Human Rights in the UAE: Insights from the Fourth Universal Periodic Review

Fourth Cycle UPR Overview During the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), numerous recommendations were made by states urging human rights reforms across various thematic areas, especially freedom of expression, death penalty, torture, independence of the judiciary and fair trial. In total, 323 recommendations were presented to the State[…]

The Bedoon situation in Kuwait

Bedoon, meaning “without nationality” in Arabic, is a stateless Arab minority in Kuwait who were not granted citizenship at the time of the country’s independence or shortly thereafter. The government currently labels Bedoon as “illegal residents,” despite many having no tangible connections to any country other than Kuwait, and notwithstanding decades of social discourse depicting[…]

A Somber April Fool’s Day in Bahrain

On April 1, Americans said April Fools’ Day as they played pranks on each other and laughed it off. On the other side of the world in Bahrain, April 1 marked the fifth anniversary of Bahrain 13 member Sheikh Abdullah Isa al-Mahroos’s imprisonment. In 2011, members of Bahrain’s National Security Apparatus and government security forces[…]