His Royal Highness King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa
King of Bahrain
Office of His Majesty the King
P.O. Box 555 Rifa'a Palace,
Manama,
Bahrain
Fax: +973 176 64 587/17104977
24 May 2012
Your Majesty,
We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to express our serious concern at the detention of journalist Ahmed Radhi, human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, and other activists and bloggers.
Ahmed Radhi, a freelance journalist who contributes to local news websites, was reportedly arrested by security forces at 4 a.m. on 16 May after they broke down his door. His physical condition and any charges against him remain unknown.
According to reports, Mr Rajab, Head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, was arrested on his return from a visit to Lebanon on 5 May and charged with "offending an official institution" - namely the Ministry of the Interior - and "inciting illegal gatherings". He was also questioned about a tweet in which he allegedly insulted government officials.
We are also seriously concerned at the jailing of other human rights defenders, including Zainab Al-Khawaja, who faces four charges related to her taking part in an “illegal gathering”, and her father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who has been detained since 8 April 2011. Mr Al-Khawaja was beaten unconscious in front of his family at the time of his arrest and subjected to severe torture in jail before being sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court. Mr Al-Khawaja has been on hunger strike since 7 February. An investigation by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry recommended his release on humanitarian grounds.
We respectfully call on you to take all necessary steps to ensure that Mr Radhi, Mr Rajab, Ms Al-Khawaja, Mr Al-Khawaja, and all other human rights defenders held in detention are immediately released and charges against them dropped. We respectfully urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of human rights.
We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Jacob Mathew
President
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Erik Bjerager
President
World Editors Forum
WAN-IFRA is the global organisation for the world’s newspapers and news publishers, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organisation groups 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.
Cc:
Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to France
3 bis place des Etats-Unis
75016
Paris, France
Fax: 01 47 20 55 75