Assessing Bahrain’s UPR National Report: Part II – NIHR and BICI

Below you will find the second installment of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)’s assessments of claims made in the Bahraini government’s National Report to the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group. Assessments contain excerpted information from the full UPR assessment issued by ADHRB, the Bahrain Center for Human[…]

HRC34 Oral Interventions: Item #4 General Debate on Bahrain

On 15 March 2017, Ahmed Maki delivered an oral intervention at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council under the Item 4 General Debate. In his intervention, he raises two major setbacks to reform efforts in Bahrain since the beginning of 2017, including the execution of three torture victims and backsliding on its BICI[…]

EVENT SUMMARY: Recommendations for Reform: How Can the U.S. Diminish Destabilization in Bahrain?

On 14 February 2017, the sixth anniversary of Bahrain’s pro-democracy uprising, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) and the Office of Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) hosted a panel at the Russell US Senate Office Building entitled “Recommendations for reform: How can the US diminish destabilization in Bahrain?” Panelists included Maryam al-Khawaja, Bahraini[…]

NGOs to Bahrain: Do Not Allow Military Courts to Judge Civilians

6 February 2017 – Military courts may soon have permanent power to prosecute civilians as the Government of Bahrain fast-tracks a constitutional amendment which creates a state of “undeclared martial law.” We, the undersigned, call on Bahrain’s legislature not to approve the amendment, and condemn any attempt to try civilians by military judges. On 2[…]

Bahrain Restores Law Enforcement Powers to NSA, Reversing BICI Recommendation

5 January 2017 – Bahrain today restored law enforcement abilities to its National Security Agency (NSA), an institution which oversaw torture of protesters in 2011. The move reverses one of the few post-Arab Spring reforms outlined in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). The reversal comes after an escalated human rights crisis in 2016,[…]