On February 25, 2016, the Index on Censorship called for the immediate release of imprisoned political activist Ebrahim Sharif, after a Bahraini court convicted Sharif of inciting hatred. The court acquitted the former Secretary-General of National Democratic Action Society on charges of promoting the toppling of the government. The court sentenced Sharif, to one year[…]
On March 3, 2016, at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council, Yusuf Alhoori responded to the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst, asking whether Bahrain had responded to the Special Rapporteur regarding alleviating harassment against human rights defenders. Please continue reading for his full remarks, or click here to read[…]
The Saudi Ministry of Justice has received nearly 1,500 domestic violence cases in the last Islamic calendar year, with 480 of these cases occurring the kingdom’s Makkah region. The Riyadh region saw the second most cases, followed by Jazan and the Eastern Province. According to the Omani newspaper, al-Watan, most of the recorded incidents involved[…]
An Emirati court has sentenced Saleh al-Owaissi, a 29-year-old Omani man, to three years in prison and a fine of Dh50,000, for allegedly “disseminating information with a view to ridicule and damage the reputation of the state symbols” on WhatsApp. The authorities also claim that al-Owaissi “ridiculed Emirati martyrs in Yemen” by referring to them[…]
Oman jailed two social media users this month for posts they made on Facebook and Twitter. First, an Omani court sentenced Hassan al-Basham, a former diplomat, to three months in prison on charges of “insulting God and the country’s leader,” Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said. The charges are related to a series of posts on[…]