French parliament representative, Frederique Dumas, called up the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves le Drian to highlight the frequent human rights violations against women in Bahrain. Frederique Dumas, politician, and film producer, who was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly in 2017, where she also serves in the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Frederique Dumas wrote to the minister concerning the cases of several women political prisoners in Bahrain that endured serious sexual, psychological and physical abuses. The most prominent case that the MP addressed is one of Ebtisam al-Saegh. After voicing government criticisms on social media and for human rights work, in 2017 she was summoned by the authorities for questioning. She was interrogated and subjected to hours of physical and sexual violence. She was eventually charged with “falsely using her human rights work as a cover to provide inaccurate information about Bahrain and undermine its international status”. She was then sentenced to 3 months in prison. Following the imprisonment, Ebtisam started suffering from severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as indications of post-traumatic stress. That was not the first time that Ebtisam al Saeg was explicitly targeted because of her human rights work. Bahraini authorities have repeatedly subjected al-Saegh to reprisals for her engagement with UN human rights mechanisms, including the HRC.

Read the full article here. 

Salman was a 24-year-old volleyball player when he was arrested on 4 September 2014. Without presenting a warrant, authorities had beaten and arrested him. An interrogation and trial marred with human rights violations followed. Salman is currently in Jau Prison serving a 19-year and six-month sentence.

On 4 September 2014, riot police and civilian officers raided a house in Wadi al-Salam neighbourhood in al-Makshaa region, where Salman and others were having their pre-dawn meal, as it was Ramadan. The officers destroyed furniture, beat the individuals, and arrested them. Salman had been wanted due to the cases against him. In fact, his family house was raided multiple times. When the family would ask to see the warrant permitting these raids, authorities would refuse to display any. Salman was subjected to enforced disappearance for eight days. His family had only found out about his arrest through a post on Instagram.

During his enforced disappearance, Salman was being transferred daily between the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) and Riffa police station. He would be taken to the CID for interrogation at dawn prayer and kept there until 10 p.m. when he would be returned to Riffa police station to sleep. The interrogation lasted 7 days.

Read the full report here.

ADHRB will participate in an online Q&A on NGO engagement with the 76th CEDAW session. This will take place tomorrow, Wednesday 3 June from 13:00 (Geneva time). 

ADHRB has also been invited by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) to an online presentation of the UN Human Rights report 2019, chaired by the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, which will take place on Friday 5 June from 14:00 to 15:00 via Zoom.

Follow the latest UN HRC news here. 

Human right defenders have suffered greatly from reprisals due to their activism and involvement with international human rights organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), and the Human Rights Council (HRC), among others. ADHRB has and continues to monitor the situation in Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf. Since May 2018, Saudi Arabia has implemented travel bans, engaged in incommunicado detention, and participated in other forms of reprisals as a method for preventing human right defenders (HRDs) from participating in international human right sessions or engaging with groups such as the UN.

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COVID-19: How the Pandemic used by GCC Governments to Double Down on Human Rights Violations 

The COVID-19 has infected millions of people around the world and has compelled governments to take extraordinary measures to combat its spread across the population. However, these actions pose a risk of infringing upon international human rights law standards, even if COVID-19 poses a significant threat to public health.

Declaring a state of emergency can be one method in which governments can quickly respond to the immediate crisis. This is where state constitutions allow for the executive power to take extraordinary measures in exceptional situations much more quickly, such as in the current health crisis, without having to go through all the stages that make up the normal decision-making process. Although declaring a state of emergency is not inherently illegal, it is evident that a number of governments around the world are using this constitutional tool to severely restrict fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of information, expression, assembly and association. In reality, many measures that were imposed with the pretext of combatting COVID-19 are in fact being used as an excuse to oppress government opposition.

Read the full article here. 

A $2 million US lobbying effort and petitions from European lawmakers are piling pressure on Saudi Arabia to release a philanthropist prince jailed for two years without charge amid an intensifying royal crackdown.