Under Siege… Freedom of Expression inthe Gulf Regions (Qatar, Bahrain & Kuwait)

Introduction

There is no doubt that freedom of opinion and expression and other related rights such as the right to peaceful assembly and the right to obtain information are among the fundamental rights affirmed by international charters and declarations of human rights. Although international law recognizes these rights and obligates states to take measures and put in place the necessary mechanisms to achieve and protect their exercise, in reality, there are many restrictions and obstacles imposed by countries to restrict the exercise of these rights, especially in Gulf States such as Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, where freedom of opinion is extensively violated. This is particularly evident in the countries’ vaguely-worded laws on public security, which are frequently used to punish the freedom of expression that is legally guaranteed in international human rights law. Although these countries have long had some laws that punish critics, which is in conflict with the right to freedom of opinion and expression, they are still imposing more repressive laws, such as the anti-terrorism or the cybersecurity laws, which are largely used to silence all dissenting voices and put critics and human rights defenders behind bars.

In addition, these countries usually use vaguely-worded laws and loose terms that lack the slightest guarantees of freedom of expression, such as the concept of false news, or the dissemination of false information, with the aim of imposing a comprehensive ban on the dissemination of information and harassment of opposition and human rights defenders and preventing any opinions that may oppose in one way or another the policies developed by these countries, which clearly contradict international standards and human rights laws.

In this report, we discuss how the right to freedom of opinion and expression is practiced in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait and highlight the situation of human rights defenders there. The report is concluded with a set of recommendations that Maat deem necessary for promoting the right to freedom of expression and opinion in a manner that is in line with the international standards regulating the situation of this right in the three countries.

The report is in Arabic

 

The report is in English

 

 

 

 

 

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