03 Jan 2012
A Bahraini woman, Fakhria Jassim AlSakran, 55-year-old, has been killed in the capital Manama on Tuesday after inhaling a lethal does of tear gas. According to testimony taken by BCHR from her son, Fakhria was taken to hospital on 2 Jan 2012 and doctors tried to save her life and said she has shortness of breath before she was announced dead. She had good health and wasn’t suffering from illnesses until she inhaled tear-gas on the new year's eve, her health had deteriorated and was taken to the ICU.

25 November 2011

On this International Day to End Violence against Women, Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) condemns the human rights violations committed by the Bahraini regime against women in Bahrain. Women have played an important part of the Bahraini uprising with active participation and fierce activism. For their active role in calling for democracy and political reform, they were violently targeted. Four women were killed by live ammunition, suffocation of tear gas and intimidation. Many women were arrested, detained, tortured and sentenced up to 15 years imprisonment.

26 October 2011

Joint press release - FIDH - Coalition for equality without reservation - Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) - Bahrein Center for Human Rights (BCHR)

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a UN monitoring body composed of independent experts, has called on the government of Bahrain to adopt urgent measures to end serious discrimination and violence against women.

18 Oct 2011

In this special edition of FirstCast, we feature the voices of two brave women who have been detained the longest in Bahrain in connection to the crackdown of pro-democracy advocates. Roula al-Safar is a nurse, a humanitarian, and the head of the Bahrain Nursing Association who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Jaleela al-Salman is a teacher and vice president of the Bahrain Teachers Association. She was sentenced to three years in prison and was awaiting an appeal under civilian court.

UA: 302/11 Index: MDE 11/056/2011 Bahrain Date: 11 October 2011

Sixteen women and four girls, detained on 23 September, are being tried on charges which include ‘illegal gathering’, and “incitement to hatred of the regime”. Some claim they have been tortured in detention and their lawyers have not been allowed to visit them. They may be prisoners of conscience if convicted.

29 September 2011
Ivana Davidovic
WVoN co-editor

It was 1.30 am on March 29 this year when a group of armed men broke into the family home of Jalila al-Salman in the Bahraini capital of Manama.
Some were wearing balaclavas and carrying machine guns. Others had batons.
There were at least 15 of them, ransacking the house, shouting at three terrified children whom they found in the bedrooms upstairs.

26 September 2011

The Bahraini authorities must urgently investigate reports that women were tortured in detention after being arrested in Manama during pro-reform protests, Amnesty International said today.

Mahdi Abu Deeb and Jalila Al Salman


26 September 2011

BEIRUT, September 26, 2011- The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) are deeply concerned regarding a prison sentence issued by a military tribunal against two human rights defenders. On September 25, the Court of National Security has sentenced Mahdi Abu Deeb, president of the Teachers Association of Bahrain to 10 years in prison. His deputy, Jalila Salman, was sentenced to 3 years. According to Bahraini law, both Abu Deeb and Salman should be tried in civil court, not a military tribunal.

BAHRAIN (Tier 2)

Bahrain is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Men and women from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Eritrea migrate voluntarily to Bahrain to work as domestic workers or as unskilled laborers in the construction and service industries. Some, however, face conditions of forced labor after arriving in Bahrain, through use of such practices as unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, contract substitution, nonpayment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse.

Left to right: Ayat Alqormozi, Zainab Alkhawaja, Dr.Fareeda Aldalal


3rd June, 2011

One of the main concerns for Human Rights organizations is how to take the many cases which contain multiple violations and present them in a way which will have an impact on politicians, diplomats and UN officials who are in a position to take action.

BCHR feels that, though their opposition to the Bahraini government is the most important thing uniting them rather than their gender; the many women who have suffered torture, abuse, detention and threats by the security forces show clearly how little respect the Al-Khalifa monarchy and their security forces have for the female citizens of Bahrain.