Journalists trapped in impunity

On June 7, 2013, a YouTube video was uploaded by a Bahraini government-supporting account showing Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa during his visit to Mubarak bin Hwail, an officer in the Ministry of Interior, after bin Hwail was acquitted by the court on that same day of charges that he tortured detained doctors during the crackdown of 2011.

The previously undeclared official visit was interpreted as confirmation by the Bahraini prime minister that a policy of impunity had been adopted from the highest levels of the ruling family. The visit also affirmed the lack of independence of the judiciary in Bahrain. The prime minister said in his meeting with Bin Hwail: “Nobody applies those rules on you except our relation with you, and what is applied on you is applied on us. We are one body.” Those words act as clear evidence to show that impunity in Bahrain is becoming a systematic policy adopted by the senior leadership in the state.

In the realm of media and freedom of expression in Bahrain, the judiciary has also established the concept of impunity and lack of accountability for those responsible for killing and torturing workers in the news media and the press. In this regard, the High Criminal Court acquitted five policemen accused in the murder of the blogger Zakariya al-Ashiri in prison.

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry indicated in its report (paragraph 998) that a forensic examination discovered large bruises on the neck of al-Ashiri. The report stated that at 9 a.m. on April 9, 2011, al-Ashiri was pronounced dead. The death certificate stated that the cause of death was severe heart failure and cessation of breathing following complications from sickle cell anemia. The forensic report confirmed the cause of death and concluded that the deceased had large bruises on his back and thighs and smaller bruises on his face and hands. The commission stressed in its report that the cause of death of al-Ashiri was being tortured at the Dry Dock Detention Centre, given that he was in the custody of the Ministry of Interior at the time of his death.

On Oct. 27, 2013, the Court of Appeal cut the jail terms of two policemen from the National Security Agency convicted by the Court of First Instance of torturing to death Abdul-Kareem Fakhrawi, the publisher and one of the founders of the opposition newspaper Al-Wasat. The court reduced the terms of the men to three years from seven.

On April 12, 2011, Fakhrawi, 49, was killed nine days after being detained. He was the fourth detainee to die after torture, the commission of inquiry said. According to his family, the day before Fakhrawi was detained; the police surrounded his house, charged into it and broke possessions inside during the period of national unrest in Karbabad. The next day Fakhrawi presented himself at the Sanabis police station to inquire about the police raid, but he disappeared. Nine days later his body was delivered to his family.

On Oct. 22, 2012, the First Instance Court acquitted Lt. Sarah Al-Moosa of torturing the journalist Nazeeha Saeed, a correspondent for France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo, during her detention in the period of civil unrest. The High Court of Appeal upheld the verdict on July 23, 2013.

This case passed through several stages, starting from submitting the case before the military courts where Saeed’s lawyer, Hameed Al-Mulla, stated that the Military Judiciary convicted the officer and ordered her to pay a fine of BHD 200 (US$ 530) for assaulting the journalist in addition to a fine of BHD 200 for insulting the victim. The court also ordered that her annual pay increase be stopped for one year.

Saeed said the judicial system in Bahrain had been “unfair” with her and had neglected to consider many aspects of her case. She said the judgment “makes her feel fear and injustice.”

Two years have passed since the killing of the citizen journalist Ahmed Ismail Hassan by a live bullet on March 31, 2012, while filming a peaceful demonstration in Salmabad. There has been no legal accountability for those responsible for the shooting. Nevertheless, Minister of Interior Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa confirmed in an interview with the newspaper Al-Ayam on Oct. 3, 2013: “They are arresting accused people in all terrorism cases that happened.  A number of those involved in each case was arrested.” In many cases of the killing of citizens over their political or media activity, however, no accusations have been made.