Cameron should tell Bahraini King UK is not prepared to hold its tongue over crack down on critics

As the UK Prime Minister David Cameron prepares to meet Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at Downing Street today, Allan Hogarth, Head of Policy and Government Affairs at Amnesty International UK, said:

“There’s a façade of supposed reform in Bahrain, but the reality is that critics and dissenting voices are just locked up and silenced.

“We want Mr Cameron to make it crystal clear that the UK is not prepared to hold its tongue over the appalling way critics and protestors are treated.

“In particular, the Prime Minister should raise the cases of blogger Mohammad Hassan Sayef, and cameraman Hussain Habib, who were arrested last week, most likely for their social media activity.

“The King of Bahrian is very keen to present a glossy image of a country which has dealt with past unrest- but we know is only achieved by silencing anyone who gets in his way.”

In recent months the Bahrain government has cracked down on people disseminating information about the human rights situation in Bahrain through social media such as Twitter and Facebook.  On 28 July Bahrain’s Parliament submitted 22 recommendations to the King toughening punishments laid out in the 2006 anti-terrorism law. The King has welcomed the recommendations and has already issued two decrees to this effect. One of the recommendations is to make sending false information on Bahrain through social media networks a crime punishable by imprisonment.

Mohammad Hassan Sayef, a 26-year-old blogger and translator and Hussain Habib, a 23- year-old cameraman, were arrested separately on 31 July. They are held incommunicado and are at risk of torture.

More than two years after the uprising in Bahrain, and beneath the fanfare of subsequent reform, prisoners of conscience, including some arrested during the protests, remain behind bars and the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly continue to be suppressed.