BCHR workers. Despite the fact that her employer admitted to the crime, it took two years for the court to reach a verdict. The employer was sentenced to a mere three months in jail and ordered to pay Ms. Verma a paltry sum of BD500 (US$1,326) in compensation.[5]

This failure of the judicial system to protect domestic workers contravenes Article 18 of the International Convention, which states that: "Migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right to equality with nationals of the State concerned before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against them or of their rights and obligations in a suit of law, they shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law".

A day off is essential for communication and rest

In a region where both women's rights and migrant's right are compromised, domestic workers in the Gulf are immediately at a high risk of having their rights violated. This is compounded by the fact that for many of them, it is their first time away from their families and homes, and they are often unfamiliar with Arabic or English and local customs.

However, what puts domestic workers especially at risk is the fact that they work and live individually in the homes of their employers, isolated from the outside world. Without any protection from the Labour Law, the employers are free to prevent the workers from leaving the residence, or deny them from making telephone calls. This lack of contact with the outside world means that abused domestic workers are unable to seek help or advice from their peers, their embassies, or the police. It also contributes to the loneliness and depression that domestic workers very often suffer from.

As an immediate and minimum remedy, the BCHR calls on the government to require that all domestic workers are given at least one day off from work each week, when they should be allowed to leave the residence.

Unions and women's groups should give them a voice

Sadly, the plight of domestic workers has been ignored not only by the State, but also by civil societies in Bahrain and the Gulf; they have become invisible to society due to the social stigma attached to their status as low-income earning migrants.

The BCHR urges all labour unions and women's rights organizations to take a stand in defending the rights of female domestic workers. We request these civil societies to make the plight of domestic workers part of their organizational agenda, and allow them to participate in meetings and activities with a view to protecting their economic, social and cultural interests.

Domestic workers should be encouraged to become members of unions and womens organizations so that they can have access to a social support network that is otherwise denied to them. In particular, the civil societies should assist the domestic workers in organizing themselves so they can have a collective voice with which to defend themselves.

We urge the media and the embassies of sending countries to support us in the demand for one day off per week, and ask them to join us in renewing the demand for domestic workers to be included in the purview of the Labour Law.

Notes:

[1] "The shattered dreams", Bahrain Tribune, 18 December 2006

[2] "Suicide bid by maid...", Gulf Daily News, 9 April 2006

[3] Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005, US State Department, 8 March 2006

[4] "Assaulted maid flies home penniless", Gulf Daily News, 2 October 2006

[5] "Abused maid yearns to go home", Gulf Daily News, 1 July 2005, and "Woman jailed for abusing maid", Gulf Daily News, 27 June 2005

Related:

• "Circumstances facing Migrant women (Domestic Workers) in the Gulf", Paper presented by BCHR Vice President Nabeel Rajab to the Annual Conference of the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, Bangkok, 25 - 28 September 2003
• "Holding Back and Confiscating Passports of Migrant Workers and Forbidding Them from Traveling", BCHR, 26 September 2005
• "Swept Under the Rug: Abuses Against Domestic Workers Around the World", Human Rights Watch, July 2006
• "Death and the Maid: Work, Violence, and the Filipina in the International Labor Market", Dan Gatmaytan, Harvard Women's Law Journal, Spring 1997

Bahrain Center for Human Rights 28 December 2006 Ref: 06122801

In a country that is establishing its place on the international financial market through massive construction and development projects, the human cost of such ventures are shamefully ignored. The practice of transporting migrant labourers to and from worksites in the back of open trailers and trucks is a deplorable way in which companies cut costs at a high human expense.

Article 16 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families states that "migrant workers and members of their families shall be entitled to effective protection by the State against violence, physical injury, threats and intimidation, whether by public officials or by private individuals, groups or institutions."

Migrant workers are often piled into the back of goods-carrier vehicles along with materials. Large numbers of men being crowded into the back of trucks without any protection from the hot, cold or wet weather is a common sight in Bahrain. They can also be seen being transported without seats or seatbelts.

Although these practices also violate the Ministry of Labour's Occupational Hazards and Safety code, officials continue to fail in ensuring its implementation.

The danger of these practices is obvious. In October this year three workers were killed and 21 injured in a collision between the truck in which they were being transported and a trailer, as reported in the local press on October 9. "The men who died were thrown out of the back of a six-wheel pick-up, in a collision with a trailer lorry carrying heavy building materials," according to the Gulf Daily News.[1]

According to the Bahrain Tribune, the accident was the third of its kind, involving "migrant workers being transported in open trucks or trailers".[2]

These incidents are merely examples of the corrupt and inhumane policy of transporting migrant workers in conditions worse than those used to transport animals. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights condemns such unabated and unchecked violations of human rights.

"We call on companies to adopt at least minimum humanitarian standards in treating workers," vice president Nabeel Rajab said.

"We urge the Bahrain government to take such gross violations of the law seriously, and to act against their perpetrators, ensuring that its people's wealth is not built upon the misery of others.

"We call on the local media to take up a campaign against companies which continue to violate the rights of their workers. Readers should be encouraged to send photos of such blatant violations to newspapers who can in turn publish them as part of a workers' protection campaign.

"And finally, we call on Bahrain's public to boycott companies which refuse to respect the dignity and hard work of their employees.

"With such combined efforts, let us ensure that the conditions for workers are as bright as the future these developments promise to bring to our country."

Notes:

[1] "Outrage as workers killed in smash" and "Workers killed in pick-up crash", Gulf Daily News, 9 October 2006

[2] "Crash kills 3" and "Too shocked to remember", Bahrain Tribune, 9 October 2006

Bahrain: 18th December 2006 The Bahrain Center for Human Rights

After manipulating the election of the Representative Council in order to weaken the Shiite and other opposition groups and empower the Sunni Brotherhood and Salafist Islamists:

• The King re-appoints his uncle as a prime minister despite his overt responsibility of corruption and human rights violations during more than 30 years,
• The Al-Khalifa ruling family conquers half of the ministerial positions, while appointing one minister from Al-Wefaq Society, this is seen as a cover up to the existing sectarianism.
• Re-appointment of the Minister accused of involvement in the al-Bandar Scandal, and continuation of implementing a dangerous sectarian policy.

Re-appointment of Prime Minister despite corruption and human rights violations

Despite the slogans of reforms and change that Sheikh Hamad bin Issa raised since he came to power in 1999, he countermarched the promises he made to surpass Bahrain as a symbol for highbred democracy. Instead he, as the King of Bahrain, re-appointed his uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, as head of the Council of Ministers. Thus, Sheikh Khalifa will continue, as a Prime Minister to effectively predominate over the government since pre-independence in 1971. In addition to being responsible for many human right violations in the foresaid era, he also took over vast areas of public lands without any legitimate right, while he, for his power on both the commercial and government sectors, has collected a hefty amount of wealth. The Prime Minister has played a fundamental role in dismantling the first constitutional practice in 1975. He now exercises his decisive practical dominance over both judicial and legislative powers. He uses the security apparatus, the restrictive laws and judiciary to hinder the establishment and activities of the civil and political societies and the freedom of assembly, expression and press.

Meanwhile, the King enjoys the right to appoint members of the government, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Constitutional Court, half of the members of the National Assembly such that no legislation can pass in to law without the King’s approval.

Royal Family secures monopoly over the Cabinet

The Royal Family occupies 12 out of 24 positions in the new cabinet, among these positions are: the Prime Minister, the first and second Deputy to Prime Minister and the ministers of Foreign, Interior, Defense, Financial and Judiciary. The King re-appointed Sheikh Ahmed Atteyatolla Al-Khalifa as Minister of Council Affairs. Despite the public anger for his direct responsibility and involvement in the Bandargate Scandal, including a petition signed and raised by a hundred well-known political and religious figures to the King, and in spite of the visit by the highest religious Shiite leaders demanding the King to reveal the truth of the secret web-plan and to bring to the court of law those responsible for the Scandal.

The second half of the new cabinet includes six ministers from the Shiite sect, who come from families know to be historically loyal to the ruling family, and their roles entail formalities and do not possess any real authorities to disobey the power of prime minister. Hence, the appointed Shiite ministers make up only 25% of the new Government. This does not reflect in proportion to the majority Shiite density in Bahrain, and furthermore, it is the least percentage since the Independence of the country. This strictly reveals the Sectarian discrimination this regime propagates to secure the fulfillment of the highest and most sensitive positions in the government. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights publicized a report in 2004 revealing that Shiites were assigned only 18% of the 500 highest positions in the Government. In a mere pose and concealment to the truth, the Government created a tawdriness for the external press by appointing a Shiite Minister as Deputy Third to the Prime Minister and appointed a Shiite “liable” to Al-Wefaq Society as a State Minister for Foreign Affairs, while those are pony positions and do not hold any authority.

Parliament majority unfairly given to pro-government Islamists

This forming of the cabinet emerges after the election of the Council of Representatives. The Government succeeded to block Shiite and liberal political societies from having the majority in the new Council. This was ensured by enforcing unfair sectarian constituency districts and failing the liberal opposition candidates through General Voting Centers and subjugating the soldiers to vote to particular candidates or even voting on their behalf. The government also used the votes of tens of thousands of habitants and non-residents who were naturalized on sectarian basis and were also granted or privileged the instantaneous right of both candidacy and voting.

Thus, the Government secured the majority for loyal groups who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists (fundamentalists) to account for 55% of the new Representative Council. For this reason the Government has guaranteed its power over the new Council. As far as the appointed Shura Council, which shares legislative power with the Council of Representatives, they are only appointed on the basis of their loyalty to the ruling family. Despite Shiite loyalty, the Government did not allow the ratio of Shites to exceed 45%.

In the election, the Government supported candidates who were members of the Council, despite their names were revealed in the al-Bandar report as being involved in the secret web, or the Central Information Organization (CIO) which is the spine core of the Secret-Web administered in the electoral operation, and without any consideration to the remonstrations raised by public over the al-Bandar Scandal. The Government justified its action by claiming that the CIO is under the supervisory of the Judiciary which lacks independence. Moreover, two prominent members of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society who were involved in the Bandargate scandal have been appointed to the Shura Council. The official spokesperson for the Electoral Supreme Committee was also selected from the foresaid society. The official media also publicized the role of that society as an observer of the elections, though no external observers were permitted by the Government.

Royal Family's sectarian policies threaten stability

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights fears that the policy of the ruling family based on oppression, monopolization of decision making, predominance over all authorities and resources of the country, resorting to the policy of discrimination and sectarianism, and paving the way for the fundamentalist Islamism, could further deteriorate living conditions and political and social stability. It may also lead to the deterioration of both the security and human rights situation. Or it might even agitate sectarian disputes that are already inflamed with the regional political sectarian situation.

The International Crisis Groups (ICG) report has warned of the negative impacts of the repressive policies and sectarian discrimination on Bahrain’s stability. To avoid the foresaid political upheavals, the report provided a number of important recommendations. However, the Government of Bahrain, instead of reviewing and implementing those recommendations, has worked in the opposite direction. This suggests that the Government is determined to implement the recommendations that was revealed in the Secret-Web plan of al-Bandar report; that is, to empower the Sunni Fundamentalist Islamist to use them for Sectarian purposes in order to engulf the Shiite opposition groups without any consideration to the violations and dangers that will stipulate as the result of implementing this policy.

Statement by Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and CARAM Asia

For International Day of Solidarity with Migrant Workers

18-12-2006

Recognizing the contribution of migrant workers should foster a better understanding between migrant and worker communities.

This in turn can improve conditions for the hardworking expatriate community, and improve the Gulf's position as a host region.

Countries such as the gulf region receive millions of migrant workers seeking employment as a result of poverty, unemployment, conflict or even natural disasters.

More and more, international migration is being seen as contributing to development. Many migrants reinvest in their home, which improves the local economy and can contribute towards poverty reduction.

Host countries benefit from the products of migrant workers' labor, including vital infrastructure (such as the construction of roads and buildings) and essential services (such as sanitation, domestic help and health care).

Unfortunately migrants face class, race and gender discrimination, and have emerged as the most vulnerable group in today's globalised world.

Vulnerability to HIV infection is greatest when people live and work in conditions of poverty, social exclusion, loneliness and anonymity.

Health

Recognizing the "right to health" of migrant communities will improve the general health situation in both origin and host countries.

As a host country, Gulf countries should not withhold health care and benefits, or deny the health rights of the migrant communities because of financial constraints or legal status.

Subjecting migrant workers to compulsory health tests related to sexual and reproductive health violates their basic human rights to freedom, privacy, and dignity, and contributes to discrimination and stigmas against them.

These mandatory tests should be removed.

A dangerous result of enforcing such procedures is that migrant workers are driven underground. This means they are cut off from social and medical service providers that provide important information on how the HIV infection is transmitted, and how infection can be prevented.

HIV-positive migrant workers can continue to work productively and contribute to society for many years.

This must be recognized.

Migrant workers should enjoy a life of dignity with brought about by the highest standard of health attainable, as is laid out in International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Recommendations

Migrants should be given special attention in National health and AIDS Action Plans

All governments, embassies, recruitment agencies, employers, and other relevant stakeholders must take steps to protect, promote and ensure documented and undocumented migrant workers’ access to accurate health information and affordable, quality health.

Migrant workers around the world must be directly involved in the discussion, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of laws, policies and programmes aiming to protect and promote migrant workers’ health.

Reproductive and sexual health status should not be a precondition for employment.

Remove mandatory testing related to sexual and reproductive health. Instead comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services including pre- and post-test counseling, access to ARV treatment, care and support must be given to migrants to encourage voluntary testing.

Specifically,

At the primary health care level, user fees should not be imposed, irrespective of nationality of the patient.

Bahrain Center for Human Rights December 6, 2006 Ref: 06120601

[acidfree:719 align=right][acidfree:815 align=right] The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) is gravely concerned that Dr. Mohamed Saeed Al-Sahlawi (dentist-35 years) and Hussein Abdul Aziz Al Habashi (employee-32 years old) could face an unfair trial and prolonged imprisonment sentence, if their case is transferred to court in the coming two weeks.

The BCHR has learnt that on December 3, 2006 the Bahraini prosecution office renewed the detention of the two activists for extra 15 days. The lawyers were not informed to attend the hearing; neither were they allowed to visit their client in jail. Relatives of the two detainees complained to BCHR that they were allowed only one visit on 23 November, were they were allowed to speak briefly to the detainees behind iron bars. The two were kept in isolated cells since there arrest on November 16, 2006 (See also BCHR Ref: 06111900).

The Ministry of Interior spokesman stated that two men were taken in custody for committing the crime of "circulating, without official permission, publications containing inciting calls, false news that would cause confusion in the security and public order as well as harm national interest, thereby violating Article (22) of Press and Publishing Code and Article (168) of the Penal Code". (See Appendix for the text of the Code).

Late Sunday, the Bahraini Public Prosecution ordered both Activists- Dr. Mohamed Saeed and Hussein Abdul-Aziz- to remain in custody pending investigations for a period of 15 days, on two charges. The first is "possession and acquisition of publications without legitimate cause, including favouritism and promotion of the changing systems of the State through illegal means and without a legitimate reason”. The second charge is "possession and acquisition of publications, without legitimate reason, containing false news and exciting rumors, and would cause disruption of public security, and damage public interest”.

According to the Chief Prosecutor "these publications, downloaded from the Internet by one defendant, call for the boycott of the elections and "civil disobedience" through a series of demonstrations and sit-ins”. The second, responsible for the printing, and the first defendants were intending to distribute the publications in a number of mosques in Bahrain. The Public Prosecutor refused to release them on the ground that the charges are State security nature.

Your urgent intervention is needed to urge the authorities to release the two detainees before there case is transferred to court were they could face unfair trial and harsh punishment for an act that considered internationally as practicing of the right to freedom of openion, while is considered as a crime in the Bahrain restricted laws.

Appendix: Articles of Incriminating Codes

Press and Publications Decree Code no. 47 of 2002:

• Article (22):“ Shall be liable with penalty of not more than one year or a fine not exceeding one thousand Bahraini Dinars, or both, anyone opens or manages a bookshop, without a license, or circulates unauthorised publications which have been banned or disallowed entry to the country or confiscated in accordance with the provisions of the previous articles”.

Penalties Decree Code no 15 of 1976

• Article (160): Shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years who promotes, in any way, or favored the overthrow or change the political system or social or economic status of the State, by force, threat of force or any other illegal means.
• Article (161): Shall be punishable with imprisonment or fine whoever acquires, by self or proxy, acquired publications containing favoring or promoting something than stipulated in the previous article, if they are intended for distribution to or exposing others. Also, possessing any means of copying, recording or publicity, temporarily, for printing or recording or broadcasting appeals or songs or propaganda, particular to a doctrine, association, a body, or organization aiming at one of the purposes set forth in the preceding article.
• Article (168): Shall be punished by a term of up to two years and a fine that could include a fine of two hundred Bahraini Dinars, whoever deliberately broadcasts news or statements or false or tendentious rumors, or broadcast instigating announcements, if it will disturb public security or sow terror among people or damage to the public interest.

  This penalty is punishable to everyone who possesses, self or by proxy, or made fake publications containing those mentioned or provided in the preceding paragraph, if intended for distribution or exposure to others. Also, whoever possesses any means of printing, registration, or publicity, even temporarily, for printing, recording or broadcast anything which stated.

Video of a press conference by Dr Salah Al Bandar at the UK House of Lords in London, organized by Lord Avebury on October 5 2006.

Dr Al Bandar discusses the "Bandargate scandal", a conspiracy by high-level government officials to suppress the Shia majority of Bahrain. For details about the scandal, refer to the following documents:

• The Report: What it says
• Conspiring Against the Shia
• All related documents

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3: