The deportation of a prominent Bahraini human rights defender upon arrival in Cairo, where he was due to present at an ISHR event, has put into sharp focus the challenges human rights defenders can face in engaging with international and regional human rights mechanisms.  

The event, a training and consultation on the United Nations and African human rights systems for human rights defenders from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), began today (Friday 13 April).

The deportation of a prominent Bahraini human rights defender upon arrival in Cairo, where he was due to present at an ISHR event, has put into sharp focus the challenges human rights defenders can face in engaging with international and regional human rights mechanisms.  

The event, a training and consultation on the United Nations and African human rights systems for human rights defenders from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), began today (Friday 13 April).

Mr Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was intended to speak at the event but was detained at and subsequently deported from Cairo airport on Wednesday afternoon.

This reprisal against Mr Rajab was deplored by the key speakers at the opening of the meeting, including the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders from the United Nations (UN) and African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Commission). Ms June Ray of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Mr Rajab’s contribution to the programme would be sorely missed.

More than 30 human rights defenders from 12 countries in the MENA region are attending the two-day event, organised by ISHR and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, with the support of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The defenders will receive briefings on the UN and African human rights systems, and will also meet with experts from the UN and African Commission.

Those taking part are Ms Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders; Mr Maina Kiai, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association; Ms Reine Alapini-Gansou, the African Commission Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa; and Ms June Ray from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ms Sekaggya said at the launch today that the training and consultation was especially important at a time when political transition was dramatically changing the work of human rights defenders in the region.

Ms Alapini-Gansou said the consultation was an opportunity to hear the concerns of human rights defenders, develop strategies with them, and for her mandate to collaborate with the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders.

Sessions on the role of the UN and African human rights systems in supporting and protecting defenders in the Arab world, the role of the Arab League in defending human rights, and challenges to freedom of opinion and expression in the Arab World have already taken place. Tomorrow, sessions will follow on violations related to the rights to peaceful protest and association, and combatting reprisals against those who collaborate with UN and African Union mechanisms will continue.

ISHR Director, Mr Bjorn Pettersson says the opportunity for human rights defenders to share their challenges and request support directly from the Special Rapporteurs is a critical component of the programme.

‘Giving human rights defenders an opportunity to meet with the Special Rapporteurs is of critical importance given the rapidly changing environment for their work in the region,’ he says.

‘We’ve also heard today from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa have not fully utilised mechanisms to send information to UN Special Rapporteurs. We hope this initiative will contribute to defenders being better able to engage with these systems and have their concerns heard.’