Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

One of Yemen’s most prominent political analysts and activists has been held incommunicado by Houthi rebels since 14 August 2017.

In December, MENA activists focused on the plight of political detainees serving lengthy and unjust sentences in obscurity.

Obaid Al-Zaabi, now 60 years old, spent four years in prison since his arrest in December 2013.

As the saga of Saudi’s hunted elites commanded attention across the Middle East and North Africa this November, news of the region’s less powerful prey fell by the wayside. Authorities in Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya, Morocco, and Egypt went after protesters, journalists, and human rights defenders critical of their regimes.

Women human rights defenders across the MENA region face many obstacles to their work, including threats, harassment, torture, jail, travel bans and other violations that prevent them from freely carrying out their work. GCHR asks supporters to join the campaign in support of WHRDs worldwide by tweeting #SheDefends.

Charges brought against her included violating public order by creating social networking accounts on Twitter and Facebook to demand the release of detainees.

Our Middle East and North Africa round-up spotlights Bahrain’s first military trial of civilians since 2011, a growing crackdown on members of Egypt’s LGBTQI+ community, and a new player restricting Iranians’ internet access.

The Supreme Court of Oman issued a final ruling on the closure of Azamn, ending the paper’s fight to reopen and shuttering it permanently. Azamn is regarded as an independent newspaper characterised by its anti-corruption reporting since its establishment in 2007.