Mohammed Al-Maskati, President of BYSHR on Trial Once Again (!!!)
Its amazing the way all these authoritarian regimes use similiar tactics to inhibit power sharing. A press release from the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights noting Mohammed Al-Maskati, its President of BYSHR, is on trial (again) for working in a civil society organization without it being registered.
6 months Imprisonment and/or 500 BD should he be Found Guilty
The need to amend Laws related to the work of Societies11 November 2009 www.byshr.org
The President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati, 22 years, is facing up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine of BD 500, should he be found guilty of violating the controversial Bahraini Societies Law which has been found restrictive by numerous international human rights organizations including Amnesty International, the FIDH and Human Rights Watch.
Mr. Al-Maskati’s next court date is scheduled for the 16 of November 2009. The case is ambiguous as it has disappeared then reappeared (disappeared in January after 3 court sessions – followed by a summons with a new warrant (same charges) in June 2008). The case was then postponed repetitively over long periods of time the most recent development taking place before the last trial (July, 2009) when Mr. Al-Maskati’s attorney was informed that the court judge was changed and another postponement was ordered.
The charges are linked to the 1989 Law on Societies articles which are related to working in a society without it being registered or announced in the official Gazette. Worth mentioning, that after the intervention of the FIDH mid-June of this year on behalf of Mr. Al-Maskati, , the Ministry announced to the press that they had refused to register the BYSHR earlier as its founders were below the legal age of 18 and that they were free to register now.
The BYSHR founders were skeptical of the Ministries announcement, as the BYSHR founders were over the age of 18 when they approached the Ministry for registration in March 2005, which questions the Ministries genuine desire to register the Society and permit them to work freely.
The BYSHR is now hesitant to register due to fears that the Ministry may then use the restrictive law to hinder the society’s human rights activities, or worse, order it closure, as was the case with the BCHR’s in 2004.
The BYSHR is known on a national and international level for its work on issues related to the rights of individuals under detention, the training of locals on non-violent techniques, their participation in international causes relating to human rights, and their documentation and reporting of human rights violations in Bahrain. Most significant, their documenting and reporting of recent torture and arbitrary detention as well as the systematic arrests of human rights defender in Bahrain to the special Rapporteurs in the United Nations.
The BYSHR urges all civil and human rights organizations to
Call upon the Bahraini authorities to immediately drop charges and stop the trial against Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati the President of the BYSHR
To call for an end to the systematic intimidation of human rights activists in Bahrain
To call for a fundamental change in the controversial 1989 Law on Societies that hinders the activities of human rights and civil societies, and bring it up to an acceptable standard according to international human rights norms.Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
For more information:
Nader Al-Salatna – Vice-president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
+973-39596196 or naderalsalatna@byshr.org
