In a statement, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez expressed "deep disappointment" that the Government of Bahrain decided to cancel his visit scheduled to take place May 8-15. The Bahrain News Agency originally reported ...

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, reported an increase in the degree of human rights violations in Iran. Three months away from the country's next presidential ...

On Tuesday, Israel became the first country to ever boycott its U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) review. The council requires all U.N. member states to participate in a Universal Periodic Review every four years. Israel did not attend its scheduled ...

The National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB), the opposition group reportedly "tolerated" by the government, rejected President Bashar al-Assad's recent call for dialogue. The NCB, which the Free Syrian Army accuses of being "not real" and "the other ...

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed earlier this week, “Anyone who thinks that the armed opposition is capable of the military battle is very mistaken,’” referring to the conflict in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin on the ...

The appeal of nine Bahraini medics who treated victims of government crackdowns was rejected for the final time, and many of the sentences stem from "participating in illegal demonstrations." The sentences range from one month to five years. A number ...

The exiled leader of the Hamas movement, Khaled Meshaal, is stepping down from his post. Meshaal, who has led Hamas for more than 15 years, made the announcement at a Hamas leadership meeting in Cairo. Although officials say ...

  On September 21, Bahraini police announced that they had arrested 29 suspects involved with rioting and vandalism in the capital city. “Rioters hurled petrol bombs, iron rods and stones, endangering both the police and civilians in the commercial centre ...

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay included Bahrain among the 16 nations accused of allowing government members to undertake "reprisals and intimidation against individuals" critical of regimes. Pillay said, "People may be threatened or harassed by ...

Following protests in Manama on September 7, Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Sheikh Khalid bin Ali al-Khalifa voiced discontent with al-Wefaq's participation in the protests despite a government-imposed ban. The rally turned violent when police and protesters ...

In a letter released today, fourteen NGOs called on the United States to oppose the Bahraini candidate to the United Nations Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) Advisory Committee, Saeed al-Faihani. Groups including POMED, Human Rights Watch, The Foreign Policy ...

Emir Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah of Kuwait accepted the cabinet's resignation Sunday, but the outgoing ministers have agreed to stay on until a new cabinet can be formed. The cabinet, Kuwait's ninth since 2006, resigned last week ...

Amid Syria's spiraling death toll, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, proposed a new plan to end the country's violence, featuring a "unity government" that would include the participation of President Bashar al-Assad. Annan is set ...

The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) released a report contrasting the House and Senate Appropriations bills for fiscal year 2013, examining the potential impact of these bills on foreign aid and democracy assistance. Among the notable findings are additional ...

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) wrote a response to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report, in which it welcomed the increase in the number of recommendations from nine last year to 176 this year. Though BCHR recognized ...

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report detailing human rights abuses in Syria. While Syrian forces were found responsible for a majority of the serious human rights abuses committed, the report contends there is evidence the opposition has ...

The United Nations' Human Right Council (UNHCR) is reviewing Morocco's human rights record today, the second of four Arab countries undergoing the UNHCR's Universal Periodic Review (UPR); Bahrain was reviewed on Monday and Algeria and Tunisia are scheduled later in ...

On Thursday (5/17), the House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2013 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. According to a committee press release, the bill totals $40.1 billion in regular discretionary funding, which is $2 billion or 5 ...

The Associated Press reported today that the first six of the advanced team of U.N. observers arrived in Damascus to support the four-day-old ceasefire. Kofi Annan’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzi reported that the team will be led by Moroccan ...