A record number of women have been elected in Bahrain's elections. By the election's second and final round of voting on Sunday, a total of six women were voted in, doubling the number of female legislators in the tiny Gulf kingdom. pic.twitter.com/ZteTgQpM7l
— Rizwana_Kareem (@Rizwana_kareem) December 3, 2018
Association
The second round of elections held in Bahrain on 2nd December 2018 saw a record number of women elected to the country’s parliament. A total of 6 women were voted in, doubling the number from the 3 who were voted in during the previous election in 2014.
#Bahrain held elections this weekend while Shi’a clerics who led the main opposition party remain jailed and Shi’a activists remain in prison. #ReligiousFreedom requires that all communities be able to participate in democratic processes. https://t.co/8cDAp7QwEC
— USCIRF (@USCIRF) November 27, 2018
The elections were however criticised as a sham elections because no political opposition parties were able to take part. While authorities claimed the voter turnout was 67 per cent, civil society organisations disputed this figure, stating that the turnout was only 30 per cent. The first round had been held on 24th November 2018.
In the weeks prior to the elections, the international community - including the US Congress, the European Parliament, and the British, Irish and Italian parliaments - raised concerns regarding the political environment in Bahrain ahead of the elections, drawing attention to the closure of civic and political space in Bahrain in recent years. According to Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the elections met none of the criteria for a free and fair elections – all major opposition organisations were dissolved and legislation prevented anyone who had been a member of these organisations from taking part. Further, no independent election monitors were allowed to monitor the elections.
#UPDATE Bahrain has sentenced Sheikh Ali Salman -- the head of the country's Shiite opposition movement -- to life in prison for spying for Qatar in a ruling rights groups have called a travestyhttps://t.co/F8lJlhgNTv
— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 4, 2018
Ahead of the elections the authorities continued their relentless targeting of political opposition and civil society figures. On 4th November 2018, leading Bahraini opposition figure Sheikh Ali Salman and two members of the now-dissolved peaceful opposition movement, al-Wefaq Society, Sheikh Hassan Ali Juma Sultan and Ali Mahdi Ali Al Aswad, were sentenced to life in prison for espionage, overturning acquittals by a lower court.
As previously reported in the CIVICUS Monitor, the three had been accused of plotting with the Qatari government to destabilise Bahrain.
Sheikh Salman was due to be released a month after the sentencing was issued after serving four years of a previous sentence before the decision to overturn his acquittal.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director said:
“This verdict is a travesty of justice that demonstrates the Bahraini authorities’ relentless and unlawful efforts to silence any form of dissent. Sheikh Ali Salman is a prisoner of conscience who is being held solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.”
#Bahrain: Political prisoners Ali Hajji & Naji Fateel were placed in solitary confinement at #Jau_prison following the release of voice recordings where they spoke about the torture they endured & the lack of access to adequate medical care.
— Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei (@SAlwadaei) November 13, 2018
20 UK MPs called for their release pic.twitter.com/bP9byVrUgC
The undersigned NGOs urge [UN High Commissioner] to publicly condemn the appalling reprisals facing women human rights defenders Hajer Mansoor, Najah Yusuf and Medina Ali in Bahrain's Isa Town Prison" https://t.co/eyPFYfCMWy @ADHRB @BahrainRights @GulfCentre4HR @IndexCensorship
— IFEX (@IFEX) October 20, 2018
Women human rights defenders Hajer Mansoor, Najah Yusuf and Medina Ali have been targeted with reprisals after their cases were raised by the UN and the British Parliament. On 16th September 2018 they were assaulted by prison guards in Isa Town Prison. Authorities then imposed restrictions on all inmates in the prison, requiring all visits to be conducted behind glass barriers and locking inmates in their cells for 23 hours a day. The collective punishment has triggered international criticism, with members of the British Parliament raising concerns and international media outlets reporting on the events.
Despite the serious human rights situation in the country, on 12th October, Bahrain was elected unopposed to the UN Human Rights Council.
Expression
Freedom of expression continues to be seriously threatened in Bahrain. On 5th November 2018, the International Day to End Impunity Against Journalists, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights released a report entitled “Press in Bahrain: The Usurpation of the Word”. The report documents violations against journalists and media workers in Bahrain since 2011, which have included killings, arrests and detention, revocation of citizenship of journalists and media workers, the closure of newspapers and media outlets and blocking of websites. The report calls upon the Government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists and media workers and repeal laws which restrict freedom of expression.
In a positive development, on 17th September 2018, Bahraini photographer Hussain Hubail was released after serving a five-year prison sentence on charges of belonging to protest movements. He was allegedly tortured in prison after his arrest on 31st July 2013.