Art as Protest: The Significance of the Pearl Roundabout Painting

October is National Arts & Humanities Month in the United States. As a US-based organization, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) believes this month serves as a great opportunity to highlight the important role protest art has had in the history of peaceful protest in Arab Gulf countries. With this in mind,[…]

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[…]

UPDATED: Bahrain Harasses Shia Clerics Ahead of Ashura Amid Wider Attack on Religious Freedom

**Updated 07 November 2018 – Individuals detained during Ashura, including AbdulMajeed Abdulla Mohsen, have been released except for one. However, clerics continue to be targeted, with two other clerics arrested on 29 October due to their religious discourse around Ashura. **Updated 26 October 2018 – There are clerics who remain in detention since September. On 19 September, AbdulMajeed[…]

Bahrain Denies Water Cuts at Jau Prison After UN Requests Information

This past summer it was reported that water cuts had been arranged by authorities at Bahrain’s notorious Jau Prison. Prison authorities deliberately withheld water from detainees for up to four days, and often throughout the hottest days of the summer. The water cuts started on 9 July 2018, which was recorded as the second hottest[…]

Profiles in Persecution: Sadeq Jaafar Ali

Sadeq Jaafar Ali is a 17-year old Bahraini national from the town of Al Aali. Bahraini forces arbitrarily arrested Sadeq, and tortured and interrogated him until he confessed to committing bogus state security crimes, for which he was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison and stripped of his Bahraini nationality in an unfair[…]