Bahraini government uses ‘sports diplomacy’ to cover up human rights abuses

Following the 2011 pro-democracy protests, Bahraini authorities suspended approximately 120 athletes and sports club personnel, including twenty-seven members of national sports teams. As journalist Karim Zidan recently documented, while the Bahraini government subjected many of these athletes to torture and other forms of reprisal, it has simultaneously used sports to divert attention from such ongoing[…]

Omani courts issue verdicts violating free speech

In August, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) covered the initial arrest of three Azamn newspaper journalists and the paper’s suspension in Oman. The crimes were related to a report Azamn published on 26 July 2016 that criticized Oman’s judicial system. Two days after the report’s release, Omani authorities arrested the founder[…]

Event: Living as Commodities: Human trafficking & migrant exploitation in the Arab Gulf

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) will be hosting parliamentary panel on forced labor and sex trafficking, which affects millions of migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC-wide kafala system is a mechanism through which governments effectively enable forced trafficking and labor. In addition, individual states maintain a gender-biased legal[…]

#Tried4Tweets: @N_BinGhaith – Nasser Bin Ghaith

Emirati economist Dr. Nasser Bin Ghaith has over 36,000 Twitter followers, none of whom have seen a post from him since 17 August 2015 – the last day he was a free man. On 18 August, security forces in civilian clothing arrested the prominent academic. Emirati security forces held Dr. Bin Ghaith incommunicado for eight[…]

Saudi Arabia Flouts its Legal and Ethical Responsibilities in Yemen

On 8 October 2016, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition bombed a crowded funeral reception hall in Sana’a, Yemen, killing more than 140 and injuring more than 525 Yemenis. This is only one of the coalition’s most recent deadly attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Yemen. Since its entry into the conflict in Yemen in March[…]