Bahrain Dissolves Wa’ad, Last Major Opposition Society

31 May 2017 – A Bahraini court today approved the 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. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights[…]

HRD Nabeel Rajab’s Free Expression Trials Postponed in Bahrain

17 May 2017 – Bahraini courts this week have again postponed two separate trials of prominent Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab. Both trials are based on charges that violate Rajab’s right to free expression. The Bahraini authorities have detained Rajab since June 2016 and are prosecuting him in connection with television interviews and tweets[…]

16 NGOs demand release of imprisoned photojournalist Sayed al-Mousawi

Today, sixteen NGOs sent a letter to King Hamad of Bahrain regarding the upcoming appeal hearing for photojournalist Sayed Ahmed Salman al-Mousawi. Bahraini authorities arrested and tortured al-Mousawi three years ago under terrorism charges, and a court sentenced him to ten years in jail after years of arbitrary detention and mistreatment. His April 23 appeal[…]

Bahrain: Political Opposition Leader Ebrahim Sharif Charged With “Inciting Hatred”

20 March 2017 – Political opposition leader Ebrahim Sharif was today charged with “inciting hatred against the regime” and against “factions of society” under articles 165 and 172 of Bahrain’s penal code for messages he wrote on social media. Sharif was previously imprisoned from 2011 to 2015, and then again from 2015 to 2016 on[…]