After 20 Years, The Saudi Human Rights Commission is Still Whitewashing The Country’s Human Rights Record

In 2005, in order to monitor human rights in Saudi Arabia, a royal decree established the creation of a Human Rights Commission. Presented as an independent body, its task was to hold the country’s government accountable. Twenty years after its creation, however, it can be said with certainty that this body does not serve the[…]

Why Trading With the GCC Leads to Complicity in Human Rights Abuse

In recent years, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have begun to play an increasingly prominent role in international trade. This change is mainly due to the socio-economic transformation that many of these countries are undergoing. However, this progress often serves to conceal the constant human rights abuses and repression that take place within these countries.[…]

How Gulf Countries Are Acquiring Spyware to Suppress Dissent

Introduction The repression of human rights activists and political dissidents is one of the biggest problems in the Gulf states. There are constant reports of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture in prisons and other incidents targeting these groups. Those who want to fight to assert their rights or criticise regimes that stifle them always find[…]

Bahrain must release extradited Bahraini dissident Ali Alshowaikh

We, the undersigned human rights organisations, call for the immediate release of Bahraini dissident Ali Alshowaikh, who has been imprisoned in Bahrain since 2018 following unlawful extradition from the Netherlands. We also urge the Dutch government to take responsibility for its role in his unlawful deportation and to act urgently to secure his freedom. Ali[…]

Daughters of the Resistance Campaign: ECDHR & ADHRB’s Stand with Bahrain’s Women

In Bahrain, since the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings, protests have been violently crushed, activists unjustly detained, and voices systematically silenced. Women have borne the brunt of this repression. The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, together with Americans for Democracy and Human Rights, launches the Daughters of the Resistance campaign. This initiative honors the women[…]