• Bahrain: Free Protest Leaders Immediately
    Press release
    Apr 30, 2012
    Bahraini authorities should free Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and 13 other jailed leaders of last year’s anti-government protests immediately. More than a year after they were arrested, the Bahraini authorities have produced no evidence that the jailed leaders were doing anything but exercising their basic human rights.
  • Bahrain: Police Brutality, Despite Reform Pledges
    Press release
    Apr 29, 2012
    Bahrain’s police are beating and torturing detainees, including minors, despite public commitments to end torture and police impunity.
  • Letter to Permanent Representatives of HRC Member States on the Upcoming UPR Session on Bahrain
    Letter
    Apr 24, 2012
    Bahrain’s second UPR review also takes place following an extensive independent investigation into alleged serious human rights violations by the government in suppressing large anti-government protests that began in mid-February 2011. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), comprising a team of five renowned international jurists, concluded, in its 489-page report released in late November, that a lack of accountability had led to what the Commissioners called a “culture of impunity” for widespread and systematic violations of international human rights law as well as Bahraini law.
  • Don’t Kid Yourselves: Bahrain Hasn’t Changed
    Commentary
    Apr 18, 2012
    The stubborn determination of Formula One’s governing body to press ahead with the grand prix in Bahrain has delighted the country’s rulers, who portray it as a sign that the Gulf state is back to normal. It is anything but.
  • Bahrain: Grand Prix Decision Ignores Abuses
    Press release
    Apr 14, 2012
    The decision to go ahead with the Grand Prix on April 22, 2012, gives Bahrain’s rulers the opportunity they are seeking to obscure the seriousness of the country’s human rights situation. The decision was announced on April 13 by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Formula One Teams Association.
  • Human Rights Watch warns Formula 1 over Bahrain Grand Prix
    Commentary
    Apr 12, 2012
    We are looking at a lockdown. F1 is not my world, but this seems to be a terrible climate in which to hold what is supposed to be a competitive, festive sporting event.
  • Bahrain: Why Abdulhadi al-Khawaja Should Be Free
    Commentary
    Apr 10, 2012

    Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a long-time human rights defender, is on the verge of death because he refuses to accept that he should spend the rest of his life in a Bahraini prison because he led peaceful protests for political reform.

  • Joint Letter to President Obama Urging a Call for the Release of Bahraini Prisoner Abdulhadi al-Khawaja
    Letter
    Apr 9, 2012

    We write to urge you to publicly call on the Government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release from prison Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. Al-Khawaja is a Bahraini human rights defender and democracy activist who may soon die, as he has been on a hunger strike for more than two months.

  • Arab League: Carry Out, Monitor Syria Sanctions
    Press release
    Mar 29, 2012
    The League of Arab States should at its summit in Baghdad that began on March 27, 2012, commit to carrying out and monitoring the implementation of the targeted sanctions against the Syrian leadership it agreed to in November 2011.
  • Bahrain: Vital Reform Commitments Unmet
    Press release
    Mar 28, 2012

    Bahrain’s government has not carried out critical recommendations by the independent commission that looked into extensive human rights violations during the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2011, Human Rights Watch said today.