Abdulla Hatem Yusuf was a 15-year-old minor and school student when Bahraini authorities arrested him from his home on 15 May 2015. During his detention, he was subjected to torture, sexual harassment, denial of access to his lawyer during interrogation, and an unfair trial based on confessions extracted under torture. He is currently serving a 13-year sentence in Jau Prison on politically motivated charges.
Rights Groups Letter to F1 CEO Ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix: 20 Years of Sportswashing
In a joint letter, 31 human rights organizations called on Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to investigate Bahrain’s human rights record and ensure that the global event does not turn into a means of whitewashing sports.
Updated: Mahmood AbdulJabbar Nooh was a 17-year-old minor when Bahraini authorities arrested him on 13 November 2019, after chasing him in the streets of AlKarranah Town without presenting any arrest warrant. During his detention, he was subjected to torture, electric shocks, and burning. He was interrogated without the presence of his lawyer and faced an unfair trial based on confessions extracted under torture. Additionally, he suffered from medical neglect. He is currently serving his sentence of 10 years in prison on politically motivated charges. He was transferred from the new Dry Dock Prison, designed for inmates under the age of 21, to Jau Prison after turning 21 years old.
Analysing the UPR of Saudi Arabia: New Recommendations and Foreseeable Developments – Death Penalty (Part Two)
Saudi Arabia has recently received a review of its human rights records during the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review on 22 January 2024. In this instance, it has received 35 recommendations on using the death penalty. Before this, in 2018, it had already received various recommendations on reforming the use of the death penalty for the gravest crimes or abolishing it. By that time, Prince Bin Salman and other officials repeatedly declared that Saudi Arabia intended to restrict the death penalty for non-lethal offences and to abolish it for children. However, in 2024, executions for drug-related crimes and children are still ongoing.
Analysing the UPR of Saudi Arabia: New Recommendations and Foreseeable Developments – Counter Terrorism Legislation (Part Three)
The crackdown on online expression by the Saudi Arabian government has been reported extensively. In 2014, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced Saudi prosecutors and judges for using vague expressions of terrorism to try Saudi citizens for peaceful tweets and social media activities. The counter-terrorism legislation was criminalising activity harming the public order, religious values, and the sanctity of private life. In 2017, Saudi Arabia decided to amend the terms of this legislation by promulgating a new counter-terrorism law. However, the law currently remains taunted by extreme repression of freedom of expression and by a vague definition of terrorism, which was criticised in the latest cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Saudi Arabia.
Food Security in the GCC: Assessing the Risk of Future Shortages
Food security is described by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) as ‘’ all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. In addition, food security is structured in four pillars, namely: 1) Availability (people having consistent sources of food), 2) Access (people have sufficient resources to purchase food), 3) Stability (people can access food that remains at a stable price during time) 4) Utilization (people know how to distribute food). Currently, among the Arab countries, the GCC is considered more food secure according to the Global Food Security Index. However, some long-standing issues remain present due to the national supply strategies, possibly causing a disruption in food security in the long term.
