Appeal Hearing Postponed for Bahraini Prisoner of Conscience Khalil al-Halwachi

On 18 September 2017, a Bahraini court postponed yet another hearing for professor and engineer Khalil al-Halwachi. Al-Halwachi, a former opposition activist, is currently appealing a ten-year sentence for allegedly possessing a weapon, which he maintains was falsely planted by security forces. According to Fatima al-Halwachi, Khalil’s daughter and the Deputy Chairman of the European-Bahraini[…]

Trial of Nabeel Rajab Postponed Yet Again in Bahrain

  After 455 days of arbitrary detention, the Bahraini government has again postponed the trial of leading human rights defender and president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) Nabeel Rajab. Arrested on 13 June 2016, Rajab was sentenced to two years in prison in a separate case in July 2017, and is now[…]

Bahrain Launches Renewed Reprisal Campaign Ahead of HRC36

6 September 2017 – The Government of Bahrain has launched a renewed campaign of reprisals against Bahraini civil society actors ahead of the 36th Session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC), set to begin on Monday, 11 September 2017. Over the last several days, human rights defenders Fatima al-Halwachi and Zainab al-Khamees;[…]

Bahrain government targets family of exiled human rights activist

“We’re going to get the animal – your husband – and he is going to pay. We’re going to start with your family and with his family. We’re going to get you one by one…” – Bahrain security officer to Ms. al-Wadaei On 2 March 2017, authorities from the Government of Bahrain continued targeting the[…]

Saudi’s Gulf Policies Inform Bahrain’s Techniques of Repression

As the largest country economically and the most populous state in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia’s policies significantly affect the policies of its neighbors. Since the 2011 Arab Spring popular protests around the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Saudi Arabia has used its influence to lead the counterrevolutionary charge, and worked assiduously[…]