Recommendations of National Assembly: open the war on freedom of expression and conscience

On July 28, 2013, the National Assembly held a joint extraordinary session for both houses – Shura and Council of Representatives – for the first time since their inception. The five-hour session drew 12 ministers and 77 of the 80 members of the Council and Shura. The members agreed on 22 recommendations on ways to confront what the Council has called “terrorism.” Those recommendations were submitted to the king.

During the session, several members of Parliament presented speeches and recommendations to enforce more restrictions on demonstrations and rallies, particularly rallies in Manama. Most members of Parliament demanded tougher penalties pertaining to the laws against terrorism and revoking the citizenship of those accused of acts of terrorism. The new governmental measures that followed have violated Bahrainis’ rights to express their opinions freely.

The recommendations issued by the Assembly and related directly to freedom of expression were:

1-    Issuance of decree laws during the Council’s recess in order to toughen penalties in the terrorism law.

2-    Revoking the Bahraini citizenship of those who carry out terrorist crimes and of their instigators.

3-    Inflicting tough penalties on those who incite all forms of violence and terrorism.

4-    Inflicting severe punishments on all kinds and forms of violence and terror crimes.

5-    Drying up all sources of terrorist financing.

6-    Banning sit-ins, rallies and gatherings in the capital, Manama.

7-    Taking all necessary measures, including the declaration of the State of National Security, to impose civil security and peace.

8-    Taking legal actions against some political associations that incite and support acts of violence and terrorism.

9-    Amending Law 58 of 2006 with respect to the protection of the community against terrorist acts so as to inflict punishment on those who instigate and support terrorism.

10-  Granting the security bodies all required and appropriate powers to protect society from terrorist attacks and prevent them from spreading.

11- Requesting ambassadors to Bahrain not to interfere in the kingdom’s domestic affairs respecting international law and regulations.

12- Toughening penalties on those who involve children in acts of terrorism and vandalism of private and public facilities.

13- Total commitment to applying all punitive laws related to combating violence and terrorism.

14- Applying a moderate discourse to protect the social fabric.

15- Direct relevant state bodies to activate the necessary legal action against those who use social networks in an illegal way.

16- Insuring that freedom of speech should be protected, and balancing the rule of law and the protection of human rights.

17- Revise the education policy as well as amending the curriculums at schools in order to protect the society from terrorism.

18- Local media should focus on “terrorism” to educate and inform the citizens and discard anything that enforces it.

19- Supporting the efforts of his highness the King to encourage national dialogue and push it forward, as it will be the only way to resolve the political conflict and protect the social fabric.

20- Those involved in terrorist acts shall not be covered by royal pardon on crimes.

21- Devising an integrated national security strategy in order to be able to face all developments, supporting the efforts of those in charge of it, and ensuring their protection.

22- Implanting new programs for rehabilitation of young people who are used in different crimes.

 

 

During the period of adjournment to formulate the recommendations, the minister of state for information affairs, Sameera Rajab, surprised many by declaring the recommendations word by word through a live news conference before their declaration in the National Assembly. Hours after the Assembly voted on the recommendations, the king directed all officials to put in force the important recommendations as fast as possible through the available constitutional and legal channels.

The Bahrain Press Association (BPA) expressed in a statement its disappointment with most of the members’ speeches and the recommendations that were full of incitement backed by an open authorization to the security forces to commit atrocious cruelty and threaten the citizenship rights of the Bahrainis calling for political reforms. Such speeches and recommendations pave the way for an open-ended war that would eliminate the freedom of expression and the freedom of conscience under flimsy justifications and unacceptable reasons.

The BPA considered the actions taken during the session- the adoption of recommendations that conflict with the constitution   – a disastrous turn that would bring back the harsh conditions that Bahrain experienced during the State of National Security in March 2011. At the time, many crimes and violations committed by the authorities were reported and documented that claimed the lives of 120 Bahrainis and the imprisonment and torture of thousands of others.

The BPA stressed in its statement that the recommendations are an open authorization to the country’s king, the executive authorities, and the security forces to issue decree laws and amend certain laws that would impose an iron fist on civil liberties and press freedom and ban demonstrations from Manama. The changes would also impose the state of national safety “martial laws,” leading to the arrest of some opposition leaders and political activists and depriving them of their citizenship in clear violation of the law. This also violates international law and the international conventions, of which Bahrain is a signatory, that protect universal human rights.

“The National Assembly’s statement – and its recommendations – is a dark dot in the history of the legislative authorities with its two houses,” said the chairman of the BPA, Adel Marzooq. “It also gives a green light to the fierce security fist practiced by the Bahraini authorities. Furthermore, it is a dangerous escalation paving the way to new violations which the country may witness as per this ‘rejected’ authorization, when it comes to the international law and all other humane considerations.”

Marzooq also stressed: “Such recommendations allow the Bahraini government to enact many suppressing policies and laws on the freedom of opinion and the freedom of the press. It also flings to the wall all previous undertakings made by the regime and violates the universal human right to citizenship.”

The arbitrary decisions following the National Assembly’s recommendations

Days after the recommendations were issued; two decree laws were enacted for 2013 regarding general meetings, gatherings and demonstrations, and juvenile law. The decree law addressing general meetings and demonstrations aims to ban protests, rallies, gatherings or sit-ins in Manama. The law does allow sit-ins outside offices of international organizations after obtaining written police authorization from the head of Public Security or his deputy, who may specify the number of participants and the time and place of the sit-in.

The amended juvenile law aims to extend penalties to include guardians responsible for the minors’ taking part in a demonstration, gathering, protest or sit-in. The guardians could be jailed or fined or both.

The minister of state for communications, Fawaz bin Mohammad Al Khalifa, who was accused of targeting dozens of journalists and photographers during unrest in 2011, has directed the head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and chief executives of communication companies to speed up implementation of  regulations to block website forums that the government maintains instigate violence and terrorism. The minister set up a team between the State Ministry for Communication Affairs and the communication companies in order to monitor and track down websites, forums, and social networking systems.

The minister of justice and Islamic affairs and endowment issued a resolution adding a new article to Ministerial Decree No. 4 of 2005 on the regulation of communications between local political societies and foreign parties or political organizations. This clause stipulated, “All communications between political societies and diplomatic missions and consulates in the kingdom and representatives of foreign governments have to be coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in the presence of one of its own representatives or any other official entrusted to do so.”

In mid-September, the minister of justice announced a lawsuit requesting the termination of all activities of the “Ulama Islamic Council,” the liquidation of its assets and the shutting of its office for being an illegal organization established in violation of the provisions of the Constitution and a large number of regulations and laws.

Arrests follow the National Assembly’s recommendations

After the issuance of the National Assembly’s recommendations, arrest campaigns were intensified against a large number of people, including some in the media. Those arrests coincided with the call for protests in Bahrain on Aug. 14, 2013. The Bahraini authorities arrested Qassem Zin el-Din, a photographer who was filming opposition protests in Bahrain on Aug. 2, 2013. His car was searched and his mobile phone and computer were confiscated.

Masked security agents arrested Mohammad Hassan Sudaif, a blogger known on Twitter as @Safybh, at his home on Aug. 31, 2013, and confiscated his cellphone and computer. Sudaif was known by his writings on human rights and political issues in Bahrain before he stopped writing openly in April 2013. The authorities accused Sudaif of membership in the February 14 media network. Before his arrest, he was summoned in June 2013 for interrogation about his relation with the Bahraini opposition. It is said that he was targeted because of his support for foreign media. Sudaif was released in the beginning of October.

On the same day that Sudaif was arrested, the photographer Hussain Hubail, whose works have been published by news outlets like Agence France-Presse and Voice of America, was also arrested. Hubail disappeared that day from Bahrain International Airport and was charged with using social networks to incite hatred against the regime and other charges pertaining to his media activity. Hubail’s family was concerned that the photographer, who has a heart problem and suffers from shortness of breath, would be harmed if he were denied necessary treatment while in detention. Hubail is still in detention to this day. At his trial in January 2014, he mentioned being tortured by the police inside prison.

Earlier in the year 2013, Hubail won a photography award from the independent newspaper Al-Wasat for a photo of protesters amid teargas in a demonstration.

Targeting the biggest opposition society in Bahrain

The Bahrain Press Association has monitored anxiously as the National Security Agency has continued to send opinion pieces supporting the authorities to newspapers for publication. The articles clearly attack the opposition and its figures, especially the Al-Wefaq Society and its leaders.

On Oct. 26, 2013, the Al-Wefaq Society opened the Museum of Revolution, which portrays the uprising in Bahrain since Feb. 14, 2011. The museum includes seven panoramas that display the movements Bahrain has witnessed, personal belongings of martyrs and more than 30 means of torture.

On Oct. 30, 2013, Bahraini police forces raided the building of the Al-Wefaq Society in Gufool. The security forces cordoned off the premises preventing Al-Wefaq officials from reaching the headquarters. The public prosecution ordered the confiscation of what it termed in its official statement “incitement materials including objects and images that insulted a statutory body, and the possession of such items is punishable by law.”

After the raid, Sheikh Ali Salman, the society’s secretary general, was summoned for questioning in the public prosecution, where he was accused of “insulting an official body, the interior minister.” He was released after six hours of questioning. The questioning of Salman focused on the Museum of Revolution, his speech at its opening, and some symbols of the revolution and the martyrs. Thus, it was a condemnable assault on freedom of opinion and expression.