After founding “Saudi Arabian Liberals” – an online forum for political and social debate – Raif Badawi, 29, was charged last June with “setting up a website that undermines public security” and ridiculing Islamic religious figures. The prosecution had on the basis of this called for him to be tried for “apostasy”, which carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

He has been detained for the past year in a prison in Briman, in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah, after being arrested on 17 June 2012.

“One year on, Raif Badawi remains behind bars as his trial continues for the ‘crime’ of encouraging social debate online,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“His detention shows the authorities’ contempt for online expression, and serves as a warning to the third of the Saudi Arabian population who are resorting to social media to express themselves, particularly if they are thinking of airing dissenting views.”

The charges against Raif Badawi relate to a number of articles he has written, including one about Valentine’s Day for which he is accused of ridiculing Saudi Arabia’s Commission on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

One of his articles concluded:

“Congratulations to us for the Commission on the Promotion of Virtue for teaching us virtue and for its eagerness to ensure that all members of the Saudi public are among the people of paradise.”

The charges against the website founder also mention his failure to remove articles by other people on his website, including one that insinuates that Al-Imam Mohamed ibn Saud University had become “a den for terrorists”.

“Amnesty International considers Raif Badawi to be a prisoner of conscience and therefore calls for him to be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Philip Luther.

His trial began in June 2012 in the District Court in Jeddah, and was marred by irregularities there. According to his lawyer, the original trial judge was replaced by a judge who had advocated that Raif Badawi be punished for “apostasy”. His lawyer contested the judge’s impartiality in the case.

On 17 December, the District Court referred the case to the General Court in Jeddah, which five days later made Raif Badawi sign documents to enable his trial for “apostasy” to proceed.

Conflicting views over which court had jurisdiction over the case, relating in part to the judge at the District Court insisting that he be tried for “apostasy” – something only the General Court can do – resulted in the case being shuffled between several courts. Most recently on 8 June the District Court sent the case back to the appeal court once again insisting that he be tried for “apostasy” despite the appeal court not considering that he be tried on that charge.

“Raif Badawi’s trial has been an attempt to intimidate him and others who seek to engage in open debates about the issues that Saudi Arabians face in their daily lives,” said Philip Luther.

Over the past two years, the Saudi Arabian authorities have arrested several others for expressing online views deemed to be contrary to Islam.

Hamza Kashgari remains detained without charge or trial since he was extradited from Malaysia in February 2012, where he had fled after he wrote about the Prophet Muhammed on the social network Twitter.

The prominent writer and academic Turki al-Hamad was reportedly released without charge on 5 June after he was detained in December 2012 for tweets also deemed contrary to Islam.

Bloggers, critics and activists have been increasingly singled out for their online activism in the Gulf kingdom.

On 9 March 2013, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) was required to shut down its social media accounts and disband. Two of ACPRA’s founders, Mohammad al-Qahtani and Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, were sentenced to 10 and 11 years’ imprisonment respectively. They submitted appeals against their sentences on 28 May.

Most human rights activists who have faced interrogations have been confronted with printouts of their online statements on Twitter and other social media, with security officials questioning them about the meaning and intentions.

Abdul Aziz al-Hussan, the main lawyer of al-Qahtani and al-Hamid, was interrogated shortly after he tweeted about visiting his clients in prison in March. Arriving at the al-Malaz prison in Riyadh on 11 March, he found the two men in handcuffs, which prison officials refused to remove. He decided to leave the country within 24 hours after being interrogated.

The lawsuit, filed in 2005 on behalf of the Corrie family by attorney Hussein abu Hussein, charges the State of Israel with responsibility for Rachel’s killing and failure to conduct a full and credible investigation in the case.

Corrie was 23 years old when she went to the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip as part of a group of activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to portest against the demolition of Palestinian civilian homes in Gaza.

In reading out the verdict on Tuesday at the Haifa District Court in northern Israel, the judge said the state was not responsible for any “damages caused” as they had occurred during what he termed war-time actions. He called Corrie’s death a “regrettable accident”, according to Reuters.

“I reject the suit,” the judge said. “There is no justification to demand the state pay any damages.” as the  Corrie family had requested a symbolic $1 in damages and legal expenses.

“I am hurt,” Corrie’s mother, Cindy, told reporters after the verdict was read.

In a statement released by attorney Hussein abu Hussein on the Rachel Corrie Foundation website he said: “We knew from the beginning that we had an uphill battle to get truthful answers and justice, but we are convinced that this verdict distorts the strong evidence presented in court, and contradicts fundamental principles of international law with regard to protection of human rights defenders. In denying justice in Rachel Corrie’s killing, this verdict speaks to the systemic failure to hold the Israeli military accountable for continuing violations of basic human rights.

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Israel has failed to carry out the “thorough, credible and transparent investigation” it had promised into the death of American activist Rachel Corrie in Gaza nine years ago, the US ambassador in Tel Aviv said a few days ago.

Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death March 16, 2003, by an Israeli military Caterpillar D9-R bulldozer while nonviolently protesting demolition of Palestinian civilian homes in Rafah, Gaza.

Israel has failed to carry out the “thorough, credible and transparent investigation” it had promised into the death of American activist Rachel Corrie in Gaza nine years ago, the US ambassador in Tel Aviv reiterated to her family on Friday, according to the Independent.

The lawsuit, filed in 2005 on behalf of the Corrie family by attorney Hussein abu Hussein, charges the State of Israel with responsibility for Rachel’s killing and failure to conduct a full and credible investigation in the case.

“The lawsuit is just a small step in our family’s nearly decade-long search for truth and justice,” said Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father. “The mounting evidence presented before the court underscores a broken system of accountability – tolerated by the United States in spite of its conclusions that Israel’s military investigation was not ‘thorough, credible, or transparent.’”

Oral testimony in the case began March 10, 2010. There have been 15 court hearings since with 23 witnesses testifying. The trial has exposed serious chain-of-command failures in relation to civilian killings and indiscriminate destruction of civilian property at the hands of the Israeli military in southern Gaza.

“This trial is an attempt to hold accountable not only those who failed to protect Rachel’s life but also the flawed system of military investigations which is neither impartial nor thorough,” said Hussein abu Hussein, the family’s attorney. “Under international law, Israel is obligated to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians from the dangers of military operations. The Israeli military flagrantly violated this principle in the killing of Rachel Corrie and it must be held accountable.”

Judge Oded Gershon’s reading of the verdict is expected to be brief. The Corrie family will hold a press conference following at the Colony Hotel, a short distance from the courthouse.

Rajab was sentenced on August 16, 2012, to three years in prison for his involvement in three demonstrations between January and March 2012. Defense lawyers told Human Rights Watch that the judge issued the sentence before they could get to the hearing from a hearing in another case involving Rajab in another court. Rajab was taken to prison before he was able to meet with lawyers or his wife and children.

“This ruling shows that Bahrain’s rulers are committed to a policy of comprehensive repression,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of releasing people jailed for peaceful dissent, it seems determined to lock up even more people who try to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free expression.”

A prosecution official had earlier told Bahraini media that Rajab had incited violence. But authorities have yet to provide, in court or anywhere else, any indication of what it was he said or did that constituted incitement, Human Rights Watch said.

Rajab was already serving a three-month prison term for allegedly “insulting” the people of Muharraq, a town outside of Manama, the capital. The conviction was based on Rajab’s June 2 tweet calling for the prime minister to resign, saying he was not popular in the town. Hours after that sentence was issued on July 9, masked security officers arrested Rajab at his home.

Defense lawyers Jalila Al-Sayed and Mohamed al-Jishi told Human Rights Watch that on August 16, they first attended an appeal session in a separate court regarding Rajab’s Twitter sentence. The hearing was adjourned until August 23. They went to the “illegal gathering” hearing immediately afterward. Before they arrived, though, they learned that the judge had already ruled on the case and that security officials had taken Rajab back to prison.

“Nabeel Rajab has committed no genuine criminal offense, to judge from everything Bahraini officials have said about the case, and now it is also clear that they also violated his right to a fair trial,” Stork said.

On August 12 the defense team filed a complaint with the Supreme Judicial Council requesting the replacement of the judge assigned to the “illegal assembly” hearing after he had earlier moved up the date of the session from September 26 without consultation or “reasonable cause,” the lawyers said. The Supreme Judicial Council did not respond to the complaint.

“Rajab is a human rights activist and he was just exercising his right to peaceful gathering and was calling for justice in this country,” al-Sayed told Human Rights Watch. “He was just expressing what most Bahrainis want to say but fear prosecution if they were to say it loudly.”

In a separate case, police stopped Said Yusif al-Muhafdah, a prominent activist with the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, when he was driving with his two young daughters on August 16. He told Human Rights Watch that the police said they had received a complaint from other police at a traffic checkpoint. When they searched his car they found a poster of Rajab and asked, “Who is this son of a bitch?” When al-Muhafdah objected, he said, the policemen struck him on the head and told him to phone his wife to pick up his daughters. They then took him to a police station for questioning before releasing him nearly three hours later. Al-Muhafdah told Human Rights Watch that he filed a complaint with the public prosecution today for mistreatment by the police.

The Obama administration should raise Rajab’s case forcefully with the Bahraini government, Human Rights Watch said.

Nabeel Rajab, the President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested on 9 July, just hours after a court in the capital Manama sentenced him for libel following a complaint made against him by the people of al-Muharraq area, north of Bahrain, for “publicly vilifying the al-Muharraq people and questioning their patriotism with disgraceful expressions posted via social networking websites”.

“Nabeel Rajab’s imprisonment is the latest example of how, despite government promises to introduce reforms following its violent crackdown on protesters in 2011, few improvements have been seen on the ground. It’s clear that repression of freedom of expression is continuing with impunity in Bahrain,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director.

“Like many others in Bahrain, Nabeel Rajab is a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. He should be released immediately and all other charges or convictions against him dropped or overturned. The authorities must also act to ensure that all human rights defenders are able to carry out their work without fear of reprisal.”

The charges against Rajab related to a 2 June tweet addressing the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, following his visit to the area. Rajab wrote: “Khalifa: Leave the al-Muharraq alley ways, their sheikhs and their elderly, everyone knows that you have no popularity there; and if it was not for their need for money they would not have come out to welcome you – when will you bow out?”

Rajab was arrested on 6 June following complaints about the tweet from several people of al-Muharraq. He was charged with libel on 14 June and released on bail on 27 June.

Rajab is now held in al-Jaw prison, in Manama. He has already served 21 days of his three-month sentence. His lawyer has lodged an appeal which is scheduled to be heard on 18 July. Rajab still faces three further court cases.

In November 2011, a report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), set up by the king, Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa, concluded that the authorities had committed gross human rights violations with impunity, including excessive use of force against protesters, widespread torture and other ill-treatment of protesters, unfair trials and unlawful killings.

The report urged the government to establish an independent body to oversee the implementation of the BICI’s recommendations; to usher in legislative reforms to ensure laws are in line with international human rights standards; to bring to account those responsible for abuses; to release all prisoners of conscience and to conduct investigations into allegations of torture.

So far the government has done very little. Reforms have been piecemeal and have failed to provide real accountability and justice for the victims.

Violations continue to be committed against those who oppose the Al Khalifa family’s rule. Several demonstrations in June were reportedly suppressed by excessive force.

On 27 June, another activist, Zainab al-Khawaja was hit on her thigh by a tear gas canister shot at very close range while she was documenting incidents during a demonstration in Buri village, south-west of Manama calling for greater respect for the right to peaceful protest. She told Amnesty International the injury left her with a fractured bone and 17 stitches.

Fellow activist Said Yousif Almuhafdah, who works for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and who was also present during the attack, filed a complaint in a police station and was told an investigation into the incident would be launched.

Meanwhile, the government is refusing to release scores of prisoners who are incarcerated simply because they called for meaningful political reforms, and is also failing to address the Shi’a majority’s deep sense of discrimination and political marginalization.

Last month, during an official visit to the UK, Bahrain’s Minister of Interior Lt-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, insisted that there were no detainees held in Bahrain on account of their opinions but only people “who had committed acts punishable under the law”.

The Bahraini Penal Code contains vaguely worded provisions that can be used to criminalize the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression, association and assembly.

Rajab is facing trial on charges of taking part in an “illegal gathering” and “disturbing public order’ during an anti-government protest in Manama on 6 February. The next hearing for this case is scheduled for 26 September 2012.

Another ongoing trial relates to charges of “illegal gathering” brought against him on 6 June. The next session of this hearing is due to take place on 16 July.

Rajab is also appealing against his 28 June conviction of “insulting a national institution” (the Ministry of Interior) in his tweets. The appeal is due to be heard on 27 November.