Campaigning for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, Democracy, the Rule of Law and International Justice

Bahrain: Supporting Capacity Building of human rights violations monitoring of Civil Society
Background
In February and March 2011, there were mass demonstrations in Bahrain, seeking political reform and protesting against a variety of human rights violations, which were violently repressed. In June 2011, the King of Bahrain established an Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), headed by M. Cherif Bassiouni, to investigate those events and their consequences. The BICI released its report on 23 November 2011, following a chequered history of operations that were criticised by many, particularly by human rights activists and opposition groups in Bahrain, who also criticised the recommendations as being partial and falling short of what was required by the facts revealed in the report itself. Since its release, the Government has repeatedly declared that it has accepted the report and its recommendations, and has begun to implement them under the supervision of the National Commission. Despite this, sporadic violence continues in Bahrain. Therefore supporting and mentoring the Bahraini civil society and reviving the momentum of this implementation provide an important opportunity to interrupt a dangerous cycle of violence. To maximise the positive impact of the report and to support the reforms already undertaken, it is essential that civil society plays an active role in shaping further social reforms, i.e. by monitoring the continued implementation of the BICI report recommendations.
NPWJ’s work in Bahrain aims at supporting civil society capacity to act as a positive and constructive force, by undertaking its own work with respect to monitoring and documenting past and present human rights violations and abuses therefore constitutes the essence of this project. Specific objective is to support the ongoing social cohesion and interrupt the cycle of violence in Bahrain by:
1) Building capacity of local actors, including human rights, women’s and youth organizations and activists;
2) Enhancing the capacity of human rights organizations and activists to monitor, report, document and keep track of past and ongoing violations and abuses;
3) Keeping the momentum of human rights organizations and activists for the implementation of the BICI report recommendation. This would ensure the positive, sustained impact of the BICI report and its recommendations, by enabling civil society to build on the work undertaken by the BICI and develop its capacity to approach their work accordingly, i.e. by documenting ongoing and future violations, identifying root causes, build a strong network of organizations in Bahrain and developing their own recommendations that address their findings.
Specific Activities
The project foresees the development of activities through two phases. The first phase aims at fostering the development of a network of actors from across Bahrain’s entire civil society spectrum to promote coordination of work, to share know-how and practices and to identify the availability of information about human rights violations that could be pooled and stored in a systematic way. This bringing together of local actors is designed to enhance their capacity, especially regarding reporting and documenting of violations, and to facilitate and promote their participation in the longer-term implementation of the BICI report recommendations. The first activity undertaken within this phase was the significant engagement with Bahraini civil society undertaken by NPWJ at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Bahrain at the 21st session of the Human Rights Council on 19 September 2012. Amongst other activities and mentoring, NPWJ, in coordination with a range of Bahraini civil society organisations, hosted a side event entitled ‘Towards Justice for Bahrain’. In accordance with the objectives described above, this event brought together a strong network of organisations working to pressure the Government of Bahrain to implement the BICI report recommendations, and facilitated an exchange of the organisations’ respective approaches towards monitoring the continuing human rights violations.
During the meetings held in Geneva the need for a Strategy Meeting with key civil society members was highlighted. NPWJ will be coordinating, in cooperation with the network developed, this event which will be held in The Hague, in November 2012, on the margins of the 11th session of the Assembly of States parties to the ICC. This meeting will also provide an opportunity to launch an ongoing campaign which will seek to focus international attention on a range of specific human rights abuses continuing in Bahrain, such as restrictions on peaceful assembly and the use of pellet shots against peaceful protestors. This event will also provide a further opportunity to foster the civil society relations between Bahraini actors established in Geneva as well as to further identify priorities and undertake strategic planning for entry into phase two of NPWJ’s project.
In its second phase, the project aims at providing general capacity-building training of the Bahraini civil society and mentoring in strengthening their specific capacity of monitoring, reporting and documenting past and present violations and abuses, as well as on the analysis of all the gathered information, with a specific view on issues reported in the BICI report. The topics addressed in this capacity building will be informed by local actors’ needs as become apparent through ongoing discussions with Bahraini civil society actors and from the strategic planning previously undertaken. The technical training provided will allow for rejuvenating the momentum of the implementation of the recommendations of the BICI report with adequate tools and capacities. Participants will be selected together with Bahraini partners to ensure a mixture of established civil society actors from across Bahrain’s social, sectarian and political spectrum, and the participation of underrepresented groups in Bahraini society such as women, children and young people, and actors who command respect within their communities will be ensured. In addition to the technical skills acquired, the capacity building training will allow actors present in the activities undertaken in the first phase to further their interaction with one another, and in doing so increase the sense of unified objectives within Bahraini civil society.
Press releases
- Bahrain: Request for support to free imprisoned human rights defender Dr Abduljalil AlSingace, on hunger strike since July 2021, 17 January 2022
- Workshop on "Political Reform in Bahrain since the 1990s: Political Parties and the Constitution", 11 November 2021
- Bahrain: NPWJ strongly welcomes European Parliament’s call against impunity for human rights violations, 11 March 2021
- Bahrain: NPWJ welcomes the release of Nabeel Rajab and calls for all prisoners of conscience to be freed, 9 June 2020
- "Beyond Covid-19: a nine-year lockdown for Bahrain", virtual meeting, 22 May 2020
- Bahrain: NPWJ strongly condemns sham trial and life sentences against prominent opposition leaders, 5 November 2018
- Bahrain: NPWJ strongly condemns sham trial and 2 years prison sentence against Nabeel Rajab, 11 July 2017
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Bahrain: NPWJ strongly condemns widespread reprisals against dissenting voices ahead of UPR, 24 April 2017
Bahrain: Joint open letter urging UK Foreign Secretary to call for activist Nabeel Rajab’s release, 3 February 2017 -
Bahrain: NPWJ strongly condemns shocking verdict upholding the 9-year prison sentence against Sheikh Ali Salman, 14 December 2016
Bahrain: Human rights defender Ghada Jamsheer remains in jail despite poor health, 17 November 2016 - 25 organizations' Urgent Appeal to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs to call for the release of Nabeel Rajab, 28 October 2016
List of specific activities
- "Beyond Covid-19: a nine-year lockdown for Bahrain", virtual meeting, 22 May 2020
- Conference on “Persecution of Shia in Bahrain”, Brussels Press Club Europe, 22-23 April 2016
- Meetings and roundtable discussion with opposition leaders, Brussels, 17-18 March 2016
- Meetings and roundtable discussion with opposition leaders, Rome, Italy, 25-26 January 2016
- Renewed civil society call for al-Singace release as protest hits 200 days, 7 October 2015
- Meetings and roundtable discussion with opposition leaders, Brussels, 28-30 September 2015
- Joint Appeal to Release Prisoner of Conscience Dr Abduljalil al-Singace, 27 August 2015
- Joint Statement condemning threats of reprisals against Bahraini Human rights defenders Husain Abdulla and Abdulnabi Al-Ekri at the Human Rights Council, Geneva, 19 March 2015
- UNHRC / Bahrain: Oral Statement by Ali Alaswad on behalf of the Radical Party, UN Human Rights Council, 28th Session, Geneva, 9 March 2015
- Joint Appeal of Parliamentarians calling for the immediate release of Sheikh Ali Salman, 28 January 2015
- Meetings with Bahraini opposition leaders, Brussels, 20 January 2015
- Civil Society Joint Statement: Bahrain elections must not be used to cover human rights violations, 21 November 2014
- Meetings and roundtable discussion with opposition leaders, Brussels, 12 November 2014
- Launch of campaign to free prisoners of conscience in Bahrain, Geneva, 16 September 2014
- Roundtable discussion with Bahraini opposition leaders, Brussels, NPWJ office, 5 June 2014
- Meetings with Bahraini opposition leaders, Brussels, 17-19 March 2014
- Roundtable discussion and special hearing with Bahraini opposition leaders, Brussels, NPWJ office / European Parliament, 22 January 2014
- High-level Consultations on Transitional and International Justice in the Arab region, Tunis, Tunisia, 19 June 2013
- Strategic Colloquium on Challenges and Opportunities for Bahraini Civil Society, Istanbul, Turkey, 17-19 June 2013
- "What accountability for atrocities and persecution in Bahrain?", The Hague, World Forum, 20 November 2012
- "Towards Justice for Bahrain", Geneva, Palais des Nations (United Nations), 19 September 2012
- "Towards Justice for Bahrain", Geneva, Palais des Nations (United Nations), 21 May 2012
Previous press releases
- NGOs call for human rights abuses to be addressed in the forthcoming EU-GCC Ministerial Meeting, 18 July 2016
- Bahrain: 26 NGOs call for immediate and unconditional release of Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, prior to his trial tomorrow, 11 July 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT welcome European Parliament strong stance against ongoing repression and restrictions of fundamental democratic rights, 8 July 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT strongly condemn suspension of main opposition party Al-Wefaq, 15 June 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT strongly condemn sham trial and increased prison sentence against Sheikh Ali Salman, 30 May 2016
- SALAM and NPWJ convene Conference to highlight sectarian division and discrimination of Shia in Bahrain, 22-23 April 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ joins civil society call for the unconditional release of Zainab al-Khawaja, 12 April 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ supports visit of opposition leaders in Brussels to promote meaningful democratic reform and respect of human rights, 17-18 March 2016
- UNHRC: NPWJ Secretary General calls for ending repression and promoting meaningful political reform in Bahrain, 15 March 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ and the NRPTT strongly condemn new sentence of imprisonment against opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif, 25 February 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT support visit of opposition leaders in Rome to call for ending repression and promoting meaningful political reform, 25-26 January 2016
- Bahrain: Joint Civil Society Statement calling to lift travel ban on Nabeel Rajab, 21 January 2016
- Bahrain: NPWJ and Hands off Cain join civil society statement condemning the practice of death penalty, 16 December 2015
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT join renewed civil society call for al-Singace release as protest hits 200 days, 7 October 2015
- Bahrain: NPWJ supports visit of opposition leaders in Brussels to call for ending repression and promoting meaningful political reform, 30 September 2015
- Bahrain/Urgent Appeal: Release Prisoner of Conscience Dr Abduljalil al-Singace as Hunger Strike Reaches 160th Day, 27 August 2015
- Bahrain: NPWJ and the NRPTT strongly condemn new sham trial against opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif, 24 August 2015
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT strongly condemn sham trial and arbitrary sentence against Sheikh Ali Salman, 16 June 2015
- Bahrain: Joint Statement condemning threats of reprisals against Human rights defenders Husain Abdulla and Abdulnabi Al-Ekri at the Human Rights Council, 19 March 2015
- Bahrain: over 110 parliamentarians from 43 countries call for the immediate release of Sheikh Ali Salman, 28 January 2015
- Bahrain: NPWJ supports visit of opposition leaders in Brussels to call for ending repression and promoting democratic reform, Brussels, 20 January 2015
- Bahrain: Verdict Expected for Nabeel Rajab 20 January, NGOs Call for Charges to be Dropped, 19 January 2015
- Bahrain: NPWJ and the NRPTT condemn arrest of prominent opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman and call for his immediate release, 29 December 2014
- Civil Society Joint Statement: Bahrain elections must not be used to cover human rights violations, 21 November 2014
- Bahrain: NPWJ hosts roundtable with opposition leaders and calls for democratic reform and end of repression, Brussels, 12 November 2014
- Bahrain: NPWJ hosts roundtable with opposition leaders and calls for democratic reform and end of repression, Brussels, 12 November 2014
- Bahrain’s allies must take action to free human rights defenders, 28 October 2014
- Bahrain /Joint global civil society appeal: Free Nabeel Rajab immediately and unconditionally, 9 October 2014
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT strongly condemn new arbitrary arrest of prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, Brussels – Rome – New York, 2 October 2014
- Bahrain: Joint global civil society letter calling for the release of Maryam al-Khawaja and end clampdown on civil society, 18 September 2014
- UN / Geneva: NPWJ supports campaign to free prisoners of conscience in Bahrain, 16 September 2014
- Bahrain: NPWJ calls for immediate release of human rights activist Maryam Al-Khawaja, Brussels, 2 September 2014
- Bahrain: NPWJ hosts roundtable with opposition leaders and calls for ending repression and promoting meaningful political reform, Brussels, 5 June 2014
- Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab free, after nearly two years of arbitrary detention, Brussels-Rome-New York, 26 May 2014
- Bahrain: International and Local Civil Society Groups call for the release of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja on the third anniversary of his arrest, 9 April 2014
- Bahrain: NPWJ supports visit of opposition leaders in Brussels to call for ending repression and promoting meaningful political reform, Brussels, 17-19 March 2014
- Bahraini Uprising’s third anniversary: accountability for past and present human rights violations must take centre stage, Brussels-Rome, 15 February 2014
- Bahraini opposition leaders meet in Brussels and call for international support to stop repression and promote meaningful political reform, Brussels, 22 January 2014
- Bahrain: NPWJ and NRPTT commend South Korea for suspending tear gas supplies, 10 January 2014
- NPWJ, NRPTT, Freedom House, PGA and other NGOs call on Bahrain to drop all charges against Khalil Almarzooq, 12 December 2013
- NPWJ, NRPTT, Freedom House, PGA and other NGOs call on Bahrain to drop all charges against Khalil Almarzooq, 12 December 2013
- Bahrain: NPWJ and the NRPTT condemns arrest of prominent opposition leader Khalil Al Marzooq and calls for his immediate release, 17 September 2013
- KADEM and NPWJ organise High-level Consultations on Transitional and International Justice in the Arab region, Tunis, Tunisia, 19 June 2013
- Bahrain: NPWJ supports civil society capacity building on Human Rights monitoring, Istanbul, 17 June 2013
- Bahraini Uprising Second Anniversary: As dialogue starts, accountability for past human rights violations must take centre stage, 14 February 2013
- Bahrain: NPWJ condemns arrest of Said Yousif Almuhafda and other human rights defenders and calls for their immediate release, 18 December 2012
- Bahraini civil society leaders meet in The Hague and call for international support to stop repression and promote respect for human rights in Bahrain, 20 November 2012
- Towards Justice in Bahrain: The UN Human Rights Council must ensure Bahrain is accountable for its human rights record, 19 September 2012
- Towards Justice in Bahrain: NRPTT and other international and Bahraini partners convene meeting on the occasion of the adoption of the final UPR Report, 18 September 2012
- Bahrain: NPWJ condemns Nabeel Rajab’s conviction and calls for his immediate release, 16 August 2012
- Bahrain: NPWJ calls for release of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, 9 July 2012
- Bahrain: NPWJ holds the authorities accountable for any reprisals against human rights defenders, 27 May 2012
- Bahrain: impunity is not an option to build a democratic future, 21 May 2012
- Bahrain: Reform, Repression - or both?, 3 February 2012
- Bahrain: Impunity Not an Option to Build a Democratic Future, 23 November 2011
- Bahrain: one step forward or two steps back?,22 November 2011
- Bahrain’s former MP Dr Jasim Husain and Khalil Al Marzooq meet with NPWJ and other human rights NGOs in Brussels, 15 September 2011
For further information, please contact: Alison Smith, NPWJ International Criminal Justice Program Coordinator (on asmith@npwj.org; +32-(0)2-548 39 12).