The Kuwaiti government should scrap a controversial media reform law, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. Following news that the Ministry of Information suspended a popular television program, “Talk Shawk”, presented by opposition journalist Mohammad al-Washeehi late Wednesday, HRW is renewing ...

On Tuesday, Bahrain's foreign ministry and members of its parliament rejected the U.S. Department of State's 2012 report on human rights practices in the country, released on April 19th. The foreign ministry stated that "the report lacks objectivity ...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) praised a Yemeni court order to investigate the country's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and 11 top aides in connection with a fatal attack on peaceful protesters in Sa'ana in March 2011 that killed 45. Calling ...

The annual State Department human rights report on Kuwait described the Gulf country's principal human rights problems as "limitations on citizens’ right to change their government; restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, especially among foreign workers and stateless Arabs ...

The State Department released the 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. These reports provide detailed assessments of the status of human rights around the world. Uzra Zeya, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,

A former Kuwaiti MP and main opposition figure has been sentenced to five years in prison for insulting the country's emir. Mussallam al-Barrak served six terms in the Kuwaiti parliament but was arrested in October 2012 for "undermining the emir" after ...

Kuwait's parliament unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday to grant citizenship to up to 4000 foreigners. MPs called on the government to use the bill, which must be signed by the emir to become law, to address the ...

Opposition forces in Kuwait  announced the formation of a new alliance Sunday. The Opposition Coalition will bring together a wide spectrum of political groups under one umbrella, with the objective of reinvigorating the country's protest movement. The announcement was ...

Bahrain's national dialogue continued Wednesday evening with the pro-government participants demanding that the opposition publicly condemn street violence. The spokesman for the opposition groups, Jameel Kadhem, refused to single out the street violence, saying before the session that "all ...

The Bahraini government reported that a police officer has been killed after being targeted by "rioters" in an "unprovoked" attack. A press release says, "Mohammed Asif was targeted by rioters in Sehla who shot a projectile that fatally ...

A bill that would grant Kuwaiti citizenship to 4,000 stateless people, known commonly as bidoons, passed the first round of voting on Thursday.  Another vote will be held later this month and, if passed, will require the signature of the ...

Three former members of the Kuwaiti parliament were sentenced today to three years hard labor for insulting the country's ruler. The charges relate to speeches the three men gave at a rally opposing new voting laws. Kuwait is usually viewed ...

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday morning that his administration will provide an additional $155 million in aid to the Syrian people. The money will be used within Syria to provide food, medicine, and winter supplies, and throughout the ...

Freedom House released on Wednesday a report titled "Freedom in the World 2013: Middle East Gains Provoke Intensified Repression."   Freedom House found "impressive gains" in the past year despite being a region "notable for sectarian polarization, ...

Iraq closed the only checkpoint linking it with Jordan on Wednesday as Sunnis in Anbar province continued to protest against Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his government. The protests, which claim that the government is treating Sunnis unfairly, have blocked the ...

A Bahraini high court on Monday upheld the verdicts against 13 opposition figures who were appealing sentences handed out by a military tribunal in June 2011. The original charges included accusations of establishing an illegal group aiming ...

Kuwaitis have spent much of the last two months protesting changes to the parliamentary electoral law. According to Human Rights Watch, Kuwaiti security personnel used excessive force to disperse largely peaceful protests. Interviewed protesters said, "Masked riot police used tear ...