Yesterday, on 19 February 2018, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation ruled to uphold the arbitrary dissolution of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society – the country’s largest political opposition group which was originally closed in July 2016. The same day, 19 February, the government announced that the High Criminal Court again adjourned the trial of Sheikh Ali Salman,[…]
On 25 January 2018, Bahraini Advocate General Osama Al Ufi announced that the High Criminal Court again adjourned the trial of Sheikh Ali Salman, Sheikh Hassan Ali Juma Sultan, and Ali Mehdi Ali Al Aswad over accusations of “exchanging intelligence information with Qatar” to undermine the Al Khalifa monarchy in 2011. The next hearing is[…]
18 December 2017 – The six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman – rely heavily on migrant labor and are noted for widespread and systematic migrant rights abuses. These violations largely stem from the GCC-wide use of the kafala system of labor[…]
**Update: On 29 November 2017, Bahraini authorities postponed the trial of Sheikh Ali Salman, Secretary-General of the now-dissolved opposition group Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, to 28 December. Sheikh Salman, who remains imprisoned on charges stemming solely from a political speeches he delivered in 2014, was not present at the first session of his new trial[…]
On 13 and 16 October 2017, the United States Government approved the sale of weapons worth $371.6 million to Kuwait, stating that the sale “will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country.” These sales come amid the ongoing diplomatic crisis[…]