Bahrain Court of Appeal Increases the Sentence of Al-Wefaq’s Sheikh Ali Salman to Nine Years in Prison

On 30 May 2016, the Bahraini Court of Appeal toughened the sentence against Sheikh Ali Salman. The Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society now faces nine years in prison, up from the previous sentence of four years. The court convicted him of “attempting to overthrow the regime.” The court previously acquitted him of this charge. We,[…]

State Department “monitoring” continued detention of mother and baby

On 23 May 2016, a reporter raised the case of Zainab al-Khawaja and her infant son during the U.S. Department of State’s Daily Press Briefing. “She’s sick, and the family can’t get the one-year-old out of prison. Is this an issue, or is this okay with you guys?” asked one reporter. In response, the State[…]

UN Special Procedures release Joint Communications Report for HRC32

The Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council released the 14th iteration of their joint communications report on Friday, May 27, 2016, documenting allegations of human rights abuses from around the world. In the most recent edition of the report, the Special Procedures singled out Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as among the worst[…]

Zainab and son wait for Bahrain to fulfill its “humanitarian” promise

In April 2016, Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa announced his government would release prominent human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja, who has been detained in Bahrain’s Isa Town Women’s prison for more than two months. Police arrested her after she had exhausted her appeals process fighting charges related solely to her free expression.[…]

Bahraini Government’s Claims of Having Implemented all BICI Recommendations is Mere Lip Service

On 9 May 2016, Bahrain celebrated the culmination of the work of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), announcing that the implementation of all recommendations had been completed. The King awarded Professor Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni a Bahrain Medal of the First Class, and state media reported that Bassiouni said the government of Bahrain had[…]