Bahrain Mirror: Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain welcomed the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy Ana Brian in which she spoke about Bahrain's spying on dissidents and asked about the steps that should be taken by the United Nations to hold Bahrain accountable.

The organization said in a statement: "On 15 March, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 52 under item 3. They expressed their concern over Bahrain's violations of rights to privacy where authorities have targeted activists, opposition leaders, and human rights defenders using spyware to monitor their activities."

"Bahrain's use of spyware to access private information is a violation of privacy and has caused psychiatric injury as indicated in the lawsuit of Bahraini prominent activist Saeed Al-Shehabi and photo journalist Moosa Mohammed," it said.

The organization welcomed the report by the Special Rapporteur and stressed that it "remains concerned over Bahrain's violations of rights to privacy where authorities have targeted activists, opposition leaders, and human rights defenders using spyware to monitor their activities, including communication with political prisoners."

"Bahrain's history of systematically targeting activists and human rights defenders is cause for concern over privacy and security in the country."

The organization asked the Rapporteur: "What steps should be taken for the Bahraini government to be held accountable for violating the privacy of these two activists?" (Al-Shehabi and Mohammad).

The High Court in London issued a historic decision recently in which it rebuked Bahrain's claims of state immunity and allowed a lawsuit to proceed, brought by Al-Shehabi and Mohammed who have been targeted by Bahrain's spyware program.

Arabic Version