HRC Written Statement: GCC Free Expression and the Qatar Crisis

On the occasion of the 37th session of the Human Rights Council, ADHRB submitted a written statement to the Council marking increased attacks on free expression throughout the Arab Gulf states following the outbreak of the diplomatic crisis surrounding Qatar. GCC Free Expression and the Qatar Crisis Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)[…]

HRC36 UAE Oral Intervention: ID with Working Group on Mercenaries

On 13 September at the 36th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, ADHRB’s International Advocacy Officer, Michael Payne, delivered an oral intervention under the Item 3 interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Mercenaries. In his intervention, Payne discussed the United Arab Emirates’ extensive private military contract companies and foreign recruits  and their[…]

Dispatch: Criminalizing “Sympathy” – Free Expression Abuses Find New Catalyst in the GCC Crisis

Any end to the weeks-long Qatar-Gulf crisis was last month made contingent, in part, on the shuttering of Al Jazeera and its affiliate stations, as well as the closure of all news outlets that are—directly or indirectly, partially or wholly—funded by Qatar. Justified by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt as[…]

UAE Implicated in Torture at Yemeni Black Sites

In late June, The Associated Press (AP) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has established a web 18 “black site” prisons in Yemen. Hidden in military bases, air and seaports, and private villas, these secret detention facilities have been host to a variety of human rights abuses, such as[…]

Rights groups call for UAE gov to release HRD Ahmed Mansoor

20 April 2017 – A group of 88 human rights organizations – including the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Article 19, Index on Censorship, and ADHRB – signed a petition calling on the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to immediately release prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor. The UAE government arrested Mansoor on 20[…]