Human rights defenders, opposition activists and Shia religious leaders continue to face substantial legal harassment in the execution of their freedom of expression and association. In addition to legal harassment, which has been reported to encompass unlawful detention, torture and ill-treatment, activists may face personal threats directed at them and their families. As of March 2017, this practice was most recently outlined in the arbitrary detention of the family of exiled activist Sayed al-Wadaei.
Irrespective of condemnations from the The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bahrain’s severe repression of human rights defenders has increased in recent years, displaying a troublesome deterioration of human rights.
18 October – Yesterday, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR) co-hosted an event at Parliament to highlight... Read more
9 October 2019 – Liberal Democrat Peer, Lord Scriven has accused Formula One of complicity in the “prolonged and arbitrary detention” of Bahraini activist Najah Yusuf, who was jailed a... Read more
8 October 2019 – Bahrain’s authorities are failing to provide adequate medical care to high-profile prisoners, Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institution for Rights and Democracy (... Read more
24 September 2019 – The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has found the detention of recently-released Bahraini activist Najah Yusuf, who was arrested in April 2017... Read more
17 September 2019 – Bahrain’s High Appeals Court refused to grant a non-custodial sentence to the country’s most prominent human rights defender, Nabeel Rajab, who is currently serving... Read more
16 September 2019 – Political Prisoner Ali Al-Hajee issued a statement last week from Jau Prison exposing the inhumane conditions that he has faced for the past six years and continue... Read more
12 September 2019 – Yesterday, during the 42nd session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and Americans fo... Read more
11 September 2019 – Women political prisoners in Bahrain have been subjected to abuse at every stage of the criminal procedure, including illegal arrests, physical, sexual and psycholo... Read more
13 August 2019 – Yesterday, fourteen NGOs including BIRD, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) delivered a joint-letter to Amal Clooney urging her to speak out a... Read more
07 August 2019 – New evidence obtained by BIRD has emerged implicating Bahraini Embassy staff in the assault of a protester who had scaled the building on the eve of the execution of t... Read more
