Bahrain Mirror: The Bahrain Human Rights Forum, in cooperation with the Journalists Support Committee and the Khiam Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, held a media seminar on May 11, 2023 entitled "Bahrain: An environment that suppresses press freedoms", marking the "Bahraini Press Day" and "World Press Freedom Day".

In her intervention during the seminar, Ghina Rubai, a researcher at the Bahrain Forum for Human Rights, stressed that "based on legalizing the suppression of freedoms, journalists, bloggers and publishers have been prosecuted until the number of arbitrarily detained has reached nearly 2,000 since 2011, on charges of inciting hatred or threatening civil peace."

"The most dangerous thing about the suppression of freedoms in Bahrain is that citizens cannot invoke the law in order to obtain their right to freedom of the press and freedom of expression," she added.

Abdulhafez Mojab, a member of the executive committee of the Journalists Support Committee, said, "Bahrain today is in the last rank in international indicators related to freedom of opinion and expression and political freedoms, and has ranked last at the level of the Arab Gulf countries."

He called on the Bahraini authorities to "make amendments to the press and electronic media laws and legislation in line with international standards and conventions that Bahrain has ratified and acceded to."

Mohammed Safa, head of the Khiam Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, called on the Bahraini authorities to "allow the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and other UN rapporteurs to visit Bahrain."

He also demanded the Bahraini authorities to "compensate the families of victims of extrajudicial killings, whether by torture and other media victims or those killed because of their exercise of freedom of expression."

Arabic Version