NGOs call for human rights abuses to be addressed in the forthcoming EU-GCC Ministerial Meeting

18 July 2016 – With the 25th European Union-Gulf Cooperation Council (EU-GCC) Ministerial meeting set to take place in Brussels on 18 July 2016, we, the undersigned organisations, call on Ms Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as well as the ministers of EU member states, to[…]

Bahraini court dissolves Al-Wefaq, the largest political opposition group in the country

17 July 2016-The High Civil Court today ordered the dissolution and liquidation of all assets of the largest political opposition bloc in Bahrain, Al-Wefaq Political Society. The undersigned NGOs strongly condemn the government’s latest efforts to suppress all forms of peaceful dissent as it continues to target Bahraini civil society. On 14 June 2016, Bahraini[…]

Kuwait First in GCC to Implement Minimum Wage for Domestic Workers

On 14 July 2016, the Kuwaiti government set a minimum wage for the over 660,000 domestic workers within the country. The Ministry of Interior published the notice, which specifies the new minimum wage as 60 Kuwaiti dinar per month. Before the implementation of the minimum wage law, domestic workers in Kuwait earned less than 20[…]

Return of Electronic Witch Hunt in Bahrain Leads to the Arrest of Ali Abdulraheem

14 July 2016 – The Government of Bahrain is targeting public sector employees found in photos and videos of sit-ins with arrest and further punishment. We, the undersigned NGOs, condemn the return of this practice, which violates people’s right to assembly. On 12 July 2016, Ali Abdulraheem, an official at the state Labour Market Regulatory[…]

For Saudi women, political and social change has yet to come

The participation of Saudi men and women in the 2011 Arab Spring protests placed significant pressure on the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia to make social, political, and economic reforms. In particular, women’s rights activists leveraged the influence of social media on the Arab Spring to bring attention to the lack of women’s rights granted by the[…]