White House places restrictions on arms sales to Bahrain

Three arms deals to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are currently making their way through Congress. If approved, the deals would supply Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait with 123 new F-15 and F-16 fighter jets and extensive upgrades to existing jets. The arms deal with Bahrain in particular would supply the country with 19 F-16s and[…]

Stranded in Saudi: Citizens and Migrants Unite in Rare Protest

In September, hundreds of Saudi and foreign workers employed at a private hospital in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province went on strike in protest over months of unpaid wages. The strike, coordinated and orchestrated by both Saudi citizen-workers and migrants, marks a turning point in migrant and labor relations in the Gulf, and indicates the escalation[…]

Nabeel Rajab returns to solitary confinement

On 13 June 2016 at approximately 5:00am, security forces entered the home of Nabeel Rajab, one of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights defenders, and arrested him. Security forces carried Rajab away as his 14-year-old daughter trailed behind him, defiantly urging her father to “stay steadfast”. More than one hundred days later, Rajab is sitting in[…]

HRC33: ADHRB calls attention to Bahrain’s lack of cooperation with OHCHR

On 29 September, Asma Darwish, Advocacy Officer at Bahrain Center for Human RIghts, delivered an oral intervention on behalf of ADHRB at the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva under item 10. Please continue reading for full remarks or click here to download a PDF. Mr. President, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights[…]

Haji Abdulmajeed: Bahrain’s fearless peaceful protestor

In 2011, the majority of Bahrain’s citizen population rose up against systemic discrimination and called for democratic reforms and human rights for all. Since then, the government has claimed to institute reforms but in practice has only institutionalized the repression. For example, since 2011 protesting in the capital of Manama is illegal under Bahraini law,[…]