It is true that the Kingdom of Bahrain has a long-standing relationship with the United States —one that is fundamentally based on arms sales, military partnerships and geopolitical strategy. This alliance however, does not excuse the United States’ noted silence in the wake of the conspicuous and ongoing human rights violations being committed by Bahrain. These violations span from arbitrary arrests to state-sanctioned rape, torture, and extrajudicial executions, some of which are set to happen in the near future if action is not taken to stem these terrible atrocities.

Despite these prevalent ongoing issues, the Trump Administration continues to authorize arms sales to Bahrain on the grounds that they are a major non-NATO ally. However, since President Trump’s election, there have been troubling incidences of dubious monetary transactions between the Bahraini government and President Trump. One early example: the Bahraini Embassy booked a massive event at the Trump International Hotel between the time of his election and inauguration. As stated in the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 9), no federal office holder can accept money without the express consent and approval of Congress — which President Trump did not have, and still does not, at the time of this transaction or any of the others occurring in the future regarding his chain of hotels. This adds another dimension of questionability to this administration’s persistent and substantial arms sales to Bahrain.

 

Read the full report here.
 

Mahdi Ali Hasan Mahdi Khalaf was a 38 year old Bahraini taxi driver when he was arrested in November 2015 by Bahraini officers in civilian clothing. The reason behind the arrest was attributed to his alleged involvement in a terrorist group named “Zulfiqar Brigades”, to which he was sentenced to life imprisonment and denaturalization.

Mahdi is currently being arbitrarily detained in Jau Prison. On 9 June, 2020, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) published an opinion for the immediate release of Mahdi and 19 other Bahraini citizens convicted on 15 May 2018  in the mass trial involving 138 defendants  for the same charge of their alleged involvement in Zulfiqar Brigades.

On 3 November, 2015, officers in civilian clothing raided Mahdi’s house at 2 AM without prior notice. At the same time, riot police were deployed around the house. There was no warrant presented for the entry and search of the house.

Following the arrest, Mahdi disappeared for one week, after which he called his parents and told them he was at the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), where he remained for 26 days. He was then transferred from the CID to the Dry Dock Detention Center.

 

Read the full report here.
 

Over the last five decades, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has rapidly transformed from a sparsely populated desert territory, to the Middle East’s epicenter of business and luxury tourism. However, hidden behind the grandeur of Emirati wealth and prestige, lies an autocratic police state rife with human rights violations including human trafficking, religious persecution and the systemic imprisonment of political dissidents. Through extensive lobbying and public affairs efforts, the UAE has been attempting to buy access to US legislators. By donating to countless congressional campaigns via US lobbying firms, the UAE is supposedly strengthening its relations with the US – essentially it endeavors to buy off US representatives in an effort to maintain an economy built on human rights abuses.

Through a number of US firms, the Emirati government has made countless indirect donations to campaigns and political action committees (PACs). Twelve firms have represented the Emirati government via its embassy or through various government departments. Some of those most prestigious include the Glover Park Group, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and American Defense International, who alone have donated millions of dollars to candidates over the course of decades.

 

Read the full report here.
 

State Department officials have raised alarms about the legal risk in aiding airstrikes that kill civilians. The Trump administration recently suppressed findings as it sold more weapons to Gulf nations.
 

Interference in aid operations by parties to Yemen’s conflict must stop as it is deterring donors and putting at risk millions of people who are dependent on assistance, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday.

- West urges Saudi Arabia to release women activists, prosecute Khashoggi killers (Reuters)

Dozens of Western countries voiced concern on Tuesday at Saudi Arabia’s continued detention of women activists and called for those behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to be brought to justice.
 

The U.N. nuclear watchdog is in wide-ranging talks with Saudi Arabia about tougher supervision of the kingdom’s nuclear activities, the agency said on Monday, part of a wider effort to eliminate a “weakness” in the global inspections regime.
 

Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighter jets early on Sunday attacked barracks and military sites of the armed Houthi movement in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported.

-Saudi-led coalition says intercepted missiles, drones headed towards kingdom: SPA (Reuters)

A Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had intercepted and destroyed a number of ballistic missiles and explosive drones launched towards the kingdom on Thursday.