Letter Urges President Obama to Press Saudi King for Civil Society Protections

3 September 2015 – Today, eight U.S. and internationally-based NGOs, in partnership with seven foreign policy experts and human rights advocates, sent a letter to President Obama that urges him to press Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for greater civil society protections within the kingdom. Tomorrow, King Salman will meet President Obama at the[…]

Newsletter #119

Urgent Appeal: Release Prisoner of Conscience Dr. Abduljalil al-Singace as Hunger Strike Reaches 160th Day On 21 March 2015, Dr. al-Singace went on hunger strike in protest of the collective punishment and acts of torture that police inflicted upon prisoners following a riot in Jau Prison earlier that month. Last Thursday, he passed 160 days of[…]

Newsletter #118

NGOs Condemn Arrest of Former al-Wefaq MP Sheikh Hasan Isa The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) express concern over the recent arrest of Sheikh Hasan Isa, a prominent member of the opposition political group al-Wefaq National[…]

“My Country”: How Saudi Arabia is Undermining Women’s Newfound Right to Vote

Saudi women have begun registering to vote for December’s municipal elections, a development that the international press has greeted with extensive, and mostly positive, coverage. Yet, while the Saudi government welcomes glowing descriptions of its slow yet steady progress in advancing women’s rights, its actual reforms remain superficial. Saudi authorities are doing everything within their[…]

Newsletter #117

Senators Offer Reality Check on Bahrain Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain’s Kate Kizer and Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy’s Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei published an op-ed commenting on Senate resolution S.2009, co-sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), that was introduced 6 August 2015. The resolution would prohibit the U.S. from selling certain arms and[…]