UN Body Declares Sheikh Ali Salman Arbitrarily Detained

5 November 2015 – Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has officially declared Sheikh Ali Salman, the prominent leader of Bahrain’s opposition party al-Wefaq, to be arbitrarily detained by the Bahraini government. The decision, which cites both free expression and due process concerns, requests that the Bahraini government release[…]

End Impunity: Violence against Journalists in Bahrain

2 November 2015 – On this day in 2013, two French journalists were murdered in Mali. To commemorate their loss, the United Nations (UN) proclaimed 2 November the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The corresponding UN resolution dedicated the date to all members of the press who have suffered from violence. It[…]

Attacks on Muharram Ceremonies in Bahrain

29 October 2015 – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), and Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemn the Government of Bahrain’s recent violations of the Shia community’s right to religious freedom as they commemorate Muharram and the day of Ashoura. Since the beginning[…]

Saudi Arabia on the 13th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty

As the 13th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty approaches, the Government of Saudi Arabia has marked its calendar for a separate occasion: the public beheading of two minors. Despite its international obligations under the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child – and despite its seat on the[…]

At UN, ADHRB Quotes Fadhel Abbas to Highlight Restrictions on Free Expression

Geneva, Switzerland — 28 September 2015 — On behalf of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, ADHRB international advocacy officer Michael Payne delivered an oral intervention on the international trend of increasing restrictions on free expression. To highlight this trend in Bahrain, Payne quoted a letter from imprisoned Bahraini opposition leader, Fadhel Abbas who received a[…]