Urgent appeal: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja may be on his deathbed (100 day on hunger strike)
18 May 2012
Human rights defender Abdel Hadi Khawaja, on hunger strike for more than three months, is well but still continues his fast to protest a life sentence, his lawyer said on Thursday.
"Abdel Hadi can walk. He is conscious and moves around normally," the lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, told AFP after meeting with his client for the first time in more than 45 days.
Bahrain Watch: US Presses Ahead with Arms Sale Despite Ongoing Violations
May 16, 2012
No Investigation into Past Misuse of US-origin Helicopters, Armored Vehicles, and Rifles
[Manama] On 11 May 2012, the US State Department announced it would proceed with an arms sale to Bahrain. The sale is reported to include patrol boats, air defense systems, fighter jet parts, and night-vision equipment. The sale also includes refurbishment for Bahrain’s fleet of Cobra helicopters. The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) opened fired on protesters from Cobra helicopters last year.
Aljazeera: Autopsy finds torture behind Bahrain drowning
Report exclusively obtained by Al Jazeera says 23-year-old had been electrically tortured before drowning in January.
Matthew Cassel Last Modified: 16 May 2012
On most mornings Yousef Mowali would leave his home near Bahrain's international airport to go for a stroll. The 23-year-old had been diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years earlier and liked walking, both for exercising and relaxing.
On January 11, Mowali left for his morning walk and never returned.
Summary of 19 stakeholder’s submissions to the universal periodic review of Bahrain
Summary prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 5 of the
annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21
The present report is a summary of 19 stakeholder’s submissions to the universal periodic review. It follows the general guidelines adopted by the Human Rights Council in its decision 17/119. It does not contain any opinions, views or suggestions on the part of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), nor any judgement or determination in relation to specific claims. The information included herein has been systematically referenced in endnotes and, to the extent possible, the original texts have not been altered.
HRW: Bahrain: Drop Charges Against Rights Activists
Wrong Time for US to Resume Arms Sales
MAY 15, 2012
(Beirut) – Bahraini authorities should drop politically motivated criminal charges against Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist, and release him immediately. Rajab is scheduled to go on trial on May 16, 2012, for “offending an official institution” – namely, the Interior Ministry, which he criticized for allegedly ignoring attacks against boys and young protesters as well as Shia-owned businesses.
AFP: Bahrain activist says charge over tweets 'vindictive'
16 May 2012
DUBAI — Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab told a court on Wednesday that a charge that he tweeted insults against the government was "vindictive," as dozens of lawyers turned up to defend him.
"The charge against me is vindictive and is due to my rights activism," Rajab told a judge at Manama's Minor Criminal Court, insisting the decision to arrest and try him was political, according to witnesses.
Amnesty Int'l Urgent Action: Verdict approaching in Bahrain medics' case
Further information on UA: 296/11 Index: MDE 11/031/2012 Bahrain Date: 15 May 2012
The verdict on the case of 20 health professionals on trial in Bahrain is scheduled to be announced on 14 June. If convicted and imprisoned, all 20 would be prisoners of conscience.
On 10 May, the defence lawyers presented their final arguments in the case of the 20 health professionals appealing to the High Criminal Court of Appeal against their convictions of offences including "illegal possession of firearms for a terrorist purpose",
FIDH’s International Board Demands the Immediate Release of its Deputy Secretary General Nabeel Rajab
13 May 2012
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the occasion of its international board meeting in Paris on May 13th 2012, strongly denounces the ongoing detention of its Deputy Secretary General Nabeel Rajab.
Nabeel Rajab, the President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been detained since he was arrested upon arrival at Manama airport from Lebanon on May 5th. He was then charged with “insulting the statutory bodies”. The charges are pressed against him in relation to tweets he posted deemed “insulting” to the Ministry of Interior.
HRF: “No Backdown on Crackdown” Report Details Ongoing Bahrain Abuses
09 May 2012
Washington, DC – A new Human Rights First report details an intensification of attacks on human rights activists in Bahrain. The new report, “Bahrain’s Reforms: No Backdown on Crackdown,” details judicial harassment, restrictions on access for outside observers, unjust military court cases and ongoing police abuse.
Article 19: Call for Bahrain to Release Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab
10 May 2012
ARTICLE 19 condemns the arrest of human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, who has been remanded in custody in Bahrain for a week following a court hearing on Sunday 6 May. He was detained on Saturday.
The president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights was arrested following his arrival at Manama's airport on May 5 on charges of inciting protests by using social networking websites. He also faces an investigation into “insulting statutory bodies”, according to the Bahrain Centre of Human Rights (BCHR).
