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[…]

ADHRB Calls for GCC Labor Reform on International Migrants Day

18 December 2017 – The six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman – rely heavily on migrant labor and are noted for widespread and systematic migrant rights abuses. These violations largely stem from the GCC-wide use of the kafala system of labor[…]

Trump Administration authorizes new arms sales to GCC states despite Congressional threat to block

On 13 and 16 October 2017, the United States Government approved the sale of weapons worth $371.6 million to Kuwait, stating that the sale “will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country.” These sales come amid the ongoing diplomatic crisis[…]

ADHRB Condemns Rising Use of Capital Punishment in the GCC

10 October 2017 – On the occasion of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) would like to call attention toward the rising use of the death penalty in the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in particular Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia,[…]

Amid GCC Row, Governments across the Gulf Fail to Address Statelessness

With the diplomatic crisis embroiling the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Saudi– and United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed institutions have accused the Qatari government of arbitrarily revoking the citizenship of 55 members of the Al Morah (al-Murrah) tribe, including its leader, Sheikh Talib bin Mohammed bin Lahoum bin Shraim. Though it is as yet unclear if[…]