Bahrain: Widespread Reprisals against Activists Ahead of UPR

26 April 2017 – Bahraini authorities have initiated a new campaign of reprisals against political activists, human rights defenders, and other civil society actors ahead of the kingdom’s third cycle of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) beginning on 1 May 2017. We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the judicial harassment of[…]

USCIRF Categorizes Bahrain as a Tier 2 Violator of Religious Freedom

26 April 2017 – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has today released its 2017 Annual Report, categorizing Bahrain as a Tier 2 country for the first time “due to deteriorating religious freedom conditions.” Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) welcomes USCIRF’s continued documentation of religious discrimination in Bahrain[…]

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[…]

Bahraini government on verge of dissolving Wa’ad political society

On 17 April 2017, a Bahraini court held its second hearing to dissolve the National Democratic Action Society, the country’s largest secular, leftist opposition society. The government accused the society, also known as Wa’ad, of undermining state security and supporting terrorism. The justice ministry’s case against Wa’ad is representative of the government’s ongoing suppression of[…]

Bahrain: US must ensure military patrol boat transfer does not facilitate abuse

19 April 2017 – The United States Government has disclosed that Bahrain will receive five American-made Mark V military patrol boats by 1 August 2017. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) is deeply concerned by the recent increase in unrestricted US weapons transfers to Bahrain, and we urge the US Government to[…]