A leading Bahraini human rights activist has been refused entry and detained on arrival in the Gulf State early on Saturday. Maryam Alkhawaja, co-director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, has not been heard from since announcing a hunger strike after being detained by Bahraini authorities at the airport in Manama. “I’m denied entry. I’m starting a water-only hunger strike,” she said on Twitter. “I won’t voluntarily leave. My only demand is to be let into my country.” Alkhawaja was Read more [...]

The family plans to appeal to Denmark for help, Islam Times reported. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the jailed Danish-Bahraini activist who began a new hunger strike on Monday, is in a coma according to a report from Politiken. An activist with Al-Khawaja’s Bahrain Center for Human Rights said that the dual Danish and Bahraini citizen fell ill on Thursday and was taken to the prison hospital, where he was reported to be in a coma. Al-Khawaja’s family announced on Monday that he would begin Read more [...]

The CEO of Bahrain's Gulf Air has hailed "remarkable growth" at the airline during the first half of 2014 but admitted he could not say when it would return to profitability. In comments published by Bahrain News Agency, CEO Maher bin Salman bin Jabur Al-Massallam said the company has successfully accomplished its strategic restructuring which began in 2013. Al-Massallam said the carrier's H1 results would reflect "huge growth in terms of strong operational performance". In May, Gulf Air announced Read more [...]

According to information received by BCHR, around 600 detainees at the dry dock detention center have entered a hunger strike starting from 20 August 2014 under the title “Stop Torture In Prison”. In a statement released by them, the prisoners stated that detainees are suffering different types of ill-treatment including beatings, insults, deprivation from using the toilets, being locked in their cells at all times, insulting their sect, torture, solitary confinement, and being forced Read more [...]