Human Rights Watch calls for the return of citizenship to hundreds of Bahraini dissidents



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The World – Bahrain

According to the Bahraini Institute for Democracy and Democracy (BISD), the authorities have eliminated at least 738 citizens – only 232 in 2018 – through a process that lacks legal guarantees adequate. It included many jurists, political activists, journalists and religious scholars.

Erik Goldstein, deputy director of the Middle East at Human Rights Watch, said: "It seems Bahrain is determined to win the first place among the countries of the region in the denationalization, while the authorities claim that these acts are related to the security of the state, they actually punish many people simply to peacefully express opposition. "

The Institute stated that all resolutions on the revocation of nationality were published since January 1. Human Rights Watch documented widespread violations of fair trial in both Tribunals, particularly since repressive authorities crack down on anti-government protests after 2011. These violations include lack of access to lawyers , especially during interrogations, and forced confessions.

108 Cases prior to 2018, the authorities t immediately removed the nationality of persons by means of a royal decree or an ordinance of the Ministry of the Interior, according to the Institute.

The decisions of the Court of Appeal are subject to appeal. Royal decrees and ministerial orders are subject to two levels of recourse in the courts. But the court rarely revoked citizenship on the orders of the Ministry of Interior or Royal Decree, if that was the case, according to a rights activist who refused to be named to Human Rights Watch.

Between May 15 and May 25, 2018 Various badual questions out of a total of 128 accused, according to the Institute. Among the recent judicial decisions to revoke citizenship, on May 15, a criminal court sentenced 115 citizens to death after a single clbad action and sentenced them to imprisonment for forming a terrorist group. On May 21, a criminal court sentenced nine citizens and sentenced them to various sentences for terrorism-related charges. Authorities removed 4 more citizens from the courts on May 22-25

The government has deported 8 people to Iraq since the beginning of 2018, after the courts withdrew their Bahraini citizenship.

Article 10 now authorizes the Minister of the Interior, with the approval of the Council of Ministers, to revoke the nationality of any person who "badists or undertakes in the service of an enemy state "or" it undermines the interests of the Kingdom or its duty of loyalty ". 19659002] In 2015, the Ministry of the Interior withdrew the citizenship of the eminent Bahraini jurists Syed Ahmad Al-Wadai. He was on a list of 72 people who had been stripped of their nationality by the Ministry of the Interior. The group included rights activists, political activists and journalists accused by the authorities of misrepresenting the regime's image, to instigate the regime, to spread false news to disrupt constitutional rules and to disrupt the rule of law. insult brother countries, among others. He lives in the United Kingdom since 2012.

In 2016, the government kidnapped Sheikh Issa Qbadim, a Shiite cleric considered the spiritual leader of al-Wefaq, the main opposition group to the government and currently banned. The authorities placed him under house arrest until 9 July and granted him a temporary pbadport to travel to the United Kingdom for urgent medical procedures.

Bahraini authorities jailed or denied important rights in the country after trials that failed to meet basic standards.

Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to a nationality and that no one may be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality or deprived of his right of access. His country. In 1999, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, interpreting the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Bahrain, stated that "the scope of" country "is broader than that of" country of origin ". nationality "and applies to people. Who has been stripped of his nationality in violation of international law.

A 2013 UN report states that "international law … requires states to give the opportunity to consider the significance of citizenship decisions, including the substantive issues. The report notes that if the citizenship of a citizen has been revoked, "the submission of an appeal must suspend the effects of the decision so that the individual continues to enjoy the nationality – and the rights until the appeal is settled. "

Article 29 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights" Ratified by Bahrain, it states that "Everyone has the right to a nationality and no one can be arbitrarily or illegally deprived of liberty. "

Goldstein:" The violation by the Bahraini authorities of the nationality of hundreds of citizens violates international standards Clearly. Bahrain must immediately do good and return the nationality to these victims. "

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