Governments in the Middle East were responsible for serious human rights violations over the past year, including harassment and attacks against human rights defenders and organizations that document abuse.

Bahrain's king, Shaikh Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa, should halt plans to execute a man for a 2005 killing.

Bahrain's Labor Ministry should hold employers who withhold wages and passports from migrant employees accountable.

Bahrain’s revision of its restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system will dramatically improve the status of most migrant workers and reduce their risk of exploitation, Human Rights Watch said today. But the protections should be extended to migrant domestic workers, who are especially vulnerable to employer abuse, Human Rights Watch said.

Bahrain should immediately begin a thorough and impartial investigation into the abduction and torture of the human rights activist Ja'far Kadhim Ibrahim.

Bahrain's use of televised, coerced testimony and other serious flaws in the criminal trial of an opposition leader and others shows contempt for the right to a fair trial.

Bahraini officials should promptly drop the charges against the former president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja, and lift a travel ban against him, Human Rights Watch said today.

Bahrain's government should withdraw a threat by the interior minister to prosecute human rights activists for having met with foreign government officials while abroad.