Bahraini HRD Nabeel Rajab’s Final Appeals Hearing Approaches for Social Media Charges

The Bahraini government has a tradition of “using Western holidays as an opportunity to carry out a wide range of political and human rights abuses.” Such is the case with Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab’s final appeals hearing that could decide whether he will remain in prison until 2023. His hearing is scheduled for[…]

The UAE’s “Sportswashing” of Human Rights Abuses

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a strong and continued perpetrator of outrageous human rights abuses, yet its presence in international football tends to overshadow its negative human rights record. The UAE’s clever global influence comes in the form of Manchester City, a prominent and beloved British football team. Owned by the UAE’s Deputy Prime[…]

Saudi Arabia Dishes Out Aid to Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen as PR Stunt

On 30 October 2018, documents concerning an agreement made between the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and Saudi Arabia regarding humanitarian aid were leaked. The Guardian reported that foreign aid from Saudi Arabia came with so many strings attached that it could be considered ‘paid publicity’. While all states[…]

Turning a Saudi Tradition Inside-Out: Saudi Women Protest the Abaya

Women in Saudi Arabia are protesting the tradition that Saudi women must wear a black abaya in public by wearing their abayas inside-out. This movement comes after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) said, in a March 2018 60 Minutes interview, that Sharia law only requires women to dress modestly, but does not require[…]

Special Procedures Joint Communication on Human Rights Defenders in Yemen to Saudi Arabia

From June through August 2018, United Nations (UN) Special Procedures sent five separate joint communications to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expressing concerns over a myriad of human rights violations ranging from the targeting of women’s and human rights defenders, reprisals, the conflict in Yemen, arbitrary detention and more. This blog series highlights these joint[…]