UPDATED: Bahrain Harasses Shia Clerics Ahead of Ashura Amid Wider Attack on Religious Freedom

**Updated 07 November 2018 – Individuals detained during Ashura, including AbdulMajeed Abdulla Mohsen, have been released except for one. However, clerics continue to be targeted, with two other clerics arrested on 29 October due to their religious discourse around Ashura. **Updated 26 October 2018 – There are clerics who remain in detention since September. On 19 September, AbdulMajeed[…]

Bahrain Denies Water Cuts at Jau Prison After UN Requests Information

This past summer it was reported that water cuts had been arranged by authorities at Bahrain’s notorious Jau Prison. Prison authorities deliberately withheld water from detainees for up to four days, and often throughout the hottest days of the summer. The water cuts started on 9 July 2018, which was recorded as the second hottest[…]

UPDATED: United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Saudi Arabia Must Review the Conviction of Munir Al Adam

**Update 23 April 2019 – Today, the Saudi government carried out the executions of 37 men, including Munir Al Adam. His case had drawn the attention of UN bodies, including Special Procedures (SAU 5/2016 and SAU 7/2017), and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) issued a decision on his case finding Saudi Arabia in violation of its[…]

A Review of Two Years of Bahraini and Saudi Trends in UN Complaints

In the United Nations’ (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) Joint Communications Report (JCR) that was released on Friday, 31 August, there was only one case mentioning Bahrain, while two cases dealt with Saudi Arabia. This is something of an anomaly, as over the last two years there have been six JCRs covering 21 Bahraini cases[…]

Bahrain: NGOs Condemn Torture Allegations and Denaturalization of 115 in Flawed Mass Trial

15 May 2018 – Bahrain’s High Criminal Court today revoked the citizenship of 115 people amid reports of torture and due process abuses in an unfair mass trial of 138 defendants. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), and the European Centre for Democracy and[…]