BAHRAIN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2020 EVENTS OF 2019 © 2020, The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. All Rights Reserved. The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is a Londonbased non-profit organisation focusing on research, investigation, and advocacy for human rights and democracy in Bahrain. Published in February 2020, to mark the 9th Anniversary of the Bahrain Uprising. www.birdbh.org BAHRAIN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2020 EVENTS OF 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 KEY EVENTS OF 2019 2 CHAPTER I | HUMAN RIGHTS EVENTS OF 2019 3 Death Penalty Freedom of Expression 5 Freedom of Assembly & Assosciation 6 Citizenship Revocation Prison Conditions Freedom of Religion Medical Negligence 7 Women Activists 8 CHPATER II | SPORTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS 9 Hakeem AlAraibi Najah Yusuf & the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix 11 Bahrain-McLaren Pro-Cycling Team CHPATER III | UK WATCH - A SCANDALOUS YEAR 13 Bahrain Embassy Siege Petrofac Scandal Military Aid to Bahrain Technical Assistance to Bahrain 14 Training by Third Parties: University of Huddersfield Official Visits 15 Visits by Military & Security Services 16 2019 International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue BAHRAIN INSTITUTE FOR RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei - Director of Advocacy The human rights situation in Bahrain continued to Despite being the smallest country in the Middle East, deteriorate in 2019, with the government maintaining a Bahrain now imprisons its populace at a higher rate than any violent crackdown on its citizens. Over the last two years, other Arab state. Bahrain’s prisons came under particular the state has waged an unrelenting campaign against all scrutiny in 2019, as inmates reported increasingly squalid forms of dissent, with the promises of reform made in the conditions in facilities rife with ill-treatment and religious wake of Bahrain’s 2011 uprising now a distant memory. discrimination. The United Nations, European Parliament All opposition parties and independent media have been and international human rights watchdogs have all strongly dissolved, protests continue to be brutally crushed and condemned Bahrain’s consistent failure to provide political critical voices are ruthlessly targeted. As little as criticising prisoners with an adequate standard of medical care, a the government on social media can result in years in prison. callous policy which contributed to the tragic death of 24 year-old Sayed Kadhem Abbas on 3rd February 2020. Although the government strives to project an image of reform and moderation, investing heavily in global sporting Internationally, Bahrain continues to participate in the and cultural events to encourage tourism and promote Saudi-led war on Yemen, described by the UN as the the country abroad, Bahrain remains among the Middle worst humanitarian crisis on earth. Bahrain also remains East’s most repressive states. Torture in Bahraini detention embroiled in the Gulf Crisis with neighbouring Qatar, centres is widespread and systematic. The unlawful which has raged since 2017 with no sign of abating. executions of two torture survivors last July, Ali Al Arab and Ahmed Al Malali, triggered international outrage. Despite the UK’s professed commitment to democracy and human rights, British government ministers repeatedly In 2019, Bahrain’s courts held among the largest mass trials dismissed concerns raised by parliamentarians about since 2011. In late February, 167 individuals were sentenced Bahrain’s rights record, electing to rely on assurances from in one trial for participating in a peaceful sit-in in Duraz the Bahraini regime and disregard repeated warnings from between 2016 and 2017 in which five people were killed by independent experts. Unfortunately, prospects for change in police. A month later, 139 individuals were sentenced at once Bahrain appear slim while the regime continues to receive on terrorism charges, 138 of whom were also stripped of their unconditional political, military and financial support from citizenship. While the citizenship of 551 citizens was reinstated the UK, US and neighbouring Gulf States. Under President later that month after significant international pressure, Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership, the law permitting denaturalisation has not been changed human rights are likely to continue to take a back seat. and major opposition figures remain without citizenship. SAYED AHMED ALWADAEI Director of Advocacy 1 KEY EVENTS OF 2019 Bahrain continued to issue death sentences Increased targeting of women activists: and carry out executions: BIRD’s joint-report with Americans for Democracy A government firing squad executed three individuals on and Human Rights (ADHRB), Breaking the Silence, 27 July, including torture victims Ali AlArab and Ahmed documented the Bahraini government’s increased targeting AlMalali. In January 2020, Bahrain’s High Criminal Court of of female activists and human rights defenders for the Appeals reimposed death sentences against torture victims first time. The report followed the cases of nine female Mohammad Ramadhan and Husain Moosa, political prisoners, tracking human rights violations at despite credible evidence their conviction dependend on every stage of the criminal procedures from their arrests to confessions extracted under torture. Eight further death their imprisonment at Isa Town Female Detention Centre. sentences handed down on politically-motivated charges were upheld in 2019, while at least four new death The use of lucrative sporting events to sentences were imposed against non-violent offenders. whitewash human rights abuses: Restrictions on freedoms of expression and Sportswashing has become a cornerstone of Bahrain’s assembly tightened further: international diplomacy, offering the kingdom valuable propaganda and financial opportunities. In February, Freedom of expression remains highly constrained, with a major international campaign secured the release Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) increasingly policing of Bahraini refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi, social media to silence critical voices, including prominent after Bahrain attempted to have him extradited from activists and opposition figures Nabeel Rajab and Thailand. Another succcesful campaign also criticised Ibrahim Sharif. 167 people were sentenced in March links between Formula One’s (F1) Bahrain Grand Prix in a single mass-trial for having participated in the peaceful and the torture and imprisonment of activist Najah Duraz 2016 sit-in, in which police killed five people. Yusuf, who was granted a royal pardon in the summer. Deteriorating prison conditions and medical Unwavering UK military and third party negligence: support in spite of human rights concerns: Abhorrent conditions including beatings, psychological Bahrain continued to receive technical assistance from the abuse, religious discrimination and harassment UK, funded by the Integrated Activity Fund, a highly secretive during family visits are routinely reported by Bahraini pool of public money reserved for members of the Gulf detainees. Authorities further punish human rights Cooperation Council (GCC) states. While a British High Court defenders including prominent political leaders Hassan ruling curbed arms sales to the Gulf, UK military training to Mushaima and Abduljalil Al Singace as well as Bahrain has continued unabated. Moreover, third parties the mother-in-law of BIRD Director of Advocacy, Hajer have also enjoyed lucrative training contracts with Bahrain. At Mansoor, by withholding necessary medical treatment. the time of publication, the University of Huddersfield remains embroiled in a scandal over its ties to a Bahraini “torture hub”. 2 CHAPTER 1 HUMAN RIGHTS EVENTS OF 2019 Throughout 2019, the Bahraini government intensified its Rights Watch (HRW) and the United States (US) Congress to crackdown on all forms of dissent which is now en- halt the executions. After the death sentences were carried out, tering its third year. Three executions were conduct- Callamard condemned their deaths as “arbitrary killings.”In ed in 2019 and death sentences have continued to the aftermath of the executions in July 2019, the UK Minister of be handed down, including for non-violent offences. State for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, asserted that “the UK remains firmly opposed to the death penalty” and Prominent opposition leaders, human rights defenders, expressed “deep concern and regret that these executions were journalists and activists including Nabeel Rajab, carried out.” However, the government nonetheless failed to Sheikh Ali Salman, Hassan Mushaima, Dr take any substantive action against Bahrain, nor extend their Abduljalil Al Singace and the family members of BIRD concerns to the fairness of the trial or allegations of torture. Director of Advocacy Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei all remain unlawfully imprisoned. Opposition parties and indepen- On 8 January 2020, Bahrain’s High Criminal Court of Appeals dent media remain outlawed and the government has clamped reimposed the death sentences of Mohammad Ramadhan and down on online criticism through new cybercrime legislation. Husain Moosa, which were overturned in 2018 after new med- ical evidence emerged suggesting that they had been tortured. Despite the reinstatement of citizenship to 698 individuals, al- The verdict, which had been scheduled on Christmas day, was most 300 Bahrainis remain without citizenship, the majority of postponed after international