Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Articles by Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

A man walks in front of the Royal Opera House Muscat in the Shati Al-Qurm district of the Omani capital Muscat, 19 July 2016, Dominic Dudley/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Oman’s new penal code targets activists and public freedoms

The new law contains several vaguely-defined articles that could easily be used by the Internal Security Service (ISS), known for its history of human rights violations, to target human rights defenders and Internet activists, and to suffocate public freedoms.

Indonesian people hold a protest against air strikes in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, in front of the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, 11 October 2016, Jefta Images / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Yemeni human rights activist Hisham Al-Omeisy missing for over 150 days

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

Protest in front of the Medicine Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt, in solidarity with 22-year-old student and political prisoner Ahmed el-Khatib, 30 March 2017 , Ibrahim Ezzat/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Life after sentencing for MENA’s political detainees

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

A view of Abu Dhabi, 25 March 2013, Flickr/Fintrvlr, Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Emirati rights defender Obaid Al-Zaabi released

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

Military secure worshippers outside Al Rawdah mosque during the first Friday prayer after the attack in Bir Al-Abed, Egypt, 1 December 2017, REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Unapologetic crackdowns on dissent as greater instability rocks MENA

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.

The president of the European Parliament delivers a speech in front of two empty chairs during the Sakharov Prize ceremony in Strasbourg, 12 December 2012. Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, pictured, was one of the honourees, REUTERS/Jean-Marc Loos

Nine women from MENA remembered on International Women Human Rights Defenders Day

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.

Vehicles pass under a Saudi flag in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, 21 June 2017, AP Photo/Amr Nabil

Saudi activist Naima Al-Matrood sentenced to six years in prison

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

Anti-government protesters hold up images of jailed human rights activist Nabeel Rajab during a solidarity protest outside his home in Bani Jamra, Bahrain, 14 May 2015, AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File

How repressive Arab regimes are expanding their reach

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.