Set Them Free Campaign Updates

BAHRAIN: On August 8, a Bahraini court delayed the second trial of Nabeel Rajab, human rights defender and president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR). He is now scheduled to appear in court on September 11 for charges related to his Twitter posts.

Last month, Rajab received a two-year sentence for “publishing and disseminating rumors and false news” in his New York Times article about Bahrain’s human rights abuses. Rajab was sentenced in absentia, too ill to attend his sentencing hearing. He has spent the past four months in the hospital recovering from surgery and other illnesses that have been exacerbated by harsh prison conditions.

Government officials from Germany, Norway, and the United States have joined civil society in condemning the treatment of Rajab and called for the Bahraini government to release him on humanitarian grounds.   

ETHIOPIA: On August 8, the government of Ethiopia lifted its 10-month-long state of emergency. As a result, there is speculation that individuals arrested during the state of emergency, such as pro-democracy Ethiopian activist Dr. Merera Gudina, head of the Oromo Federalist Congress, may be released. Gudina has been in detention for over eight months and is facing terrorism charges for attending a European Union meeting where he sat alongside Dr. Berhanu Nega, an exiled opposition party leader, and athlete Feyisa Lilesa. Feyisa gained worldwide attention with his solidarity gesture at the 2016 Rio Olympics which raised awareness for the human rights abuses in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region.

Although in detention, Gudina and the Centre for the Advancement of Human Rights and Democracy in Ethiopia (CAHDE) intend to sue the Ethiopian government for killing more than 1,000 people during protests that swept throughout the country shortly before the state of emergency was declared. Last month, Gudina’s team launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to fundraise in support of the lawsuit.  

Palestinian-Syrian Activist Bassel Khartabil Found to be Executed 

Earlier this month, Noura Ghazi Safadi, the wife of renowned “open-web” Palestinian-Syrian activist Bassel Khartabil, announced she finally received official confirmation that a military field court executed her husband two years ago. In 2012, authorities arrested Khartabil for his digital advocacy in support of freedom of expression in Syria. After three years, he was transferred from the Adra prison facility to an “undisclosed location,” and information about him disappeared from official state records.

Since 2011, more than 65,000 Syrians have been disappeared and 17,000 have died in Syria’s prisons. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly outlaws the use of military courts and special tribunals as instruments to prosecute civilians, however, authoritarian regimes in Bahrain, Egypt, Venezuela, and elsewhere frequently use them to suppress dissent. Read and share the #FREEBASSEL Campaign’s statement demanding that the Syrian government comply with the family of Khartabil’s request for his remains and additional information.

Call for Submissions: Strategic Litigation Proposals for National, Regional, and International Courts

Annalisa Ciampi, the newly appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and of association (FOAA), is accepting submissions for partnering on strategic litigation in cases brought before national, regional, and international courts. Special Rapporteur engagement may include: filing an “amicus curiae, third party interventions, expert opinions, etc., and will promote the implementation of FOAA rights, the emergence and definition of international standards, and the assessment of compliance therewith.” Please submit information to freeassembly@ohchr.org and include “strategic litigation” in the subject line; see additional information here.

Sign Up! World Movement Is Launching a New Participant Directory

A new interactive "Participant Directory" will include profiles of individuals, networks, and organizations associated with the World Movement for Democracy. Users will be able to identify and connect with fellows activists through the new directory when searching by topics, countries, and regions. To be featured, please fill out this quick online form here.