On 30 January 2017, Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he expects President Trump’s administration to approve the stalled sale of F-16 fighter jets to the Government of Bahrain. This sale was blocked by the Obama administration due to concerns over Bahrain’s record on human rights. The sale[…]
03
Feb
Feb
Boris Johnson Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs King Charles Street London SW1A 2AH 3 February 2017 Dear Mr Johnson, In light of recent developments in Bahrain, we write to raise our deep concern over the punitive trials of prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, who is being prosecuted in three[…]
12
Jan
Jan
On 10 January 2017, Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced human rights defender and lawyer Abdulaziz al-Shubaily to eight years in prison followed by an eight-year travel ban. Al-Shubaily is a founding member of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), which documented human rights abuses in the Kingdom while promoting a[…]
10
Jan
Jan
Following yet another postponement in the final days of 2016, the trial of Bahraini scholar and activist Khalil al-Halwachi is now set to enter its twenty-third session on 22 January 2017. He is being tried along with 16 others and has been detained by Bahraini authorities for over two years without being sentenced, in clear[…]
05
Jan
Jan
5 January 2017 – Bahrain today restored law enforcement abilities to its National Security Agency (NSA), an institution which oversaw torture of protesters in 2011. The move reverses one of the few post-Arab Spring reforms outlined in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). The reversal comes after an escalated human rights crisis in 2016,[…]
