ADHRB Weekly: The Arab Spring in the Gulf countries

The Arab Spring in the Gulf countries – 10 years later

Ten years after the beginning of the pro-democratic movements in the Gulf region, the Italian team of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain organized an event on the 17th of February to commemorate the demonstrations in Manama and to discuss the current human rights situation in the Gulf.

The webinar began with the testimony of Najah Youssef, a Bahraini activist who described the violence and retaliation that she and her family suffered due to their participation in the pro-democratic demonstrations of 2011. During the conference, four speakers took the floor: Francesca Pisanu, advocacy assistant at ADHRB, Riccardo Noury from Amnesty Italy, Francesco Vignarca of the ‘Rete Italiana Pace e Disarmo’ and Professor Francesco Cherubini of the University LUISS Guido Carli.

The event organized by ADHRB was unique, especially in a country such as Italy, where news media have paid closer attention to events in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya than those in Bahrain. Such neglect may be due, as some of the speakers highlighted, to the fact that there was no direct western involvement in the uprisings. However, all the panelists stressed that the claims made by human rights and democracy advocates deserve special attention, considering that since the ‘Valentine’s day uprising’, Bahrain has been turned into a police state, in which all forms of dissent are repressed and human rights are violated by the government itself.

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Three Irish Deputies ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs about Bahrain’s human rights abuses and Hassan Mushaima

Three deputies of the Dáil Éireann – Niall Collins, Joan Collins, and Michael Creed – submitted one question each, to the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney; regarding the ongoing human rights violations in Bahrain and the efforts Ireland can make towards the release of Hasan Mushaima, the leader of the political opposition in the country. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) welcomes these parliamentary questions and thanks the before-mentioned TDs for bringing attention to the ongoing human rights abuses and the plight of imprisoned political activists in Bahrain.

Questions

Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the matters raised in correspondence by [Hasan Mushaima]; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will address the ongoing serious human rights violations and lack of democratic institutions in Bahrain; and if the Government demanded the release of the leader of the political opposition [Hasan Mushaima].

Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the ongoing detention of the leader of the political opposition in Bahrain [Hasan Mushaima]; the efforts Ireland can make to progress their release; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

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Hasan Radhi AlBaqali

Hasan Radhi AlBaqali was a 28-year-old security personnel at a private company when he was arrested by Omani authorities on 22 February 2016 at Muscat Airport Oman based on Bahrain’s allegations, via INTERPOL, that he was a fugitive from justice. During his detention, he was subjected to torture and to several human rights violations. Recently, his health condition has been deteriorating, and he has not been provided with adequate medical care. He is currently held in Jau Prison.

At the end of 2012, Hasan left Bahrain into exile. While being in exile between 2012 and 2016, he was convicted in absentia with: 1) Disturbing the peace, 2) rioting, 3) placement of objects resembling explosive devices, 4) arson, 5) possession and fabrication of combustible or explosive materials, 6) possession of arms, 7) traveling to Iran to receive military training, and 8) membership in a terrorist cell. Consequently, he was sentenced in absentia to nearly 100 years in prison. It is believed that Hasan’s conviction was due to his peaceful participation in the 2011 pro-democracy protests in Bahrain.

On 22 February 2016, airport security officers at Muscat Airport Oman arrested Hasan based on Bahrain’s allegations, via INTERPOL, that he was a fugitive from justice. Then, he was turned over to Bahraini security forces, who put him aboard one of their private planes, drugged him via several injections which knocked him unconscious, and flew him back to Bahrain. His personal belongings including phone, money, passport, and national ID card were taken from him en route and have not since been returned to him or his family. After arriving in Bahrain, Hasan was transferred to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) building in Adliya.

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Call on the UNHRC to address UAE pandemic response in its prison system

In a collaborative effort, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights (ADHRB), the International Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ICJHR) and the International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE (ICFUAE) submitted a joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council for its Regular Session, commencing 22 February 2021.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the organizations have called upon the UN to take urgent action to remind the UAE authorities of their responsibility to introduce preventative and protective measures against the disease within their detention facilities. This includes the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience.

The absence of sanitation products, the impossibility of social-distancing in vastly overcrowded cells, and the notorious lack of medical care put prisoners in an extremely vulnerable position.

The UAE authorities have refused to disclose their handling of the pandemic within the prisons. The release of 4,000 detainees in April 2020 was not extended to those jailed on their peaceful dissent. Family members have equally been unable to communicate with their imprisoned relatives, and questions about their health conditions remain unanswered.

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Kuwait: End Discrimination and Provide Nationality for Bidoon Population

The Government of Kuwait must cease human rights violations against its own Bidoon population. Since Kuwait gained independence in 1961, the government has perpetrated a continuous system of institutionalized discrimination, repression, and degrading treatment against the Bidoon, a stateless minority. These acts violate fundamental human rights of the Bidoon, as well as international law obligations of the Kuwaiti government itself.

According to current estimates, there are more than 100,000 Bidoon people in Kuwait. The term “bidoon” is derived from “bidoon jinsiyya” which translates to “without nationality” in Arabic. The Bidoon originate from nomadic tribes native to the Arabian peninsula. Before the country gained independence, they were treated equally and enjoyed the same freedoms and rights as Kuwaiti citizens; now, continued government persecution of the Bidoon has created great inequality between the two populations. At the time of independence, the majority of Bidoon did not attain Kuwaiti citizenship, which has led to the present-day issue of statelessness.

Three main factors contribute to why the Bidoon lack Kuwaiti nationality or have trouble obtaining nationality. First, many Bidoon are unable to prove residential ties to Kuwait that pre-date 1920. Second, since the time of Kuwaiti independence, when Bidoon failed to register as citizens, the Bidoon population has grown significantly. Because citizenship is passed through the father to the child, generational statelessness is created for children born to male Bidoon. Finally, during Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, many Bidoon joined the Iraqi forces; this led to the perception of the Bidoon as foreign agents, and further stigmatized the entirety of the Bidoon population in Kuwait.

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Bahrain

The Arab Spring in the Gulf countries – 10 years later

Three Irish Deputies ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs about Bahrain’s human rights abuses and Hassan Mushaima

Profile in Persecution

Hasan Radhi AlBaqali

Around the Gulf

Call on the UNHRC to address UAE pandemic response in its prison system

Kuwait: End Discrimination and Provide Nationality for Bidoon Population

GCC in the Wire