Johannesburg 14 February 2012. As Bahrain marks the first anniversary of its pro-democracy protests, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation calls upon the Arab League and Bahrain’s military and trading partners to pressure the government to end an ongoing travesty of justice.
A year on from the popular protests that began on 14 February 2011, 21 prominent human rights and political activists, many of them suffering from medical conditions, languish in prison, serving prison sentences ranging from two years to life. The sentences were imposed after flawed trials conducted by military courts and confirmed on appeal by military courts, in violation of well established legal principles. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which was authorised by the King to look into rights violations, has reported that detainees were tortured, but no action has been taken to bring the perpetrators to justice. “It’s strange that those who exercised their legitimate right of protest against the illegal actions of the regime are behind bars while those who ordered and used criminal force to brutalise the protestors remain free,” said Netsanet Belay, Policy and Research Director at CIVICUS. “There is no denying the gross human rights violations being committed in Bahrain. The international community cannot afford to overlook these.”On 14 February 2011, the people of Bahrain took inspiration from the popular uprisings against authoritarian governments in neighbouring countries. They converged at Pearl Roundabout to demand constitutional reforms and long denied social, political and economic accountability by the ruling monarchy. The official response was vicious and violent. Scores of protestors were killed and over 3,000 were arrested. Many were tortured in detention and died of their wounds. As the protests gained momentum, the regime brought in foreign troops from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to crush the protest.
One year later, the Bahraini government continues its exercise in brutality. Security forces have sealed off Pearl Roundabout to prevent protestors from congregating and are using violent force including tear gas and shot gun pellets to scatter and intimidate protestors. To prevent international scrutiny, foreign journalists and human rights defenders have been expelled from Bahrain and international human rights observers have been denied visas to enter..
CIVICUS urges the Arab League and Bahrain’s military and trading partners to pressure the government to: (i) immediately release all protestors; (ii) exercise restraint and desist from using force to disperse protesters taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations, and (iii) initiate criminal proceedings against members of the security forces alleged to have committed human rights violations against protestors.