The Trial of the al-Darats Continues in the UAE

The trial of Libyan-American citizens Kamal and Mohammed al-Darat is due to continue today in the UAE. On 18 January, Emirati authorities charged the father and son with providing financial support to two alleged Libyan terrorist groups (neither of which are recognized as terrorist organizations by the UN) after almost 18 months of incommunicado detention.[…]

ADHRB at HRC: Arbitrary Detention of Activists in the UAE

On March 21, 2016, at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council, Diam Abou-Diab, on behalf of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, delivered an Item 8 General Debate oral intervention in which she spoke about arbitrary detention of activists in the United Arab Emirates despite the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action’s condemnation[…]

Newsletter #148

Bahrain Four Bahrainis Arbitrarily Detained, Says UN Body 18 March 2016 – Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has declared four Bahrainis to be arbitrarily detained, stating that their detention is impossible to legally justify and violates international law. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) welcomes the[…]

State of Repression: The United Arab Emirates

17 March 2016 – Geneva, Switzerland – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), the European Center for Democracy & Human Rights (ECDHR), Index on Censorship, and the Saudi Organization for Rights and Freedoms presented a side event at the 31st Session of the Human[…]

UAE Convicts Omani National for Alleged Social Media Insults

An Emirati court has sentenced Saleh al-Owaissi, a 29-year-old Omani man, to three years in prison and a fine of Dh50,000, for allegedly “disseminating information with a view to ridicule and damage the reputation of the state symbols” on WhatsApp. The authorities also claim that al-Owaissi “ridiculed Emirati martyrs in Yemen” by referring to them[…]