Prisoner Profile: Sultan bin Kayed al-Qasimi

Sultan bin Kayed al-Qasimi is a member of the ruling family of the Ras al-Khaimah emirate and a leader of al-Islah (The Reform), a political association in the UAE. On 20 April 2012, armed men dressed in civilian clothes entered al-Qasimi’s home and arrested him. According to his son Abdullah, the men took al-Qasimi to[…]

Former MP calls on Canadian government to help free citizen held in UAE

Salim al-Aradi is a dual Libyan-Canadian citizen who was arrested without charge in the UAE approximately 17 months ago. The Canadian government is currently facing allegations that they have were aware that the Emirati authorities tortured al-Aradi and yet failed to inform his family. According to Dan McTeague, a former Canadian MP, the government does not have[…]

Qatar’s World Cup ambitions cannot overshadow migrant’s rights issues

Qatar once again demonstrated its World Cup ambitions by signing world-class player Xavi Hernandez to one of its teams for three years. While it is unclear if hiring star talent will bolster Qatar’s reputation as a leader of the global football community, as recent matches continue to suffer from low attendance, human rights analysts suggest[…]

Dispatch: Bahrain Newspapers Sign Restrictive “Charter of Press Ethics”

On 2 December 2015, the Government of Bahrain announced that the editors-in-chief of Bahrain’s six daily newspapers had reviewed and agreed to a new “Charter of Press Ethics” with the Ministry of Information Affairs Authority (IAA). Spearheaded by the Information and Parliamentary Affairs (IPA) Ministry, IPA Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi stressed that the[…]

Champions for Justice: Victims of Government Reprisals

Since Bahrain’s pro-democracy uprising began in 2011, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) have documented numerous cases of government retaliation against human rights defenders and activists. Less well-known, however, are cases of retaliation against these individuals’[…]