Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry
February/March 2011. Additionally, the GoB has initiated proposals that
would amend laws restricting freedoms of expression and association. 624
1264. A number of persons who have been charged with misdemeanours
under articles 165, 168, 169 and 179 of the Bahrain Penal Code, as well as
other related charges, have been convicted. They are still detained pursuant to
these convictions, pending appeal.
2. Applicable Law
a) International Law
1265. Article 19 of the ICCPR provides:
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without
interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this
right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either
orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any
other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this
article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may
therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be
such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order
(ordre public), or of public health or morals.
1266. Similarly, article 32 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights
“guarantees the right to information and to freedom of opinion and expression,
as well as the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through
any medium, regardless of geographical boundaries.”
1267. With regard to the ICCPR, the Human Rights Committee has noted
that restrictions on the right to freedom of expression “must be ‘provided by
law’; they may only be imposed for one of the grounds set out in
subparagraphs (a) and (b) of [article 19(3)]; and they must conform to the
strict tests of necessity and proportionality.” 625
1268. The Human Rights Committee has also observed that “restrictive
measures must conform to the principle of proportionality; they must be
appropriate to achieve their protective function; they must be the least
intrusive instrument amongst those which might achieve their protective
function; they must be proportionate to the interest to be protected… The
624 See Chapter XI.
625 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 34: Article 19 Freedoms of Opinion and
Expression (2011) para 22.
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