Bahraini Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab Recognized as a Finalist for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize

On 8 October 2018, Nabeel Rajab was recognized as a shortlisted finalist for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize. This prestigious prize is awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Václav Havel Library, and the Charta 77 Foundation to honor outstanding civil society action in the defense of human[…]

Election Tracker: Quasi-Governmental Election Monitor Accuses Critics of “Political Terrorism”

As Bahrain’s parliamentary elections approach amid escalating political repression, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) will be closely monitoring all updates until the vote on 24 November 2018. This blog series, Election Tracker, will follow developments and provide context on the upcoming elections. See the previous post on the continued judicial harassment[…]

Qatar’s 2022 World Cup Littered with Human Rights Abuses

Last month, the exiled Qatari al-Ghufran tribe attended the 39th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) to seek international assistance in regards to their banishment from Qatar. They alleged that Qatar is building the 2022 World Cup stadiums on land taken from the tribe. Towards the end of the Council, the[…]

How Canada and Germany Make Exceptions in their Humanitarian Principles for Saudi Arabia

In the past few weeks, Germany closed an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, reversing its stance on selling weapons to countries involved with the conflict in Yemen. The decision in January 2018 by Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany would halt all arms sales to countries involved in the conflict in Yemen, such as Saudi Arabia,[…]

Bahrain Using Whitewashing Organizations for Human Rights Abuses

In today’s world of expanding global connectivity grounded by the law-based international community established after World War 2, human rights violations are an ever growing concern. It is an issue that has become a benchmark for a state’s legitimacy on the world stage. In an attempt to claim that legitimacy, states like the Kingdom of[…]