04 Feb 2012

14 Activists and hundreds of prisoners at the central prison of Bahrain and some other detention centers are are now on their 6th day of hunger strike to demand end to human rights violations in Bahrain and immediate release of all prisoners of conscience who were convicted following unfair trials as confirmed by the BICI report.

The news we continue to receive about deteriorated health of the activists and prisoners are very worrying, given that the prison clinic is not prepared to deal with hundreds of prisoners at same time. Human Rights Defender AbdulHadi AlKhawaja was hospitalized after a drop in his sugar level and blood pressure.

2 Feb 2012

Zahra Ali Alhawaj, 69 years old, Noaim, Date of Death: 1 Feb 2012

According to her family she was exposed to tear gas multiple times. The last was on 12 Jan 2012 and her health deteriorated immediately following tear gas inhalation as her home area in Noaim (close to capital Manama) was tear-gassed. She was admitted to hospital ICU in the same night where she stayed without any improvement to her health. She suffered inflammation of the lungs. She didn’t suffer of any illness before. His death was announced on early hours of 1 Feb 2012.

2 February 2012

FIDH expresses its utmost concern about acts of continued repression on political prisoners that have entered in a hunger strike to protest their continued arbitrary detention as well as the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

FIDH has been informed that around 250 political prisoners started a widespread national hunger strike on January 29, 2012, after the prominent 14 political and human rights activists, who were arbitrarily detained since March 2011 [1], announced they will begin a hunger strike in the central Jaw prison.

(ANHRI/IFEX) – 1 February 2012 – Today, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) denounced the Bahraini authorities for restricting freedom of expression and media freedoms. In its session on 30 January, the Bahraini Cassation Court upheld the ruling of the military court in the case of activist Fadeelah Mubarak, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for participating in peaceful protests and listening to anti-regime songs. In addition, media professional Waheed Alballoushy is also on trial today in the lower criminal court. Female journalist Reem Khalifa will stand trial tomorrow, 2 February.

31 January 2012: In November 2011, the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) agreed to a proposal to establish a tripartite committee to review the mass dismissal of Bahraini workers referred to in the complaint concerning the Non-Observance by Bahrain of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958.

In a letter to the chair of that commission, the ITUC acknowledged progress in the public sector but expressed its serious concerns regarding the failure of employers, largely in state-owned companies, to reinstate many wrongfully dismissed workers or to rehire the workers only under completely unacceptable conditions.

30 January 2012

The Bahraini authorities must release the first woman activist to be convicted over her involvement in last year's pro-reform demonstrations, Amnesty International said today after a court rejected her appeal and upheld her prison sentence.

Fadhila Mubarak's 18-month prison sentence for protesting and listening to "revolutionary" music was today upheld by the Court of Cassation in the capital, Manama.

January 31st, 2012

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) has just learned that human rights defender and previous MENA Coordinator for Frontline Defenders, Mr.Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, was transferred to the hospital after a drop in his sugar level and blood pressure.

Mr. Alkhawaja, along with other detained activists and political leaders, are on their second day of hunger strike in protest to the deteriorating human rights situation in the country

30 Jan 2012

On 29 January 2012 human rights defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and 13 other prisoners, including prisoners of conscience and human rights defender Abduljalil Al Singace, started an open-ended hunger strike to protest against the arbitrary arrest of peaceful protesters and continued human rights violations in Bahrain.

The striking prisoners are held in Jaw Prison and are serving prison sentences, some of which are life sentences, handed down after grossly unfair trials.

January 30, 2012

Washington, DC – The United States Government should explain what’s behind fresh reports of military sales to Bahrain and publicly condemn the Kingdom’s ongoing crackdown in the run-up to the February 14 anniversary of the Bahrain uprising, said Human Rights First in a statement today.

“It appears that the Bahrain regime is conducting pre-emptive strikes as the anniversary nears,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley. “Meanwhile, there are new reports that the U.S. intends to go ahead with a military transfer to Bahrain.”

30 Jan 2012 -

Over the weekend, the U.S. Administration chose to move forward with the sale of military equipment to Bahrain, despite the fact that tear gas assaults on minority Shi’a neighborhoods recently took the life of a 6-day-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. Such a sale, even if it does not include weapons, sends the wrong message to the people of Bahrain who are protesting government oppression. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) calls on the U.S. government to unequivocally oppose violent government crackdowns and not reward governments with arms and military supplies when they are oppressing their own people.