Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), a senior House Democrat and co-chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released the following statement in response to Bahrain’s decision to uphold the two-year prison sentence of Nabeel Rajab for his actions to call attention to the human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini government.

“Today Bahrain doubled down on its unjust treatment of Nabeel Rajab, a brave human rights defender and my friend. A Bahraini court rejected an appeal by Nabeel Rajab of the two-year sentence imposed on him for the ‘crime’ of , a brave human rights defender and my friend, Nabeel Rajab have again failed to uphold the most basic standards of justice.

“Last July a two-year prison sentence was imposed on Nabeel for the ‘crime’ of giving television interviews about the horrible human rights situation in his country. His trial was full of irregularities, like the fact that he was sentenced in absentia while hospitalized, and suffered months of solitary confinement, a form of torture. By the time the sentence is up he will actually have served two and a half years – and he faces another 15 years in separate cases for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen and writing about allegations of torture in Jaw Prison.

“Nabeel’s case is a textbook example of the misuse and manipulation of a judicial system for purely political ends. Bahrain simply cannot tolerate freedom of expression.

“This court decision will not silence Nabeel, and it will not silence those of us in the international community who stand with him. All Bahrain has accomplished is to prove Nabeel right: the Bahraini government systematically violates its citizens’ most fundamental rights. Today’s decision proves his point.”

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