December 13, 2024 10:30 (IST)

Make this your homepage

Foreign

Congress always prioritised personal interest over Constitution: Rajnath Singh | Jaishankar calls attack on Hindus in Bangladesh 'a source of concern' | Allu Arjun arrested over woman's death in stampede during Pushpa 2 premiere show | RBI receives bomb threat in Russian language, case filed | UP teenager kills mother, lives with body for 5 days | At least six people including a child killed in Tamil Nadu hospital fire | Amid Atul Subhash row, SC says mere harassment is not enough to prove abetment to suicide | India's D Gukesh becomes youngest ever world champion in chess | Devendra Fadnavis meets PM Modi amid suspense over Maharashtra portfolio allocation | Congress wants to deviate the issue of Sonia Gandhi-George Soros link: JP Nadda

Bahrain: UN rights office deplores activist's arrest

India Blooms News Service | | Oct 04, 2014, at 08:42 pm

#Bahrain # UN rights

New York, Oct 4 (IBNS) The United Nations Human Rights Office voiced alarm on Friday at the detention of a prominent human rights defender by Bahraini authorities in the Gulf countryâ€™s second such incident in less than a month, and urged the Government of Bahrain to ensure the protection of all human rights activists within its borders.

Nabeel Rajab was arrested on Wednesday as he returned to Bahrain following a trip overseas where he discussed the human rights situation in his country with a number of interlocutors, including the UN, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Initially charged with publicly insulting a Government institution on social media, Rajab has been detained for a week pending investigation.

“We urge Bahraini authorities to immediately release Nabeel Rajab and all other individuals detained for peaceful exercise of their rights,” OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville told anews briefing in Geneva.

“Human rights defenders in Bahrain must be able to carry out their work without fear of reprisals.”

Rajab’s detention is the latest incident involving the arrest of a prominent human rights defender by Bahraini authorities, coming just one month after activist Maryam al-Khawaja was stopped and charged with assaulting two police officers.

Al-Khawaja was detained while travelling to Bahrain on her Danish passport to visit her father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2011 and whose health condition is reportedly deteriorating.

She was subsequently detained at the airport, apparently because her Bahraini passport had expired. She was then transferred to a women’s prison on charges of assaulting a police officer but has since be conditionally released.

“The detention of high-profile human rights activists like Nabeel Rajab and Maryam Al-Khawaja sends a chilling message to other lesser-known activists of the consequences they may face for any criticism of the authorities,” Colville continued, noting that Rajab had already expressed apprehension regarding the potential reprisals he expected to face upon his return to Bahrain.

“Human rights defenders in Bahrain must be able to carry out their work without fear of reprisals,” he added.

Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. UN Photo

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.