Updated: Sayed Mohammed Hashem AbdulWahab was a 17-year-old Bahraini minor and school student when Bahraini authorities arrested him on 3 July 2025 after summoning him to the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) without providing any reason. During his detention, he has endured torture, coerced confessions, denial of family visits and access to legal counsel, unfair trials,[…]
03
Dec
Dec
The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) convened in Geneva on 18 and 19 November 2025 to examine Bahrain’s fourth periodic report and assess Manama’s compliance with the Convention Against Torture. The sessions focused on evaluating ongoing torture and ill-treatment in Bahraini prisons, including documented cases reported by political prisoners, as well as the extent[…]
02
Dec
Dec
At the end of October, Saudi Arabia appointed Sheik Saleh bin Abdullah bin Fawzan al-Fawzan as the Kingdom’s Grand Mufti. The Grand Mufti is the highest religious official in Saudi Arabia and also the chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, which is the country’s highest religious body. This gives the grand Mufti great influence[…]
28
Nov
Nov
Although freedom of expression is recognized by law in Kuwait, it is heavily restricted in practice. Kuwait has been struggling with restrictions on free expression for many years; however, since late 2023 and through 2024 serious escalation began under Emir Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Kuwait has been a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil[…]
27
Nov
Nov
Saudi human rights defender and political activist Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi, detained in Bulgaria since 2021, faces a forced deportation order to Saudi Arabia, placing him at serious risk of torture, an unfair trial and the death penalty. Al Khalidi’s case reflects a wider campaign of transnational repression by Gulf regimes seeking to silence peaceful dissent and[…]
