ADHRB Weekly Newsletter #393
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** Bahrain
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** 60th Birthday Behind Bars: Joint Call for the release of Bahraini activist, Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja
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On 5 April 2021 prominent Bahraini human rights defender Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja turns 60. A few days after his birthday, 9 April, marks ten years since he was first arrested for organising protests calling for political reforms in 2011. On his birthday, human rights organisations from across the globe call for the unconditional and immediate release of Abdul- Hadi.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of pro-democracy protests which began in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, in February 2011. The demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the authorities resulting in the deaths of nearly 100 people and the arrest of thousands. Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja was part of the “Bahrain 13”, a group of well-known opposition leaders arrested in March and April 2011 after calling for civil and political rights during the February uprising. A Bahraini military court sentenced them to life imprisonment in what is widely regarded as a series of unfair trials.

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** Profile in Persecution
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** Profile In Persecution: Sayed Redha Fadhul
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Sayed Redha Fadhul was a 15-year-old high school student when he was arrested during a raid on his house, along with his brother and cousin in 2020. He was then placed in solitary confinement for a month with no contact with a lawyer or his family and was subject to extreme psychological and physical torture. He was charged with terrorist acts committed three years prior, when he was only 12 years old. He remains in Dry Dock Detention Center to this day, awaiting his transfer to New Dry Dock Prison.

On 16 January 2020 at dawn, General Security vehicles, officers in civilian clothing, and riot police with private civilian cars stormed the complex where Sayed Redha’s mother lived. They first asked about Sayed’s cousin, Ali Mohamed, and after raiding his mother’s villa and not finding him, they began to search the compound villas. They then raided the villa belonging to Sayed Redha’s mother, and arrested him along with his older brother, Sayed Mohamed Baqer Mahdi, and their cousin Ali Mohamed Hasan. The family had gone on a trip outside the Kingdom of Bahrain three days before the arrest, and they preferred that their sons stay in the family’s housing complex as it was safer. The authorities did not mention the reason for the arrest, and no arrest warrant was presented. Two days after the arrest, Sayed Redha was able to call his uncle for a few seconds, telling him that he was being interrogated, all he could say was that he was fine and safe, then the call was disconnected. Following the
call, Sayed Redha was disappeared for more than a month, as his family had no knowledge of his whereabouts, and he was not allowed to contact them or his lawyer.

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** GCC in the Wire
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- Saudi man arrested as juvenile could face execution despite reforms: Human Rights Watch (Reuters) ([link removed])
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DUBAI (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch says a Saudi man who was convicted following a “grossly unfair trial” for crimes committed when he was a minor risks being executed although the Saudi authorities have said they have scrapped the death penalty for juveniles.
- ([link removed]) UN expert calls on Bahrain to release human rights defender before 60th birthday (Middle East Eye) ([link removed])

A United Nations expert has called on Bahrain to release a prominent human rights defender from prison before his 60th birthday next week.

- ([link removed]) Accusing footballers of hypocrisy for protesting about human rights abuses in Qatar rather misses the point (The Independent) ([link removed])

No sooner had the protests started than the backlash began. The international football teams who took the bold step of highlighting human rights abuses in Qatar ahead of next year’s World Cup finals in the Gulf, by wearing protest T-shirts ahead of qualifiers, were immediately dismissed as hypocrites, or worse.

- Extreme E’s laudably progressive intent at odds with Saudi Arabian venue (The Guardian) ([link removed])

Extreme E wants to highlight the climate emergency and promote women in racing – so the decision to host the opening race in Saudi Arabia was incongruous to say the least.

- Saudi crown prince and former UK PM Cameron went on camping trip a year after Khashoggi murder (Middle East Eye) ([link removed])

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron went on a camping holiday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman more than a year after the murder of Washington Post and Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to the Financial Times.
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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])
.

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