Archive for category: News

The undersigned 40 organisations call on the international community to publicly condemn the ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders, who face harassment, imprisonment, and forced exile for peacefully exercising their internationally recognised rights to freedom of expression and assembly. With parliamentary elections in Bahrain scheduled for 22 November, the international community must impress upon the government of Bahrain the importance of releasing peaceful human rights defenders as a precursor for free and fair elections.

Attacks against human rights defenders and free expression by the Bahraini government have not only increased in frequency and severity, but have enjoyed public support from the ruling elite. On 3 September 2014, King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa said he will fight “wrongful use” of social media by legal means. He indicated that “there are those who attempt to exploit social media networks to publish negative thoughts, and to cause breakdown in society, under the pretext of freedom of expression or human rights.” Prior to that, the Prime Minister warned that social media users would be targeted.

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) documented 16 cases where individuals were imprisoned in 2014 for statements posted on social media platforms, particularly on Twitter and Instagram. In October alone, some of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights defenders, including Nabeel Rajab, Zainab Al-Khawaja and Ghada Jamsheer, face sentencing on criminal charges related to free expression that carry years-long imprisonment.

Nabeel Rajab, President of the BCHR, Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), and Deputy Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), was arrested on 1 October 2014 and charged with insulting the Ministry of Interior and the Bahrain Defence Forces on Twitter. Rajab was arrested the day after he returned from an advocacy tour in Europe, where he spoke about human rights abuses in Bahrain at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, addressed the European Parliament in Brussels, and visited foreign ministries throughout Europe.

On 19 October, the Lower Criminal Court postponed ruling on Rajab’s case until 29 October and denied bail. Rajab’s family was banned from attending the proceedings. Under Article 216 of the Bahraini Penal Code, Rajab could face up to three years in prison. We believe that Rajab’s detention and criminal case are in reprisal for his international advocacy and that the Bahraini authorities are abusing the judicial system to silence Rajab. More than 100 civil society organisations have called for Rajab’s immediate and unconditional release, while the United Nations called his detention “chilling” and argued that it sends a “disturbing message.” The United States and Norway called for the government to drop the charges against Rajab, and France called on Bahrain to respect freedom of expression and facilitate free public debate.

Zainab Al-Khawaja, who is over eight months pregnant, remains in detention since 14 October on charges of insulting the King. These charges relate to two incidents, one in 2012 and another during a court appearance earlier this month, where she tore a photo of the King. On 21 October, the Court adjourned her case until 30 October and continued her detention.

Zainab Al-Khawaja is the daughter of prominent human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison, following a grossly unfair trial, for calling for political reforms in Bahrain. Zainab Al-Khawaja has been subjected to continuous judicial harassment, imprisoned for most of last year and prosecuted on many occasions. Three additional trumped up charges were brought against her when she attempted to visit her father at Jaw Prison in August 2014 when he was on hunger strike. The charges are related to “entering a restricted area”, “not cooperating with police orders” and “verbal assault”.

Zainab’s sister, Maryam Al-Khawaja, was also targeted by the Bahraini government recently. The Co-Director of the GCHR is due in court on 5 November 2014 to face sentencing for allegedly “assaulting a police officer.” While the only sign that the police officer was assaulted is a scratched finger, Maryam Al-Khawaja suffered a torn shoulder muscle as a result of rough treatment at the hands of police. She spent more than two weeks in prison in September following her return to Bahrain to visit her ailing father. More than 150 civil society organisations and individuals called for Maryam Al-Khawaja’s release in September, as did UN Special Rapporteurs and Denmark.

Other human rights defenders recently jailed include feminist activist and women’s rights defender Ghada Jamsheer, detained since 15 September 2014 for comments she allegedly made on Twitter regarding corruption at Hamad University Hospital. Jamsheer faced the Lower Criminal Court on 22 October 2014 on charges of “insult and defamation over social media” in three cases and a verdict is scheduled on 29 October 2014.

While the government of Bahrain continues to publicly tout efforts towards reform, the facts on the ground speak to the contrary. Human rights defenders remain targets of government oppression, while freedom of expression and assembly are increasingly under attack. Without the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners and human rights defenders, reform cannot become a reality in Bahrain.

We urge the international community, particularly Bahrain’s allies, to apply pressure on the government of Bahrain to end the judicial harassment of all human rights defenders. The government of Bahrain must immediately drop all charges against and ensure the release of human rights defenders and political prisoners, including Nabeel Rajab, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Zainab Al-Khawaja, Ghada Jamsheer, Naji Fateel, Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, Nader Abdul Emam and all those detained for expressing their right to freedom of expression and assembly peacefully.

Signed,

Activist Organization for Development and Human Rights, Yemen

African Life Center

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
Avocats Sans Frontières Network

Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)

Bahrain Human Rights Observatory (BHRO)

Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
Bahrain Salam for Human Rights
Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR)

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

English PEN

European-Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights (EBOHR)
Freedom House

Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR)

Index on Censorship

International Centre for Supporting Rights and Freedom, Egypt

International Independent Commission for Human Rights, Palestine

International Awareness Youth Club, Egypt

Kuwait Institute for Human Rights

Kuwait Human Rights Society

Lawyer’s Rights Watch Canada (LWRC)

Maharat Foundation

Nidal Altaghyeer, Yemen

No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ – Italy)

Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT – Italy)

PEN International

Redress

Reporters Without Borders

Reprieve

Réseau des avocats algérien pour défendre les droits de l’homme, Algeria
Solidaritas Perempuan (SP-Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights), Indonesia

Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)

Syrian Non-Violent Movement
The Voice of Women

Think Young Women
Women Living Under Muslim laws, UK

Youth for Humanity, Egypt

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Lebanon’s Coalition of Muslim Scholars have stressed that the guerrilla warfare waged by Takfiri groups in Tripoli is a battle by terrorists against the Lebanese state. “These terrorists want to seize the land and property of the people and to take them as prisoners of their [Takfiri] political orientation. We call on all citizens to stand alongside the [Lebanese] army in this battle,” they said in a statement released.

They pointed out that the Takfiri groups fighting in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, which is predominantly Sunni, do not represent the Sunnis of Lebanon. Their actions are not in defence of the Sunni people of Lebanon as they claim, but rather in service to the American-Zionist project which does not just affect Lebanon, but  it affects the region as a whole. It is a political battle and not sectarian-based.

The Coalition offered their full support to the Lebanese army and asked them to proceed with the uprooting of these groups from their bases and to eliminate them in order to preserve the security and peace of Lebanon for its citizens. The Coalition also offered their deepest condolences to the army’s martyrs, and prayed that God Almighty grant their families patience and fortitude and grant the wounded a speedy recovery.

They pointed out that it has became clear to everyone that the Takfiri project in Lebanon aims to control parts of the country so that they can gain access to the sea. Foreign donors are providing these groups with money and weapons and manpower so they can continue their fight for the establishment of a Takfiri state, as they have declared in Iraq and Syria. The ISIL terrorists consider Lebanon a legitimate target as the nation is historically considered part of the Levant.

The Coalition of Muslim Scholars added that these groups are working for the annexation of Lebanon to the so-called Islamic State. They emphasized that this un-Islamic State was created with the help of the United States, Turkey, the Zionist entity and their Arab puppets in the Persian Gulf.

It was due to the intervention of the Islamic Resistance [Hezbollah] that the Takfiri terrorists were defeated in Tripoli. Due to the efforts of the Lebanese and Syrian armies, the Takfiris were rooted out of Arsal and Qalamoun and their evil project was foiled and aborted in these regions. They sought to gain control over the strategic Beqaa Valley and then gain control of coastal areas so they would have access to the Mediterranean Sea. The Coalition stated that some Lebanese politicians are blind to these facts and certain politicians seek to give immunity and protection to these Takfiri groups instead of fighting against it.

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The Israeli mayor’s visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) has sparked anger among Palestinians and Islamic authorities.

Nir Barkat, the Israeli mayor of East al-Quds, paid a visit to the al-Aqsa compound on Tuesday while he was escorted by the regime’s police forces.

The al-Aqsa Foundation has harshly lashed out at Barkat’s move, describing it as the “storming” of the compound by the Israeli official.

“This does not give any legitimacy to considering al-Aqsa part of the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem municipality, and does not erase the eternal Islamic character of the mosque,” read the statement issued by the al-Aqsa Foundation.

Similarly, the Islamic Waqf, which is in charge of the compound, has denounced Barkat’s visit, calling it “political”.

Barkat’s Tuesday tour came shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Israeli aggression in East al-Quds and attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The al-Aqsa Mosque has been the scene of clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli settlers and troops in the past few weeks. Tel Aviv has imposed fresh restrictions on the access of Palestinians to the holy site.

Palestinians are extremely angry at Tel Aviv’s raids and restrictions, considering them as parts of Israel’s plan to judaize and desecrate the holy Islamic site. Palestinians argue that al-Quds is the capital of a future Palestinian independent state, and that its heritage should remain intact.

Over the past decades, Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.

The al-Aqsa compound, which lies in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds, is a flashpoint. The location of the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism. The mosque is Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

FNR/MHB/AS

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has underscored the need for unity among all Muslim countries amid enemy plots to create rift in the Islamic Ummah.

Addressing a group of Iranian Hajj officials in Tehran on Tuesday, Ayatollah Khamenei described Islamic unity as “the Islamic Republic’s fundamental slogan”, which means that Muslim states should set aside enmities and stand by each other vis-à-vis important global issues.

The Leader further described Hajj pilgrimage as an opportunity that must be seized in order to foil enemy plots, which are hatched to separate Iran from the rest of the Muslim world.

“Raising a barrier between the Islamic Republic [of Iran] and the rest of the Muslim world is one of the ploys [used by] the enemies of unity in the Islamic Ummah,” the Leader stated, adding that every Muslim is obligated to make efforts to help raze this “fake barrier.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also warned of false enemy propaganda aimed at spreading illusions about Iran and Shia Islam.

The annual pilgrimage of Hajj brings millions of Muslims together from a variety of nationalities, races and sects.

Hajj, as one of the world’s largest gatherings, is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people and their submission to God. Hajj rituals take place during six days (8th-13th) of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijjah.

MKA/KA/HRB

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah asserted that what the takfiris are committing nowadays is the most serious distortion of Islam throughout the history as the means of communication and media convey the images to the entire world.

During the third night of Muharram at Sayyed Al-Shuhadaa complex in the southern suburb of Beirut, Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the takfiris’ conduct deports the non-Muslims from Islam, adding that they kill and slaughter and base their atrocities on fabricated Prophet’s Hadiths.

“The takfiris present the Muslims as a group that are thirsty for bloodshed,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, “This would consecrate this falsified concept about Islam.”

His Eminence pointed out that the takfiri thought is based on atoning, shedding blood, confiscating properties and violating the honor of all who are different (others).

“The takfiri thought was established in the Arab world almost 200 years ago and was provided with financial as well as governmental capabilities which founded the universities, schools, newspapers, and houses of publications in order to pervade its concepts all over the world.”

“Islam, the nation and the Islamic societies are being threatened by this takfiri thought whose causes, not effects must be addressed.”

Sayyed Nasrallah called on defending Islam as he saw that the Sunni and the Shiite clerics must loudly convey the reality of Islam to the world.

Hezbollah leader considered that the confrontation with takfirism must be primarily cultural, intellectual and scientific

Sayyed Nasrallah also called on preventing the spread of this trend, considering that Saudi Arabia is primarily responsible for  this task by closing the schools from where the takfiri ideology emerges.

Sayyed Nasrallah went on to say that facing the takfiri trend is not carried out only by the security and the militarily option because “Islam does not seek murdering, but rescuing people in this life and in the afterlife.”

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