The European Parliament Thursday convened a session on the repressive actions of the Al Khalifa regime, in which it approved a draft resolution condemning Bahrain’s human rights violations by a majority vote.
According to the report, 633 out of 689 members of the European Parliament supported a draft resolution condemning the increase in the death penalty, continued torture of detainees and the persecution of human rights defenders in Bahrain.
The European Union Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority on Thursday to adopt a draft resolution condemning human rights violations in Bahrain, where the death penalty is retained for a wide range of offences.
The Parliament called on Bahrain to quickly halt the imminent execution of 26 death row prisoners and condemned the ongoing use of torture against detainees and the persecution of human rights defenders
“[Members of the European Parliament] are deeply concerned that ten years after the Bahraini ‘Arab Spring’ uprising, in 2011, the human rights situation in the country continues to worsen,” it said in a statement.
The draft resolution, which comes after a spike in the use of capital punishment, was supported by 633 European deputies out of 689.
It calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience, including the Danish citizen Abdul Hadi Al-Khawaja, as well as Naji Fateel, Abdul-Wahhab Hussein, Ali Haji, Sheikh Ali Salman, and Hassan Mushaima, who was detained and sentenced for exercising their right to freedom of expression, according to the resolution.
In what has been a concerted crackdown on civil society, media and fundamental freedoms, Bahraini authorities have in the past month embarked on a series of arrests, impositions of travel bans and denaturalisations of their citizens who have tried to exercise their fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
These moves include:
- the arrest and prosecution of the prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab;
- the suspension announced dissolution and the asset-freeze of the country’s biggest opposition party, the Al-Wefaq Islamic Society;
- an increased jail sentence, from 4 to 9 years, for the party’s Secretary-General, Sheikh Ali Salman;
- the imposition of travel bans on journalists and activists, including a delegation of human rights activists set to participate at the 32nd UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva;
- the forced exile of prominent human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja;
- the suspension of several non-governmental and religious organisations;
- the denationalisation of Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shia majority population
These moves, and in particular the decision to revoke the citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qassim, provoked a wave of mass protests across the country, representing the largest public outcry since the 2011 unrest.
