Husain Ali Matar was an 18-year-old Bahraini citizen when he was arrested for the final time on 30 October 2022 without a warrant. He was previously arrested on 28 June 2020 when he was a 16-year-old minor student in his second year of middle school and was sentenced to three years in prison following an unfair trial. He was then released on 6 May 2022 under alternative sanctions. During both detentions, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture, enforced disappearance, communication cutoffs, forced confessions, unfair trials, deprivation of prayer, blackmail, and medical neglect ..read more

Seventy-six million metric tons of oil reserves are located in the Arab Gulf, constituting around 66% of the global reserves. Oil represents a prominent source of income in the Middle East, proven by the increased production during the last decades. From 1980, oil production passed from 11 million barrels per day to 18 million. The two biggest producers in the region are Saudi Arabia and UAE, respectively, making 39 and 14 percent of the total share. Various studies show that the industry causes significant methane emissions, contributing to global warming and other emissions that create signi ..read more

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) participated in the 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held from 26 February and 5 April 2024.  During these sessions, the organization delivered seven oral interventions under five items, shedding light on various human rights violations in Bahrain, Kuwait, and occupied Palestinian territories.  ADHRB delivered five interventions related to the human rights situation in Bahrain under items 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9. Among these, two interventions under items 4 and 9 highlighted the Israeli genocide against P ..read more

The draft of Saudi Arabia’s first penal code was leaked in July 2022. The text has been the subject of various allegations, which Saudi Arabia promptly denied. However, Amnesty International, which first denounced the code’s flaws, ensures that several Saudi legal experts have confirmed its authenticity. More recently, Amnesty International shared its analysis of the draft code with Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers and the Saudi Arabian Human Rights Commission, who stated that the text is still under legislative review. Nonetheless, the draft leak poses serious concerns over the premises of ..read more

After a thousand days of his hunger strike, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, along with 27 other human rights organizations, joined their voices in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of prominent human rights defender Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace. We, the undersigned, call your immediate attention to the deteriorating health of award-winning academic, blogger, and human rights defender Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace, who marks 1,000 days on a liquids-only hunger strike on April 3, 2024. We urge you to take action to immediately release Al-Singace, who is wrongfull ..read more

Salman Maki Ali was a 15-year-old Bahraini student and minor when Bahraini authorities arbitrarily arrested him on 21 October 2014 from the street without presenting an arrest warrant.  During detention, he endured torture, enforced disappearance, solitary confinement, denial of access to legal counsel, unfair trials based on confessions extracted under torture, sectarian-based insults, and medical neglect. He is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence in Jau Prison on politically motivated charges. On 21 October 2014, at around 9:45 P.M., masked plainclothes officers, aided by a ..read more

On 28th March 2024, ADHRB delivered an intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 55 under item 9 during the General debate. ADHRB Called for Pressure on Kuwait to End Racial Discrimination Against the Bidoon Community. The suffering of the Bidoon community in Kuwait has persisted since 1987 when the Kuwaiti government classified them as illegal residents, denying them basic services and imposing discriminatory restrictions. Although the law claims to provide means for the Bidoon to obtain citizenship, the naturalization procedures are unclear, and citizenship and residenc ..read more

On 28th March 2024, ADHRB delivered an intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 55 under item 9 during the General debate. ADHRB demanded actions to empty prisons of prisoners of conscience and allow the exercise of the right to protest. The discrimination experienced by the Bahraini people in their right to protest for demanding their rights or in solidarity with humanitarian causes could not be hidden. Today, we live in a country with a million masks on the lists of constitutional laws, citizens’ rights, and human rights standards. However, there is a stark contrast be ..read more

On 27th March 2024, ADHRB delivered an intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 55 under item 8 during the General debate. ADHRB condemned Bahrain’s restrictions on Shia religious practices. We express deep concern over Bahrain’s ongoing violations of religious freedom,  especially targeting Shia citizens, which contravene the Vienna Declaration and contradict official claims. During the recent Ashura season, arrests were made for refusing to remove banners, summoning religious leaders, and disrupting processions. The Interior Minister’s restrictions on foreign prea ..read more

Ayoob Adel Ahmed was a 23-year-old Bahraini citizen when Bahraini authorities arbitrarily arrested him for the final time on 14 May 2015. During his detention, he endured numerous violations, including brutal torture, enforced disappearance, sexual harassment, and other abuses. The most severe violations and burdens, however, stem from medical neglect, which has transformed him from a healthy young man into a prisoner suffering from a permanent disability. He is currently serving two life sentences, along with a total of 98 years imprisonment sentence in Jau Prison on politically motivated cha ..read more