ADHRB Weekly Newsletter #360
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** Bahrain
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** Rhetoric over action: Bharani-Danish human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Danish double standards
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Over nine years ago, renowned human rights defender Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was violently dragged from his home in Bahrain, tortured by security services and initially tried as a civilian in a military court. He was sentenced to life in prison under broad legislation on trumped-up charges including ‘participating in terrorism to overthrow the government’. It is widely understood by those both in Bahrain and the international community, that these charges were levelled against Mr Al-Khawaja as a punishment for his peaceful role in the 2011 pro-democracy protests ([link removed]) , which called for political reform in the country.

Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is an internationally recognised Bharani-Danish human rights defender, a founder and former president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), and a founding Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR). He also worked as the Middle East and North Africa Protection Coordinator for Front Line Defenders until February 2011, when he resigned during the popular Bahraini pro-democracy movement.

Exiled from Bahrain, Al-Khawaja began life in Denmark with his wife and four daughters between 1981 and 2001. He received training from the Danish Centre for Human Rights and dedicated his life to achieving social and democratic reform in Bahrain. Bahrain has had the same ruling family presiding over the kingdom since the 18^th century and a continuous track record of discrimination against the majority Shia population.
Read the full article here. ([link removed])




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** Profile in Persecution
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Mahmood Saeed Ahmed Isa Abdulla
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Mahmood Saeed Abdullah was an 18 years old freshman in college when he was arrested from his house in Nabih Saleh, Bahrain on 3 November 2015. Mahmood was one of 115 Bahraini citizens convicted ([link removed]) by the Bahraini Fourth High Criminal Court on 15 May 2018, for alleged involvement in a terrorist cell, called the “Zulfiqar Brigades”. On this date, Mahmood was sentenced to life in prison and denaturalized. Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) raised a complaint through the UN Complaint Program ([link removed]) concerning the twenty convicted individuals in this particular case. He was subjected to severe forms of torture and ill treatment throughout his arrest, investigation, and imprisonment. He currently resides in the Dry Dock Detention Center for under 21 year olds.

Masked men in civilian clothes, along with men wearing black clothes and military personnel broke into his house and raided it without a warrant. There were also black commando’s cars waiting outside the house. These men came to Mahmood’s house, searched it without a warrant, vandalized it, and took many of Mahmood’s belongings and electronics. Then, they took Mahmood’s mother into a room and female police searched her.

Read the full report here. ([link removed])


** ADHRB at the UN
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** HRC 44: ADHRB’s Written Submission on Bahrain during United Nation Human Rights Council
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Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) submitted the following written statements for the record during the 44th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The statements addressed several ongoing systematic human rights violations and concerns.

1- Culture of Impunity in Bahrain, please click here ([link removed]) to view the full statement

2- Death Penalty in Bahrain, please click here ([link removed]) to view the full statement

3- Political Prisoners in Bahrain, please click here ([link removed]) to view the full statement

4- Systematic Attack on Freedom of Expression in Bahrain, please click here ([link removed]) to view the full statement

Read the full article here. ([link removed])


** Around the Gulf
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** Kuwait, the Bidoon and Government Critics: How the Kuwaiti Authority Continues to Practice Torture to Suppress Minorities and Opposition Voices
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Stateless individuals, human rights defenders and government critics are routinely subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment within the country of Kuwait. This is despite Kuwait being party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) which stipulates prohibitions on such actions and strictly requires state parties to implement effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. This prohibition applies at any time, including; peacetime, war, a state of emergency, and political instability. There is no justification for torture within a state territory, even if it comes from an order from a superior officer or a public authority.

Read the full article here. ([link removed])

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Dispatch on Spanish Arm Sales to the Gulf Region

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Spain has consistently demonstrated its strong economic interest in the Middle East, especially in regard to its arms sales to the Gulf states. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Spain was the 7th largest exporter of arms during the period 2015-2019, with Australia, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia as its top 3 clients. The Spanish military-industrial industry has an annual turnover of approximately €6 billion, and this amount is set to increase. During the 2014-2018 period, there was a 7.8% increase in the Spanish arms export industry, due to an 87% growth in exports of arms to the Middle East region.

Read the full article here. ([link removed])


** GCC in the Wire
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** - U.S. State Dept. says IG found U.S. arms sales to Saudi did not break law, official says (Reuters) ([link removed])
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A final report by the office of the State Department Acting Inspector General found Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s emergency certification on arms sales to Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia last year did not break the law, a senior department official said on Monday.


** - Iran says GCC call for Tehran arms embargo extension is 'unrealistic' (Reuters) ([link removed])
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Iran has rejected as “unrealistic” a call by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the United Nations to extend an international arms embargo on Tehran that ends in October, state TV reported on Monday.


- 6 Gulf Arab countries back extending UN arms embargo on Iran (AP) ([link removed])

A six-nation bloc of Gulf Arab nations torn apart by internal strife endorsed an extension of a United Nations arms embargo on Iran, just two months before it is set to expire.


- Federal suit filed against Saudi crown prince by ex-official (AP) ([link removed])

A former top Saudi counterterrorism official has filed a federal lawsuit in the United States against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, alleging the royal tried to trap and kill him in the U.S. and Canada.



- U.N. condemns air strikes in Yemen that reportedly killed children (Reuters) ([link removed])

An unconfirmed but large number of civilians, including children, were killed in air strikes in northern Yemen on Thursday, the United Nations said.

- U.S. senators want to block drone sales to Saudis (Reuters) ([link removed])

Republican and Democratic senators introduced legislation on Thursday that would block international sales of American-made drones to countries that are not close U.S. allies, mentioning Saudi Arabia in particular.

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Are you a victim of a human rights abuse in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, or other GCC states?

Document your case with the Special Procedures of the United Nations through
** ADHRB's UN Complaint Program ([link removed])
.

Copyright © 2017 ADHRB, All rights reserved.
Contact us at: ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

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