GCC summit: Systematic clampdown on freedom of expression in Gulf

The appalling human rights records of states in the Gulf must not be swept under the carpet when member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) gather in the Bahraini capital, Manama, this week (6-7 December) for their annual summit, said Amnesty International today.

Human rights will be notably absent from the agenda at the annual meeting when the six GCC states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - come together to discuss trade and security cooperation, with no mention of the widespread crackdown witnessed across the region on the grounds of security.

In an emblematic case from the UAE, the human rights lawyer Mohammed al-Roken is serving a 10 year prison sentence after being convicted of national security charges following a blatantly unfair mass trial of 94 people widely known as the “UAE 94” trial.

Across the region people have found themselves also serving lengthy prison terms simply for daring to express their opinions freely on social media.

The prominent Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab is among several activists in the GCC to have been unlawfully prosecuted for comments posted on Twitter.

In Kuwait Abdallah Fairouz, a human rights activist detained in November 2013 is serving a total of five and a half years’ imprisonment for tweets expressing his view that no one should have immunity from prosecution because they reside in a royal palace. He is a prisoner of conscience.

Speaking out freely to criticize government policies and call for peaceful reform also saw Sheikh Ali Salman, head of Bahrain’s main opposition party, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, sentenced to nine years in prison in a shocking attack on freedom of expression. The al-Wefaq party was also shutdown.

In Bahrain, the UAE and Kuwait hundreds of people have been unlawfully stripped of their nationality in recent years often rendering them stateless and depriving them of key rights, marking an alarming regional trend of using this as a tactic to punish dissent.

“In the GCC today exercizing your fundamental rights or speaking your mind freely can very easily land you in jail. GCC states need to stop branding independent human rights activists and peaceful critics as criminals. Instead of locking such people away for long periods under the false pretence of defending national security they should welcome scrutiny of their human rights records,” said Randa Habib.

Click here to read full report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/12/gcc-summit-systematic-cla...