UN Experts Condemn Bahrain Assault on Shia

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[…]

Bahrain: Gov’t Prosecutes Religious Freedoms Advocate Sheikh Maytham Al-Salman and Rights Activist Al-Derazi for “Illegal Gathering”

15 August 2016 – Bahrain’s authorities today charged human rights defender and scholar Sheikh Maytham Al-Salman and activist and medic Dr. Taha Al-Derazi with illegal gathering following their arrests and interrogations yesterday. Al-Salman has been released on bail, while Al-Derazi was remanded into custody. The charges relate to their peaceful assembly in the village of Duraz, which has[…]

Bahrain Moves Forward with Measures to Centralize Internet Censorship

8 August 2016 – The Government of Bahrain introduced further restrictions on the right to freedom of expression on the Internet last week, centralizing website-blocking powers under Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). On 5 August 2016, the head of the TRA Board of Directors, Mohammed Ahmed Al-Amer, issued Decision 12/2016 regarding regulations on safety over[…]

Return of Electronic Witch Hunt in Bahrain Leads to the Arrest of Ali Abdulraheem

14 July 2016 – The Government of Bahrain is targeting public sector employees found in photos and videos of sit-ins with arrest and further punishment. We, the undersigned NGOs, condemn the return of this practice, which violates people’s right to assembly. On 12 July 2016, Ali Abdulraheem, an official at the state Labour Market Regulatory[…]

ACPRA and Restrictions on Human Rights Organizations in Saudi Arabia

In March 2013, the Saudi government forced the Saudi Arabian Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) to close. ACPRA was a prominent human rights organization, and one of the few independent civil society organizations in the country. On 29 May 2016, the government’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced ACPRA’s last free co-founder, Abdulaziz al-Shubaily, to[…]