Bahrain

Bahrain: Ignoring Bahrain’s Iron Fist

Published by on October 15, 2013

15 October 2013 Human Rights Watch For two years, as the United States has condemned massive abuses of protesters throughout the Middle East, it has largely turned a blind eye to equally horrific treatment in Bahrain, a small but significant ally. As the situation in Manama shows no sign of abating, the United States needs to step up its game- before it’s too late. Last week, a Bahraini court sentenced 50 Shiites, including the human rights activist Naji Fateel, to harsh prison terms of up to 15 years after a mass trial allegedly linking the activists to the “February 14″ Read the full article…

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Bahrain: Amnesty International Annual Report 2013

Published by on May 23, 2013

Amnesty International 23 May 2013 The authorities continued to crack down on protests and dissent. The government made some reforms based on the recommendations of a major inquiry into human rights violations in 2011, but failed to implement some of the inquiry’s main recommendations in relation to accountability. Scores of people remained in prison or were detained for opposing the government, including prisoners of conscience and people sentenced after unfair trials. Human rights defenders and other activists were harassed and imprisoned. The security forces continued to use excessive force against protesters, resulting in deaths, and allegedly tortured or otherwise ill-treated Read the full article…

Bahrain: Five Bahraini men sentenced to jail for Tweets

Published by on May 16, 2013

Amnesty International 16 May 2013 Five Bahraini men, including a lawyer, were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment by the Manama Lower Criminal Court on 15 May for allegedly insulting the King of Bahrain in messages posted on Twitter. They may be prisoners of conscience. According to information received by Amnesty International, lawyer Mahdi al-Basri (25), was arrested on 11 March following a police raid on his home in Karrana, northern Bahrain. Four other men,Mahmood ‘Abdul-Majeed ‘Abdullah Al-Jamri (34), Hassan ‘Abdali ‘Issa (33), Mohsen ‘Abdali ‘Issa(26) and ‘Ammar Makki Mohammad Al-Aali (36) were arrested at dawn on 12 March. The trial of the five in separate cases began on Read the full article…

Bahrain: fundamental reforms needed to combat torture

Published by on April 18, 2013

REDRESS 18 April 2013 The Government of Bahrain must take further measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment, to investigate and prosecute past offences and to ensure that all victims have effective access to redress including rehabilitation services, conclude REDRESS and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) in a new report released today, Bahrain: Fundamental reform or torture without end? In 2011 the Bahrain International Commission of Inquiry (BICI) found that torture and ill-treatment had been used systematically to respond to protests in Bahrain. While the Government of Bahrain has taken some steps to implement the recommendations of the Read the full article…

Bahrain: Targeted Raids and Arbitrary Detentions

Published by on April 10, 2013

Human Rights Watch 10 April 2013 Bahraini authorities are carrying out home raids and arbitrarily detaining opposition protesters in advance of the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend of April 19 to 21, 2013, according to information from a variety of local sources. The sources told Human Rights Watch that groups of masked, plainclothes police officers have been conducting targeted night-time and dawn raids in the towns around the motor racing circuit. Twenty people, including prominent anti-government protest leaders, have been arrested. Arresting officers have failed to produce arrest, search, or seizure warrants, the sources said, although these are required by Read the full article…

Bahrain: Amnesty International Annual Report 2012

Published by on May 24, 2012

Amnesty International Annual Report 2012: the state of the world’s human rights Published 24 May 2012 Bahrain experienced an acute human rights crisis in which at least 47 people were killed, including five members of the security forces and five people who died in custody as a result of torture. Security forces used excessive force against peaceful protesters and detained hundreds of people, including prisoners of conscience. Many detainees were tortured and otherwise ill-treated. Hundreds of civilian detainees received unfair trials before military courts; leading opposition activists were sentenced to up to life imprisonment. People who demonstrated against the government, Read the full article…

Bahrain: Human Rights Watch World Report 2012

Published by on January 22, 2012

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012 - Bahrain. Published on 22 January 2012 and available at Human Rights Watch in English, Arabic, French and Spanish. In mid-February Bahraini authorities used lethal force to suppress peaceful anti-government and pro-democracy protests, killing seven and wounding many more. The crackdown resumed in mid-March, after troops from Saudi Arabia entered Bahrain and Bahraini military and security forces launched a systematic campaign of retribution, arresting thousands of demonstrators or individuals who supported the protests. Authorities fired hundreds of public sector employees suspected of supporting the protests, as did large private firms in which the state had Read the full article…