Categories : News

BAHRAIN: Further Retaliation Against Female Political Prisoner Following UN Secretary General’s Report

19 September 2018 – On 16 September, female political prisoner Hajer Mansoor Hassan, mother-in-law of UK-based activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, was subjected to assault and retaliation, which required hospitalisation, by the head of Isa Town Prison Centre. This followed the publication of a major report by the UN Secretary-General that details the reprisals targeting family…

Read BIRD Weekly 205.

UN Secretary-General’s Report Addresses Pattern of Reprisals in Bahrain

12 September 2018 – Today, the United Nations (UN) published the ninth annual report of the Secretary-General on cooperation with the UN, its representatives, and mechanisms in the field of human rights. The report presents the work of Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour, who addresses intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with the UN.

See also ADHRB Newsletter 269.

Bahraini Narratives About the United States

The eruption of Bahrain’s political crisis seven-and-a-half years ago marked a watershed in Manama-Washington relations. It also transformed how both Bahrain’s regime and its Shia-dominated opposition viewed the United States. For decades, Bahrain’s leadership has seen the United States as the archipelago kingdom’s offshore security guarantor and a bastion against political ambitions from regional powers.

Movie Theaters and Women Driving Won’t Placate Saudi Shiites

After generating some positive press earlier this summer by lifting the ban on women driving, Saudi Arabia is once more the target of reproach. In August, the country’s notorious terrorism court sought the death penalty against Israa al-Ghomgham, a female activist.

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan in trouble

Saudi Vision 2030, the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reduce the kingdom’s dependence on oil income, is coming undone. The king has stripped away the central pillar of the project. The country is becoming more autocratic and repressive. The slide toward greater repression is prompting capital flight.

[Wednesday] Revisiting the History of the Shi’a Marja’yah under the Ba’ath regime in Iraq

Abbas Kadhim, senior adviser to the UNESCO Chair at Kufa University in Iraq. The Hawza Under Siege: Studies in the Ba’ath Party Archive, Kadhim delves into formerly highly-classified documents surrounding the positions of the Marja’iya toward the Ba’athist authorities.

Professor Ehsan Yarshater (1920-2018) – Encyclopaedia Iranica

Professor Ehsan Yarshater (1920-2018) Joint announcement byThe Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University;The Persian Heritage Foun

Incidents of Anti-Shiism in August, 2018 – Shia Rights Watch

The month of August stood witness to 286 cases of anti-Shiism, or violence against Shia Muslims. In this month, Shia Rights Watch published its annual Hajj advisory in the protection of religious minorities under threat in the Islamic Hajj ritual. The advisory can be found on ShiaRightsWatch.org.

SABS Christian-Muslim Eid al Adha Dinner 2018

The Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society was pleased to have held a fellowship Eid Dinner for the 4th consecutive year in commemoration of Eid al-Adha, a rememberance of the Prophet Abraham and a feast for Muslims at the end of the Hajj. It is the etiquette of the Holy Prophet [s] and his Noble Family [a] to build neighbourly relations.

Bahrain: 127 Rights Groups Call for Immediate Release of Nabeel Rajab

(Paris) -For the second time since 2013, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has issued an Opinion regarding the legality of the detention of Mr. Nabeel Rajab under international human rights law. In its second opinion, the WGAD held that the detention was not only arbitrary but also discriminatory.