Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Articles by Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

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.

Bedoon women attend a seminar hosted by the Kuwait Human Rights Association in Kuwait City, 4 November 2006, YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images

Kuwaiti authorities continue to target human rights defenders supporting Bedoon rights

Authorities continue to target human rights defenders who took part in four sit-ins organised in front of the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs.

Bedoon men attend a seminar hosted by the Kuwait Human Rights Association to talk about the suffering of tens of thousands of stateless Arabs known as 'bidoon', in Kuwait City, 4 November 2006, YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images

Kuwaiti human rights defenders summoned for cyber-crime investigation

Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli and Hamid Jameel were summoned by Kuwait’s Electronic and Cyber Crime Combatting Department (ECCCD) for their peaceful activities on the internet.

Displaced women forced by fighting to flee their homes in Hodeidah gather to register at a displacement center in Sana'a, Yemen, 17 November 2018, Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images

Rights defenders Awfa Al-Na’ami and Alhassan Al-Qawtari arbitrarily detained

The rights defenders were both summoned by the Houthi-held National Security Office in Sana’a for a meeting, were arrested on arrival and held incommunicado without having access to their families or a lawyer.