Bahrain: Human Rights Defender Ebtisam Al-Sayegh arrested and detained for the second...

Just before midnight, five cars and a mini van arrived at the home of Ebtisam Al-Sayegh and a large group of armed security agents, reportedly belonging to the National Security Agency (NSA) raided her home without a warrant. They took her away from her husband and children and her family has had no contact with her since then. She was seen in Isa Town Women’s Prison but it is thought that she has since been transferred and her current whereabouts remain unknown. There is serious concern for her health and safety.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) expresses serious concern at the arrest and detention of Ebtisam Al-Sayegh particularly due to the torture she suffered at the hands of the NSA in May and the fact that her whereabouts remain unknown. The GCHR expresses further concern at the on-going targeting by the NSA of Ebtisam Al-Sayegh and all human rights defenders solely as a direct result of their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

The GCHR urges the authorities in Bahrain to:

Immediately and unconditionally release Ebtisam Al-Sayegh;
Immediately disclose her whereabouts and ensure that she has contact with her family;
Guarantee that Ebtisam Al-Sayegh and all human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

The GCHR respectfully reminds you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. 

This is a summary of the news: http://www.gc4hr.org/report/view/67