Newsletter #144

Bahrain State Department Commemorates 5th Anniversary by Calling for More Reforms On 17 February, the US Department of State (DoS) issued a statement commemorating the fifth anniversary of Bahrain’s pro-democracy uprising in 2011. The statement highlights ongoing US concerns regarding “limitations on peaceful assembly, political activism, and the criminalization of freedom of expression” since the[…]

ADHRB and 12 NGOs Demand Release of Ali al-Nimr

Marking the fourth anniversary of Ali al-Nimr’s arrest, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain and 12 other NGOs demand that Saudi Arabia repeal the death penalty against Ali al-Nimr and all other protesters who were arrested as minors, including Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher. Saudi security forces arrested Ali al-Nimr on 14 February[…]

Saudi Women Are Separated in Councils

Although Saudi women were permitted to vote and run for political positions in December 2015, the government has required the 17 women who gained elected seats in municipal councils (out of 978 candidates) to sit in separate rooms and only communicate electronically with their male counterparts. This move upset women activists, but government ministers quickly[…]

Enough platitudes, John Kerry – it is time the US got tough with Saudi Arabia

On 2 February 2016, International Business Times published an op-ed by ADHRB advocacy associate Ellen Duthoy regarding the US’ silence amidst Saudi Arabia’s increasing human rights abuses both at home and abroad. The first paragraphs of the article are found below; the rest can be viewed here.    At the end of January, attachés to[…]

Newsletter #141

Bahrain | Updates from the Ground | News & Opinion Saudi Arabia | Other Gulf States | UN Complaint Program Bahrain Bahrain’s Miscarriage of Justice in Sentencing 57 Jau Prisoners On Monday, 25 January 2016, Bahrain’s public prosecutor announced that a court had sentenced 57 men to additional 15-year jail terms for their alleged involvement in the Jau Prison[…]