Home of Top Shia Cleric Raided in Bahrain
Bahraini authorities raided the home of a prominent Shia cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim on Friday. Opposition group al-Wefaq said Qassim was not home at the time of the raid but there were women and children present. A leading human rights activist ...
May 17, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Featured, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Saudi Arabia, Sectarianism, US foreign policy
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Report
In April, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued its annual report covering February 2012 through January 2013. From the MENA region, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia were listed as "Countries of Particular Concern" and Bahrain and Turkey were ...
May 1, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Liberties, Egypt, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Saudi Arabia
The State Department's 2012 report on human rights practices in Saudi Arabia cited the leading problems as "citizens’ lack of the right and legal means to change their government; pervasive restrictions on universal rights such as freedom of expression, ...
April 20, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Liberties, Courts and Judiciary, Egypt, Elections, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Political transition, Qatar, Reform, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, US foreign policy, Yemen
UAE Jails Activist, Saudi Arabia Interrogates Shia
A United Arab Emirates court sentenced Abdullah al-Hadidi to ten months in prison on Monday for disseminating false information about a public trial in bad faith. Al-Hadidi is the son of one of the 94 defendants that are being tried ...
April 8, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Courts and Judiciary, Featured, Human Rights, Saudi Arabia, Sectarianism, UAE
Saudi Prince Calls for Elections; UAE94 Trial Condemned
In a Tuesday television interview, Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal called for parliamentary elections. He said that the decision to add women to the Shura Council was "very important," but added, "For this to become historic, I think ...
April 3, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Liberties, Courts and Judiciary, Featured, Gulf, Human Rights, Reform, Saudi Arabia, UAE
Unrest Continues in Yemen, UAE Rejects Academic
On Monday, Yemen's President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi continued his surprise visit to southern Yemen by meeting with officials in Aden and advocating for using the upcoming national dialogue to solve the country's issues. Hadi arrived on Saturday amid Hirak (Southern Movement) ...
February 25, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Featured, Gulf, Human Rights, Jordan, Protests, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen
Analysis: “Saudi Arabia and Qatar in a Time of Revolution”
The Center for Strategic and International Studies' Middle East Program released its latest Gulf Analysis Paper, "Saudi Arabia and Qatar in a Time of Revolution," by Bernard Haykel. The paper reviews both countries' behavior during the Arab Spring and finds that they have been "proactive in the pursuit of revolutionary change" despite their conservative domestic policies. It notes that Qatar has been particularly assertive, treating the turbulence as an opportunity to ...
February 22, 2013
Category: Diplomacy, Gulf, Muslim Brotherhood, Political transition, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Women Join Government, GCC Pursues Military Hardware
King Abdullah swore in Saudi Arabia's first female members of the Shura Council on Tuesday. One fifth of the new Shura Council is comprised of women, with a total of 30 female members. The Council is remodeling its ...
February 20, 2013
Category: Congress, Elections, Featured, Gulf, Gulf Cooperation Council, Reform, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US foreign policy, Women
Bahraini Officer Killed; Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Updates
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 ...
POMED Notes: “The Precarious Ally: Bahrain’s Impasse and U.S. Policy in the Gulf”
On Wednesday, February 13, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a panel discussion entitled “The Precarious Ally: Bahrain’s Impasse and U.S. Policy in the Gulf.” The panel featured Frederic Wehrey, Senior Associate in Carnegie’s Middle East Center, Toby Craig Jones, Professor and Director at Rutgers University’s Center for Middle East Studies, Matar Ebrahim Matar, former Member of Parliament in Bahrain, and Jon Alterman, Director of the Middle East Center ...
February 14, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Conflict, Freedom, Gulf Cooperation Council, Islamist movements, Political transition, Protests, Reform, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: “The Arab Spring after Two Years: Prospects for Democracy in the Gulf States”
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED)'s International Forum for Democratic Studies and POMED put on a conference on Wednesday (2/13) titled “The Arab Spring after Two Years: Prospects for Democracy in the Gulf States.” Carl Gershman of NED and U.S. Representative James McGovern (D-MA) gave opening remarks. The first panel, “The Future of Reform in the Gulf,” was chaired by Tamara Cofman Wittes of the Brookings Institution and featured Jafar Alshayeb, a ...
February 14, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Event Notes, Gulf, Gulf Cooperation Council, Human Rights, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy
Saudi Women Arrested, WINEP Speculates Royal Succession
A group of Saudi women and children were arrested last weekend after publicly demanding the release of relatives that have been held by the state for years without access to a lawyer. The women were arrested because protests are illegal in ...
Carnegie: The Precarious Ally: Bahrain’s Impasse & U.S. Policy
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published a paper by Frederic Wehrey titled "The Precarious Ally: Bahrain's Impasse & U.S. Policy." Wehrey describes Bahrain as "a broken country, wracked by simmering violence and social polarization." He argues that "breaking through Bahrain’s impasse is not just a matter of promoting human rights but mitigating potential security challenges to U.S. assets and people." Wehrey acknowledges that U.S. options are limited, but says that it "must ...
February 7, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Political transition, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: “Legal and Political Reforms in Saudi Arabia”
On Tuesday, January 29, Dr. Joseph Kéchichian, whose book Legal and Political Reforms in Saudi Arabia was published in December, spoke at the Middle East Institute on gender reform and legal reform (he did not discuss Saudi petitions, which he said was the longest and best chapter in his book). Dr. Kéchichian described King Abdullah as a reformer who has been leveraging constructive public dialogue to push the conservative clerical ...
POMED Notes: “Freedom in the World 2013: Democratic Breakthroughs in the Balance”
On Wednesday, January 16, 2013, Freedom House and the Council on Foreign Relations hosted a panel discussion on the release of Freedom House’s annual report on the state of political rights and civil liberties in the world, entitled “Freedom in the World 2013: Democratic Breakthroughs in the Balance.” The panel, moderated by Foreign Affairs Correspondent for CNN Jill Dougherty, featured Arch Puddington, Vice President for Research at Freedom House; Larry ...
January 18, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Elections, Event Notes, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Gulf, Morocco, Political Islam, Political transition, POMED, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, US foreign policy, Yemen
POMED Notes: “A Kingdom’s Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomethings”
The Woodrow Wilson Center hosted an event on Monday (1/14) showcasing a book by Caryle Murphy entitled "A Kingdom's Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomethings." The event featured a presentation by the author and a discussion with 22-year-old Saudi student Faris Ahmed al-Sulayman, with Haleh Estandiari moderating. For full event notes, continue reading or click here for the PDF. Caryle Murphy began her presentation by explaining the history behind her ...
Saudi King Appoints Women to Shura Council
On Friday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah issued a decree appointing women to 30 of the 150 seats on the country's Shura Council. The move fulfilled a promise made by the King in 2011, and was met with a mixture ...
January 14, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Featured, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Protests, Saudi Arabia