Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

As repressive governments in the Middle East and North Africa increasingly deploy digital surveillance technologies to monitor and silence critics, a coalition of rights groups comes together to combat the sale of surveillance tools, and advocate for a safe and open Internet for the region’s netizens.

Security forces forcibly disperse protests and detain demonstrators protesting economic conditions in the country, as authorities restrict media reporting on the event.

An ongoing outbreak of Covid-19 in Bahrain’s prisons has underscored the urgent need to release all of the country’s political prisoners.

In a revealing new report, rights organisations examine how systemic torture since Bahrain’s 2011 popular protests has become an intrinsic part of the country’s justice system, and the culture of impunity that persists.

The report features a summary of human rights violations in 12 countries and case updates on 557 human rights defenders across the Gulf and neighbouring countries.

Detained since 23 June 2020, activist Sanaa Seif received an 18-month sentence for protesting the horrid prison conditions prisoners in Egypt face, including her brother, jailed blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights joins the growing number of voices calling for her immediate release.

The recent death of Jordanian journalist Tayseer Al-Najjar from health complications contracted during a prison term in the UAE has raised alarm over the fate of thirteen prisoners of conscience, including two women activists, who remain in Emirati prisons despite serving their sentences.

As part of an ongoing campaign to “combat the spread of false news and rumours” on social media, authorities arrest eight people for their Facebook posts, including prominent Damascus-based TV presenter Hala Al-Jarf.