GCC Countries Enforce Legislation Criminalizing Online Expression

2 February 2018 –Kuwait recently sentenced online activist Abdullah al-Saleh to ten years in prison for Tweets “abusing Saudi Arabia” and insulting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. His sentence demonstrates how countries like Kuwait employ prison sentences as deterrents to free expression online, especially as the government imposes increasing restrictions on the freedom[…]

Bahrain Adjourns Qatar Conspiracy Trial Against Sheikh Ali Salman and Other Al Wefaq Members

On 25 January 2018, Bahraini Advocate General Osama Al Ufi announced that the High Criminal Court again adjourned the trial of Sheikh Ali Salman, Sheikh Hassan Ali Juma Sultan, and Ali Mehdi Ali Al Aswad over accusations of “exchanging intelligence information with Qatar” to undermine the Al Khalifa monarchy in 2011. The next hearing is[…]

Profiles in Persecution: Sayed Hadi Ahmed

Sayed Hadi Ahmed is a minor being arbitrarily detained in Bahrain’s Dry Dock Detention Center, meant only for adult populations. He was 15 at the time of his arrest, and has been subjected to torture on multiple occasions. At midnight on 13 December 2016, Sayed Hadi was asleep at his grandfather’s home in Bani Jamra.[…]

UAE Rights Record Scrutinized During UN UPR Review

22 January 2018 – Today, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council conducted the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dozens of states issued recommendations to the Emirati Government, urging human rights reforms on a variety of thematic issue areas ranging from free expression and capital punishment to migrant[…]

Profiles in Persecution: Ali Habib Saleh

Ali Habib Saleh is a 25-year-old Bahraini citizen who has been arbitrarily detained, tortured, and denied healthcare by the Bahraini government. The Government of Bahrain has used the judicial system to arbitrarily harass Ali – he has been arrested not once but four times. After his first arrest, he was tried in absentia for charges[…]