The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) welcomes the news that on 11 March 2021, the European Parliament overwhelmingly adopted an urgent resolution which calls on Bahrain to free human rights defenders, end travel bans and citizenship revocation, and stop violating freedom of expression and digital freedom. The resolution comes after advocacy by human rights groups raising concern about deteriorating human rights conditions in Bahrain, ahead of meetings between European Union and Bahraini authorities.

The resolution “calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience, including Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, Naji Fateel…” and that all charges should be dropped against them.

The resolution notes that Al-Khawaja, a Bahraini and Danish citizen, the co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and GCHR, “is currently completing his tenth year in prison while serving a life sentence” and that following his arrest, “he was beaten, tortured and sentenced in an unfair trial that did not comply with Bahraini criminal law or international fair trial standards.” In January 2021, GCHR coordinated a joint letter signed by over 100 organisations calling for Al-Khawaja to be freed so he could obtain treatment in Denmark.

The resolution “Condemns the continuing use of torture, including denial of medical care, and other cruel and degrading treatment or punishment of detainees, including peaceful protesters and civilians; calls for thorough and credible investigations into all torture allegations with a view to holding those responsible to account; deplores the dire prison conditions in the country; urges the Bahraini authorities to protect all detainees from the danger of COVID-19.” 

It also calls on Bahrain to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). This is in line with recommendations by BCHR and GCHR in a recent report on torture.

The resolution also welcomes the release of “Nabeel Rajab, one of the most prominent Bahraini human rights defenders, [who] was released from prison on 09 June 2020 to serve the rest of his five-year sentence under the alternative sanctions law” and “urges the Bahraini authorities to lift his travel ban” and travel bans on all other human rights defenders, and guarantee that they can “carry out their legitimate human rights activities, both inside and outside the country.”

Finally, the resolution calls on the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, along with EU Member States, “to champion and pursue a vigorous campaign to secure the immediate release of the imprisoned human rights defenders, as a key element for enhanced EU-Bahrain cooperation;” and “calls on the Bahraini authorities to guarantee a safe space for civil society organisations and independent media; urges the Government of Bahrain to allow foreign journalists and human rights organisations access to Bahrain; strongly commends the work of all human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers whose work is essential for the defence of human rights; urges the Government of Bahrain to reinstate the country’s single independent media outlet, Al Wasat…”

In February 2021, GCHR signed a joint letter about deteriorating human rights in Bahrain, sent by 20 organisations led by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) to the European External Action Service (EEAS) ahead of the Bahraini foreign minister’s visit to Brussels, which took place on 10 February 2021, and the EU-Bahrain interactive human rights dialogue. At the meeting, the EU High Representative and Bahrain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs signed an agreement aimed at promoting cooperation on trade and other topics.