On 2 December 2015, the Government of Bahrain announced that the editors-in-chief of Bahrain’s six daily newspapers had reviewed and agreed to a new “Charter of Press Ethics” with the Ministry of Information Affairs Authority (IAA). Spearheaded by the Information and Parliamentary Affairs (IPA) Ministry, IPA Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi stressed that the[…]
08
Jan
Jan
8 January 2016 — Bahraini and international NGOs strongly condemn the repeated use of the death penalty by Bahraini authorities and call for the government to commute the death and life sentences. On 31 Demember 2015, Bahrain’s Fourth Criminal Court sentenced a man to death and 22 others to life imprisonment, bringing the total number[…]
07
Jan
Jan
After his arbitrary arrest on 28 December, the Bahraini Interior Ministry named journalist Mahmood al-Jazeeri, a reporter for Al-Wasat News, as among those arrested for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks funded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah, the veracity of which has been questioned by experts. On 31 December, al-Jazeeri’s lawyer told al-Wasat, “prosecutors had[…]
07
Jan
Jan
The Government of Saudi Arabia struggles to balance its budget as oil prices fall below $35 (USD) per barrel. The kingdom needs oil prices to reach $106 to fund current expenditures. The Saudi budget is predominately centered on oil prices; the BBC reports that oil revenue forms 73% of the state’s total revenue, while The[…]
07
Jan
Jan
Since Bahrain’s pro-democracy uprising began in 2011, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) have documented numerous cases of government retaliation against human rights defenders and activists. Less well-known, however, are cases of retaliation against these individuals’[…]
