The Bahrain National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR) failed to attain accreditation under the Paris Principles, instead earning a “B” status. The Global Alliance of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights’ (GANHRI) Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) recently released its report detailing the reasoning for the status. While the SCA welcomed the[…]
Bahrain’s Ministry of Islamic and Judicial Affairs has announced a new policy requiring Bahraini women under the age of 45 must be accompanied by a male guardian in order to hajj, a religious pilgrimage in Mecca. Local newspaper Al Wasat has reported that the new policy will be implemented in 2017. The restriction is one[…]
17 August 2016 – The Government of Bahrain has continued to target Shia religious leaders today, as authorities brought an additional charge of “inciting hatred” against Sayed Majeed Misha’al, a Shia cleric and president of the now dissolved Islamic Ulamaa Council (IUC). On 20 June 2016, Sayed Majeed declared the start of a peaceful sit-in[…]
Over the last few months the Bahraini government has stepped up its domestic repression by imprisoning and exiling human rights defenders, shutting down the largest political opposition society, and arresting and imprisoning dozens of Bahrainis who exercise their right to free expression and freedom of assembly. Following the citizenship revocation of Sheikh Isa Qassim in[…]
16 August 2016 – Geneva, Switzerland – A group of United Nations human rights experts have called on the Kingdom of Bahrain to halt its ongoing persecution of Shia Muslims in the country. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain thanks the UN experts for their attention to the issue, and joins them in[…]