REEMA SHALLAN: In Bahrain, the Prisons are for the Reformers

The people of Bahrain are currently facing an unprecedented attack on their human rights. Since 14 February 2011, the government has detained thousands of non-violent demonstrators for their involvement in pro-democracy protests. Unfortunately, these arrests are just the first in a series of state-sanctioned human rights violations that pervade the Bahraini criminal justice system. After[…]

UAE Activist Receives International Human Rights Award

On 6 October 2015, a jury of ten leading human rights NGOs awarded Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The jury commended Mansoor’s continued efforts to raise awareness of common human rights abuses in the UAE, such as the arbitrary detention and torture of activists. The award celebrates human[…]

An Overview of ADHRB Engagement at the 30th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

From 14 September to 2 October 2015, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) engaged the 30th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva to raise awareness of ongoing human rights violations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States. ADHRB met with dozens of United[…]

Bahrain Postpones Opposition Leaders’ Free Speech Trials

12 October 2015 – Bahraini courts today postponed the trials of Ebrahim Sharif and Majeed Milad to 12 November 2015 and 27 October 2015, respectively. Sharif, former Secretary-General of the National Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad), faces up to ten years in prison for charges related to free expression. Milad, a senior member of the opposition and[…]

Saudi Arabia on the 13th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty

As the 13th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty approaches, the Government of Saudi Arabia has marked its calendar for a separate occasion: the public beheading of two minors. Despite its international obligations under the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child – and despite its seat on the[…]