In 2010, reports of the harassment of human rights defenders increased in some countries, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In addition to arbitrary arrests and detention, malicious prosecution and unfair trials, travel bans and systematic monitoring of the Internet continued to be used against HRDs in the Middle East and North Africa. There were also numerous cases of HRDs who were forced to flee their countries to escape arrest or prosecution.

The use of the judicial system against HRDs was particularly widespread across all countries in the region. HRDs and journalists were charged and tried in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Libya, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, and Yemen. Charges ranged from terrorism and subversion to defamation and participation in illegal protests. In Saudi Arabia, the number of reports of HRDs being harassed by the authorities increased in 2010. A human rights defender was charged and sentenced to a prison term and public lashes for organising a public protest in the town of Qubba. Four other HRDs were held in detention and in one especially worrisome case a HRD has been held incommunicado since 2007 without charges. In Syria, there were a number of reported cases of arbitrary detention and prosecutions on the basis of fabricated charges. Two prominent HRDs were sentenced to three years in prison in June and July respectively after unfair trials. The authorities continued to detain human rights defender Ali Saleh Al-Abdallah despite the fact that the prison term to which he had been convicted in late 2007 had ended in June 2010.

The use of the legal system against HRDs is often coupled with restrictive legislation, and this holds particularly true in the region. 2010 saw Egypt tabling draft NGO legislation further tightening government control over the membership, management and funding of NGOs and banning NGOs from registering as businesses, an expedient used by several human rights groups to retain independence. In June 2010, Tunisia made “contacts with agents of a foreign country, foreign institution or organisation” which may affect vital interests of Tunisia or its economic security a criminal offence, in a move which it was feared could allow the prosecution of human rights defenders who cooperate with foreign and multilateral organisations including the EU and the UN.

Monitoring of the Internet and electronic communications was a common occurrence. As a result of the intense Internet surveillance, a number of bloggers and contributors to online news sites were targeted in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain, blogger Ali Abdulemam was arrested on 4 September 2010. His arrest occurred in the context of a wider crackdown on civil society that preceded the elections held in October. Approximately 400 individuals were arrested between August and September, including at least ten human rights defenders who faced terrorism related charges. The trials that ensued were considered by international observers to be unfair. Several of those detained, including some HRDs, reported being subjected to torture, and no serious investigation of those complaints was carried out. The majority of those detained were released in February 2011 following the wave of region-wide protests that also reached Bahrain.

Travel bans continued to be used extensively in a bid to limit criticism at the international level. Front Line reported on HRDs subjected to formal or de facto travel bans in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.

As in many other regions of the world, journalists paid a high price for their reporting on human rights abuses and the curtailment of freedoms. Front Line reported on cases of harassment of journalists from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. In Iran, Jila Baniyaghoub was sentenced in June 2010 to one year’s detention and was banned from practicing journalism for 30 years. She was not the only target of the regime. In the context of a wider crackdown on political opponents and HRDs, many human rights lawyers were arbitrarily detained, charged and sentenced to prison terms and banned from practicing law. Several HRDs had to leave the country.

In Palestine HRDs protesting against the separation wall and its negative impact on the economic and social rights of Palestinians were subjected to excessive, sometimes lethal, use of force, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and unfair trial. Human rights work is seriously impaired by severe limitations on the right to freedom of movement. In Israel, human rights groups defending the rights of Palestinians and documenting violations by the Israeli military were subjected to continued pressure and campaigns of defamation by the Israeli authorities and hard line members of the Israeli parliament.

Arbitrary detention and ill-treatment in Western Sahara increased in November 2010 in connection with a reported raid by the Moroccan military and security forces on a camp of displaced Sahrawi families near Laayoune. On that occasion at least five HRDs were manhandled or arrested. A number of Sahrawi HRDs were put on trial after prolonged pre-trial detention, and their lawyers and international observers were harassed at court by groups loyal to the Moroccan authorities.