Three years of decline: taking over the last spaces of media and press freedom
BPA: Since the first wave of pro-democracy protests started in Bahrain on Feb 14, 2011, media freedom has steadily declined. Violations against journalists, photographers and bloggers increased in 2013 over the previous year, even though the pace of the protests decreased in 2012, compared with the first year of the uprising.
About 40 cases of attacking journalists were documented in 2012; one of these cases was the killing of videographer Ahmed Ismail [1]. However, this number increased to 53 cases in 2013; in addition to 11 arrests, six cases of summoning by the authorities and several cases of imprisonment for one year or more on the charge of “insulting the king.” At least three photographers were wounded while covering demonstrations, and eight media professionals and bloggers are still under arrest.
The year 2011 was the worst year for journalists and media professionals in Bahrain. More than 129 cases of violations against journalists were documented; among those cases were the killing of two media professionals after torture: the publisher Abdul-Karim Fakhrawi, a founder of Al-Wasat, the country’s premier independent daily newspaper, and the blogger Zakariya al-Ashiri. Al-Wasat was forced to shut down, and its editorial team was forced to resign, including the editor in chief, Dr. Mansoor Aljamri. [2] The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders classified the Bahraini capital, Manama, as one of the most dangerous places for journalists in 2011. It also listed Bahrain in 2012 as one of five countries that are “enemies of the Internet.”
The year 2013 was no different. According to reports by international organizations, the climate for freedom of expression did not improve. The human rights organization Freedom House categorized Bahrain as “not free” in its report “Freedom on the Net 2013.” [3]
The report mentioned the “intensive government suppression campaign,” “prosecuting Internet users,” and “increasing online attacks and government censorship to suspend or monitor the opponents’ activities.”[4]
There was no progress in reinstating media professionals who were arbitrarily dismissed from their jobs since the crackdown of 2011. According to statistics of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, which developed an updated list of dismissed persons in 2013, 27 journalists with unresolved cases were not reinstated to their former positions – six from Al-Ayam newspaper, 11 from Al-Bilad newspaper, and 10 from Al-Watan newspaper. In addition, an employee of Parliament was dismissed from his job after expressing his views on Twitter. This is approximately the same number of journalists who were dismissed from their jobs after expressing support for the pro-democracy movement in 2011.
The year 2013 witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of citizens prosecuted for charges such as “insulting the king” and “inciting hatred against the regime” because they expressed critical opinions in public. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights counted about 30 cases brought before courts in 2013 for the charge of “insulting the king.”[5]
The government continues to use the judiciary authority to limit public freedoms. In 2011, the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry documented that the regime in Bahrain was misusing Article 165 of the Penal Code regarding “inciting hatred against the regime.” The commission said the law “was applied in a way that infringes upon the freedoms of opinion and expression by excluding from the public debate opinions that express opposition to the existing system of government.”
Instead of mending the situation, the government prosecuted several citizens based on Article 165, like the consultant ophthalmologist Dr. Saeed Al-Samahiji, who was sentenced to one year in prison in 2013 for “insulting the king,” and Sheikh Ali Salman, the secretary general of the largest opposition society, Al-Wefaq. Sheikh Salman was transferred to the Public Prosecution and prohibited from traveling for “inciting hatred against the regime.” The human rights defender Hussein Jawad, secretary general of the European Bahraini Organization for Human Rights, was arrested on the same charge in addition to many others.
A number of those of lower ranks in the police were brought before court in 2012 for crimes related to committing violations against detainees. This was part of the commitment promised by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa upon the release of the independent commission’s recommendations. The regime focused on bringing to court the most severe cases, like the killing of media professionals who were tortured in detention. However, soon after the trials started, it was clear that they were only intended to avoid international pressures.
The year 2013 was the year of impunity for those involved in violations. During this year, Bahraini courts have acquitted five Pakistani policemen accused of torturing to death the cyber activist Zakariya al-Ashiri. The officer accused of torturing Nazeeha Saeed, a correspondent for France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo, was also acquitted, and an appeals court upheld the verdict. The prison sentence for two police officers of the National Security Agency who were convicted of torturing the publisher and founding member of Al-Wasat newspaper, Abdul Karim Fakhrawi, was reduced to three years from seven years.
In an interview, the lead of the Bahrain Independent Commission, Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, said he was surprised with these sentences, adding “there are no strict trials regarding torture in Bahrain.”[6]
The Bahraini National Assembly (both houses) was held under the request of the king on August 2013 simultaneously with the launch of the “Tamarod of Bahrain” campaign, protests two and a half years after the start of the 2011 uprising. The Assembly issued 22 recommendations for new restrictions on freedom of expression and an unlimited ban on all public gatherings in Manama. The sixth recommendation called for “prohibiting all sit-ins, rallies and gatherings in the capital Manama.” Recommendation No. 16 stated that government measures could be taken against “basic liberties, particularly freedom of opinion,” in order to strike a balance between law enforcement and human rights protection.
Human Rights Watch said these recommendations, “when codified into law, will suspend the right to free assembly indefinitely in Manama and may severely curtail free speech.”[7]. The authorities used the Parliament’s recommendations as a cover to pass more measures imposing a firm fist on the remaining space for freedom of expression.
Soon after this, the minister of state for communications affairs, Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, announced in November the development of an Online Safety Department to monitor websites and social networking. He said that he was going to track “the unlawful usage of Internet and social networking sites” as well as those who “spread lies and threaten the security and stability of the state.” He also emphasized that “restrictions and regulations on freedom of expression are a necessity to preserve national security.”[8] In this regard, the ministry of state for communications affairs declared that it “monitored 70 opposed sites, forums and social networks” and threatened “to take necessary measures against them.” As a result, there was a major increase in the number of cases brought before court for online activities in 2013 – a total of 11 cases.
The Information Affairs Authority refused to recognize citizen journalists and bloggers as media professionals based on an outdated definition that differentiates between journalists and bloggers. The authority used that definition on an official statement to respond to the Committee to Protect Journalists when the press organization criticized the jailing of a number of online activists. “They are bloggers and not practicing journalism as a career,” the authority said in responding to the criticism. [9]
The year 2013 ended with eight Bahraini journalists, photographers and bloggers still in detention. They are: Ahmad Humaidan, Hassan Maatouq, Mahmoud Abed Al-Saheb, Hussein Hubail, Jassem Al-Naeimi, Qassem Zein Din, Abdullah Al-Jardabi and Ahmad Al-Fardan.