Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Articles by Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Opposition rally demanding to overthrow dictatorship. Protesters raised political prisoners pictures and posters refusing to F1 race., Photo by Ahmed AlFardan/NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images

The Formula One Group should support the safeguarding of human rights in Bahrain

NGOs around the world call on the Formula One Group to safeguard human rights in Bahrain during race events.

The General Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 15 May 2005, -/AFP/Getty Images

Ill-treatment of Saudi human rights defender Mohammed Al-Qahtani continues in prison

Al-Qahtani is being held in Al-Ha’ir criminal prison and is serving a 10-year sentence for his non-violent human rights activities.

Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh photographed in the garden of her office in Tehran, Iran, 9 December 2014 , Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images

Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh sentenced to 38 years in prison

Sotoudeh will also receive 148 lashes for charges including ‘propaganda against the state’.

Loujain Al-Hathloul, 15 January 2016, By Unknown - Loujain Alhathloul via OTRS system, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46412844

Saudi women human rights defenders to be tried on 13 March

Loujain Al-Hathloul, Aziza Al-Yousef and Eman Al-Nafjan will appear before the Specialised Criminal Court.

A Bahraini woman sits near portraits of jailed political activists, in the village of Sitra, 12 February 2016, MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH/AFP/Getty Images

GCHR releases its 2018 survey of human rights activism in the MENA region

The report is dedicated to defenders of freedom of thought and expression who defend human rights from governments’ extreme repression.

Locals gather in a tea shop in the town of Zakho in Duhok governorate, Iraq, 31 December 2018, Geovien So/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Targeting of activists and journalists continues in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan

GCHR urges the authorities in Kurdistan and the federal authorities in Iraq to respect public freedoms and refrain from targeting journalists and activists.

People hold signs and cutouts of women incarcerated in Saudi Arabia during an Amnesty International protest outside the Saudi Arabia embassy in Paris, 8 March 2019, PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Over 50 human rights groups call for immediate release of Saudi rights defenders

Not only are these women activists facing prosecution without due process, they’ve also subjected them to severe torture, including by sexual violence and electrocution.

Bahrainis demand the cancellation of Formula 1 races during an anti-government protest in Manama, 19 April 2015, Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Formula One criticized for shirking responsibility over imprisonment of Bahraini activist Najah Yusuf

7 IFEX members are among 17 organisations urging Formula One to uphold its commitment to human rights by calling on Bahraini authorities to free Najah Yusuf, an activist imprisoned for expressing her opposition to F1 races being held in Bahrain.