Ali al-Tajer: Government Reprisal in Bahrain

Ali Isa Ali al-Tajer is a Bahraini citizen and the brother of Mohamed al-Tajer, a prominent lawyer and human rights defender in Bahrain. Mohamed has worked with the United Nations Secretariat on several occasions, including with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Special Procedures, in support of their work[…]

Saudi Arabia and the silencing of a peaceful activist

The Government of Saudi Arabia has largely excluded the Eastern Province from the high economic development of other areas in the kingdom, despite the area holding the majority of the country’s oil wealth. The Eastern Province is also primarily home to the kingdom’s minority Shia population who continue to face systemic discrimination. The government routinely[…]

In or Out of Prison, Bahraini HRDs Face Hard Times

The situation of human rights defenders and activists in Bahrain is precarious. Today, one of the most prominent of these activists, Zainab al-Khawaja, sits in a prison cell along with her infant son. She is sick with the flu and her family has been denied access to care for her or her child. Zainab al-Khawaja[…]

Zainab and son wait for Bahrain to fulfill its “humanitarian” promise

In April 2016, Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa announced his government would release prominent human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja, who has been detained in Bahrain’s Isa Town Women’s prison for more than two months. Police arrested her after she had exhausted her appeals process fighting charges related solely to her free expression.[…]

UN Committee Raises Torture Concerns with Saudi Arabia

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) recently adopted its concluding observations on the second periodic report of Saudi Arabia. Although the Committee outlined some positive measures undertaken by the Government of Saudi Arabia, it devoted the vast majority of its report to areas of concern, casting aspersions over the government’s will and ability to[…]