Bahrain pardoned 1584 unjustly jailed prisoners, yet 600 remain behind bars and on death row

The pardon of more than 1500 prisoners on April 8th by Bahraini king Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa  has taken activists by surprise. While officials portray the amnesty as a benevolent gesture aimed at fostering reconciliation and healing societal divisions, it can be more accurately viewed as a calculated manoeuvre to mitigate rising domestic tensions,[…]

Persistent UAE´s efforts to maintain critics behind bars: a new mass trial

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has invested deeply into portraying itself as a progressive, tolerant and human rights-compliant state. This strategy, however, as in other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, clashes with a reality in which activists and dissidents are detained and tried for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association. The recent[…]

Democracy in Saudi Arabia?: No progress in sight

Last week, the EU announced a relaxation of Schengen visa rules for the citizens of Saudi Arabia. No human rights compromises were made in exchange. Since democracy constitutes the best umbrella under which human rights can thrive, the next question follows: What is the current state of democracy in Saudi Arabia? In its new report[…]

Escalating concerns over the lives of minors threatened with death in Saudi Arabia

The undersigned organizations express their grave concern for the lives of minor defendants particularly the two young men, Yousif Al-Manasif and Ali Al-Mubaiouq, who are at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia following confirmed information that the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal (SCCA) has upheld their death sentences. Their cases were therefore referred to[…]

Calling for the Immediate Release of Abdujalil Al-Singace: Analysing Bahrain’s Failure to Implement International Law Standards

On April 4, 2024, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) and 27 other human rights organizations reiterated the urge to release human rights defender Dr. Abdujalil Al-Singace immediately. The organizations wrote a letter to King Hamad bin Isa al- Khalifa and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, underlining the human rights defender’s[…]