Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Calls on Bahrain to Make Parliamentary Elections Free and Fair

06 November 2018 – Today, Representative Jim McGovern and Representative Randy Hultgren, the co-chairs of the Congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, publicized a letter they sent last week asking Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to “take all necessary steps to ensure that the upcoming elections for the Council of Representatives of Bahrain’s[…]

Prominent Bahraini Political Leader Sentenced to Life in Prison Weeks Before Election

5 November 2018 – Yesterday, on 4 November 2018, leading Bahraini opposition figure Sheikh Ali Salman and two members of the now-dissolved al-Wefaq Society, Sheikh Hassan Ali Juma Sultan and Ali Mahdi Ali Al Aswad, were sentenced to life in prison for espionage, overturning acquittals by a lower court. This decision comes just weeks before[…]

ADHRB Condemns Impunity Against Journalists in Bahrain

2 November 2018 – Today, on the fifth United Nations (UN) International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) recognizes Bahraini journalists who have faced, and continue to face, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and death at the hands of the Bahraini government because of their[…]

Profiles in Persecution: Abdulwahab Husain Ismaeel

Abdulwahab Husain Ismaeel is a 64-year old Bahraini national from the town of Nuwaidrat. He is one of the “Bahrain Thirteen”- a group of thirteen religious leaders, political opposition leaders, and human rights defenders who led non-violent pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in February 2011. He is currently in Jau Prison where he is serving a[…]

US Engagement during IISS Manama Dialogue Failed to Consider Importance of Bahrain Human Rights Concerns to Regional Stability

This past weekend Bahrain hosted the 14th annual International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue – a regional summit to discuss policy approaches to issues of security and defense. The event was attended by global officials and other high-level individuals, including United States (US) Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who delivered a plenary speech[…]