ADHRB Calls for GCC Labor Reform on International Migrants Day

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[…]

Trump Administration authorizes new arms sales to GCC states despite Congressional threat to block

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[…]

HRC36 UAE Oral Intervention: ID with Working Group on Mercenaries

On 13 September at the 36th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, ADHRB’s International Advocacy Officer, Michael Payne, delivered an oral intervention under the Item 3 interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Mercenaries. In his intervention, Payne discussed the United Arab Emirates’ extensive private military contract companies and foreign recruits  and their[…]

Dispatch: Criminalizing “Sympathy” – Free Expression Abuses Find New Catalyst in the GCC Crisis

Any end to the weeks-long Qatar-Gulf crisis was last month made contingent, in part, on the shuttering of Al Jazeera and its affiliate stations, as well as the closure of all news outlets that are—directly or indirectly, partially or wholly—funded by Qatar. Justified by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt as[…]

UAE Implicated in Torture at Yemeni Black Sites

In late June, The Associated Press (AP) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has established a web 18 “black site” prisons in Yemen. Hidden in military bases, air and seaports, and private villas, these secret detention facilities have been host to a variety of human rights abuses, such as[…]