10 July 2017 –The Third Circuit Lower Criminal Court today sentenced Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, to two years in prison on charges solely based on his exercise of freedom of expression. The prosecution and trial, which were initiated by the Ministry of Interior’s Cyber Crime Directorate, are based on[…]
Update: On 8 July, Mohamed Khalil al-Shakhoori reappeared in government custody at the Dry Dock Detention Center. His family has only been able to visit him once and the authorities have denied him access to a lawyer. Along with Ebtisam al-Saegh and activist Radhi Saleh al-Qatari, Shakhoori is being held on terror charges. For the[…]
At approximately 11:45 p.m. local time in Bahrain, on the night of 3–4 July, long-time human rights defender Ebtesam al-Saegh was detained by state security for the second time in as many months. When Ms. al-Saegh was last detained in the final days of May, the officers torturing her – using physical violence, sexual abuse,[…]
The Government of Bahrain has targeted numerous internationally renowned human rights defenders in reprisal for their work. Many, including Nabeel Rajab and Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, are known around the world, with their cases documented by human rights organizations, governments, and the United Nations. However, the Bahraini government’s attack on peaceful dissent and opposition has cast a[…]
On 27 June 2017, the US Department of State released its 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, including a country narrative for Bahrain. The report Assigned Bahrain Tier 2 status, indicating the government “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” but is “making significant efforts to do so.” Americans for[…]