On Monday, 22 May 2017, Representative James McGovern (D-MA) delivered a statement in Congress on the continued detention of Raif Badawi and all prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi court sentenced human rights activist and writer Badawi to a total of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for free speech-related charges. 17[…]
17
May
May
17 May 2017 – Bahraini authorities last week denied entry visas to German journalist Robert Kempe and American Human Rights Watch researcher Omar Shakir, both of whom were seeking to visit Bahrain in connection with the FIFA Congress being held in Manama on 10 and 11 May. In both cases, the Bahraini government’s decisions appear[…]
16
May
May
In late March 2017, the New York Times reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would be dropping human rights conditions from a major sale of F-16 combat aircraft to the Bahraini government. The formal notification was set to have been announced last week barring any reservations from Congress. As of the publication of this[…]
11
May
May
On 12 April 2017, the Saudi Arabian government released human rights defender Khaled Al-Omair from prison, more than six months after the completion of his eight-year sentence. He had been imprisoned on charges including “breaking obedience with the ruler” and “embarking on a protest.” These charges related to his attempts to hold demonstrations protesting Israeli[…]
10
May
May
On 7 May, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bahraini government’s Isa Cultural Center (ICC) regarding promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Just two months earlier, at the 34th Session Human Rights Council (HRC), Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) had applauded the decision[…]
