Bahrain Sets Final Hearing in Nabeel Rajab’s Appeal for 22 November

Today, 8 November 2017, a Bahraini court pushed the final hearing for leading human rights defender Nabeel Rajab’s appeal trial to 22 November, refusing to hear the defense’s arguments and rejecting his petition for bail. Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), has been arbitrarily detained since 13 June 2016 on charges[…]

Changes in Saudi Arabia Might Not Result in a More Open Society

Following his September announcement that Saudi Arabia’s driving ban on women will be lifted in 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week unveiled two new measures that are part of his Vision 2030 for Saudi Arabia: the country will allow women to enter sport stadiums and it will build “NEOM,” a $500 billion mega-city[…]

Omani Journalist Released From Prison

On 23 October 2017, Omani authorities released the Deputy Editor of the recently closed Azamn newspaper, Yousef Al-Haj, from prison after he spent over a year behind bars due to comments made in Azamn. As reported by the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), al-Haj was originally arrested in August 2016, along with two colleagues,[…]

Petition to Free Bahrain’s Leading Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab

Click here to sign the petition from Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain and RootsAction.org demanding that Nabeel Rajab be freed immediately. See below for more information on Nabeel Rajab and the petition to release him from prison for exercising his right to free expression in Bahrain. ________________________ Nabeel Rajab is president of[…]

Bahraini Appeals Court Confirms Dissolution of Wa’ad, Last Major Opposition Group

26 October 2017 – Bahrain’s High Court of Appeals has today confirmed the asset seizure and dissolution of Wa’ad (also known as the National Democratic Action Society), the country’s largest secular, leftist opposition group. Wa’ad was the last major opposition group officially operating in Bahrain following the July 2016 dissolution of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society.[…]