ECDHR presents interviews with inspirational activists and human rights defenders originally from, or working on, the Gulf Arabian Peninsula. The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) is the European representation of a coalition of other like-minded NGOs – including the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) – seeking to promote human rights and democracy in the Gulf region with a particular focus on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Brian Dooley is a human rights activist and author, and has been involved both in international organizations and in NGOs. He reported about the situation in many regions of the world, including the Gulf countries.
In this episode, he will give us an insight on the way torture works in the GCC countries, and on which tools can be used to end or reduce torture in the region.
29 Jun 2022
In Conversation with Ali Mushaima
Ali Mushaima is a Bahraini activist and the son of opposition leader Hassan Mushaima, based in London. He has been advocating for democracy and human rights in the Kingdom and went on hunger strikes for the release of his father.
In this episode, he will give us an insight on the methodology of torture in Bahrain, the motivations of the authorities to commit torture, those responsible for the torture in Bahrain, and how to end torture in the Kingdom and support the victims.
27 Jun 2022
“ECDHR in Conversation”: Season 3 – Which way forward towards ending torture in the GCC countries? (trailer)
We are delighted to present the third season of our podcast "ECDHR in Conversation".
This season will focus on the way forward towards ending torture in the Gulf countries, and will feature the Bahraini human rights activist Ali Mushaima and Human Rights First senior advisor Brian Dooley.
Launched on the 29th of June 2022, this season will provide a forum to share best practices and relevant considerations, whilst allowing for an overview of the current mechanisms of international accountability.
3 Dec 2021
In Conversation with Sunjeev Bery
Sunjeev Bery is the executive director of Freedom Forward, a US-based NGO that advocates for the end of US alliances with nondemocratic governments.
This year, with a coalition of other NGOs, he initiated and launched a social media campaign to boycott Expo 2020 Dubai, as a protest against a façade of tolerance and openness and various PR campaigns used to appease western allies and provide legitimacy to the abuses committed by the UAE’s regime.
In this very last episode, Sunjeev will tell us why it is problematic that the UAE is organizing the Dubai Expo, how he came up with the idea to boycott this event, and what is the main goal NGOs want to reach from it.
26 Nov 2021
In Conversation with Ines Osman (part 2)
Inès Osman is a French-Algerian human rights lawyer, and the co-founder and director of MENA Rights Group, a Geneva-based legal advocacy NGO defending victims of human rights abuses and promoting fundamental rights and freedoms in the Middle East and North Africa region.
In the previous episode, Ines explained how the UAE’s Anti-Terrorism legislation is used to prosecute and jail human rights activists who argue for political reform under the “vague umbrella of national security or counterterrorism”. In today's episode (second part of the interview), we will discuss the role of Non-governmental organizations and the international community in tackling human rights issues in the United Arab Emirates.
19 Nov 2021
In Conversation with Ines Osman (part 1)
Inès Osman is a French-Algerian human rights lawyer, and the co-founder and director of MENA Rights Group, a Geneva-based legal advocacy NGO defending victims of human rights abuses and promoting fundamental rights and freedoms in the Middle East and North Africa region.
In today’s episode, we will talk about the legal and political framework in the United Arab Emirates and its multiples human rights violations. You will have an opportunity to learn more about how anti-terrorism laws are used to imprison activists, and why the UAE is not a democracy.
12 Nov 2021
In Conversation with Hamad Al-Shamsi (part 2)
Hamad Al-Shamsi is an Emirati human rights defender, social media activist on Twitter, and one of the ninety-four activists (known as UAE 94) convicted in 2013 for having openly criticized the Emirati government and launched a petition for democratic reform. Before seeking refuge in Turkey, where he still lives, he was the manager of internal auditing in Ajman Municipality, UAE.
In the previous episode, Hamad talked about the grossly unfair mass UAE 94 trial that imprisoned dozens of activists solely for exercising their rights to freedom and association. In today's episode (second part of the interview), he will share his personal story and experience being a member of the UAE94 infamous trial.
5 Nov 2021
In Conversation with Hamad Al-Shamsi (part 1)
Hamad Al-Shamsi is an Emirati human rights defender, social media activist on Twitter, and one of the ninety-four activists (known as UAE 94) convicted in 2013 for having openly criticized the Emirati government and launched a petition for democratic reform. Before seeking refuge in Turkey, where he still lives, he was the manager of internal auditing in Ajman Municipality, UAE.
In today's episode (first part of the interview), Hamad will talk about the famous case of the “UAE 94”, and the massive impact it had on both the UAE and the world.
22 Oct 2021
"ECDHR in Conversation" Season 2 - UAE: Not all that glitters is gold (Trailer)
ECDHR is excited to bring a second season of the "ECDHR in Conversation" podcast to audiences and to continue shedding light on the serious human rights violations in the GCC countries.
A new season titled "UAE: Not all that glitters is gold" will share the never-before-heard stories about the bleak human rights situation in the United Arab Emirates.
The first series, set to launch on October 29th, untangles the political context of the UAE; the grave situation of political prisoners who are languishing behind bars in the UAE prison for exercising their right to freedom of expression; the state's repressive and undemocratic methods; the role of NGOs and the international community in tackling human rights issues in the UAE, as well as the Boycott Dubai Expo campaign to put an end to this masquerade of lies by the UAE authorities and the Alternative Human Rights Expo, a campaign to counter the narrative of “tolerance” and “openness” that the UAE is trying to uphold at the Dubai Expo.
8 Oct 2021
Lina Al Hathloul - Activism From a Place of Privilege
Please note that this episode mentions torture.
Lina Al Hathloul is a Saudi activist based in Belgium who has been tirelessly campaigning for the unconditional release of her sister Loujain. Lina’s activism also includes raising broader issues regarding the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and collaborating with NGOs. She is a member of the NAAS, the National Assembly Party.
In this last episode of the season, ECDHR in Conversation with Saudi Women, Lina talks honestly about her experience growing up in Saudi Arabia from a privileged position.
She talks about why she feels obliged to stay in Belgium and describes the Saudi Arabia she would like to go back to. Lina explains the circumstances surrounding the arrest of her sister, Loujain, and why these events sparked her own activism.
Lina is a vocal campaigner for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia and in this interview highlights the contradictions in the way Saudi women are treated in society and the judicial system.
If you would like to learn more about the fight for the release of her sister Loujain, you can check out this website (https://www.loujainalhathloul.org/).
If you would like to get a better understanding or deepen your knowledge on Saudi Arabia, especially on the topic of women's rights, check out our list of recommended readings here (https://www.ecdhr.org/?p=1315).
Music credits: Blur And Coalesce by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
1 Oct 2021
Hala Al Dosari - Forming a Feminist Consciousness as a Saudi Woman
Hala Al Dosari is a scholar and activist from Saudi Arabia now based in the United States. Her writings and research explore the social determinants of women’s health, violence against women, and women’s rights and human rights across the Arab Gulf States. She serves as an advisory board member for Human Rights Watch for the Middle East and North Africa region and the Gulf Center for Human Rights.
In today’s special episode, made in collaboration with WHRDMENA Coalition (https://whrdmena.org/), Amal will interview Hala about her experience in Saudi Arabia.
Hala will open up from how was growing up in the 80s, at a time where there was enforced gender segregation in public places as well as in educational places, to what motivated her to become an activist in favor of gender equality in the country.
She will talk about the campaigns she’s been part of, the origin of the campaign against the driving ban, but also about the educational limits and professional barriers that she as a woman faced in Saudi Arabia.
If you would like to read some of Hala’s work, check out her blog here (https://about.me/hala_aldosari) (Arabic).
If you would like to get a better understanding or deepen your knowledge on Saudi Arabia, especially on the topic of women's rights, check out our list of recommended readings here (https://www.ecdhr.org/?p=1315).
Music credits: Blur And Coalesce by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
24 Sept 2021
Bethany Al Haidiri - Facing Discrimination as a Woman and a Foreigner
Bethany Al Haidiri is a PhD researcher at the Irish Centre for Human Rights and Saudi officer at Freedom Initiative, a US human rights organisation focusing on political prisoners in the Arab World. Bethany has spent most of her adult life working in countries throughout Africa and the Middle East and has published numerous articles on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia where she lived herself for 8 years.
In today’s episode, Bethany will talk about her own experience in the country; an experience that eventually changed her life. Starting as a teacher in a Saudi school, becoming the wife of a Saudi man and mother of a Saudi girl, Bethany will talk about the double discrimination she faced in the Saudi courts, as a woman and a foreigner. She will also expose the kafala system, or sponsorship system, which she interestingly compares to the male guardianship system.
Finally, Bethany’s personal experience has led her to work with women facing a similar situation uncovering a reality made of women trapped and enslaved by its discriminatory regulations.
If you would like to know more about Bethany’s story and how you can help her and her daughter: check out her page here (https://standwithbethany.org/).
If you would like to get a better understanding or deepen your knowledge on Saudi Arabia, especially on the topic of women's rights, check out our list of recommended readings here (https://www.ecdhr.org/?p=1315).
Music credits: Blur And Coalesce by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
17 Sept 2021
Sahar Al Faifi - From Activism in the UK to Saudi Politics
Sahar Al Faifi is a molecular geneticist by training, and community activist by passion. Sahar is known for her activism in anti-racism and her outspoken campaigns against Islamophobia in the UK. She is also a blogger at the Huffington Post and has written for the Independent.
In today’s episode we will talk about Sahar’s experience as a Saudi woman, and how her activism now links back to her Saudi origins. Sahar in fact moved to Cardiff at a young age and studied at Cardiff University where she held the leadership role of a national Muslim students organisations.
Sahar, who describes herself as an Arab, as a Welsh, as a Muslim, as a woman, without any kind of conflict among these several identities, decided to speak up, and use what she considers a position of privilege, being a Saudi woman living abroad, to talk about her country.
Inspired by her dad at an early age, in this episode she will talk about the roots of what she defines as anti-Islamic practices in Saudi Arabia, and how several activists around the globe, now reunited under the vessel of the National Assembly Party, are dreaming of a democratic country.
If you would like to get a better understanding or deepen your knowledge on Saudi Arabia, especially on the topic of women's rights, check out our list of recommended readings here (https://www.ecdhr.org/?p=1315).
Music credits: Blur And Coalesce by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
10 Sept 2021
Shoaa Al Zahrani - From a Conservative Saudi Family to Activism
Shoaa Al Zahrani is an activist who works to expose the reality of women’s condition in Saudi Arabia, fighting the false image that reforms are transforming the lives of Saudi Women. She is a Saudi refugee living in Canada and also a member of the National Assembly Party.
In the first episode of ECDHR in conversation with Saudi women, Shoaa will talk about her own experience, from growing up in a conservative family in Saudi Arabia and all the difficulties that resulted from that, to the inability to perform daily activities without a male guardian.
Shoaa’s frustration is tangible when talking about the discrimination that women regularly face in the country, and how they are treated as minors for all their life. The discrimination she describes, is not only embedded in the country’s legislation, but also in its society; from going to the mall to choosing a major at university, the life of Saudi women like Shoaa are conditioned by their gender.
After having to leave the country, Shoaa, her husband and their two little children moved to Canada, where she became an activist and advocate for human rights in the Arab world.
If you would like to get a better understanding or deepen your knowledge on Saudi Arabia, especially on the topic of women's rights, check out our list of recommended readings here (https://www.ecdhr.org/?p=1315).
Music credits: Blur And Coalesce by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
3 Sept 2021
ECDHR in Conversation with Saudi Women - Trailer
Listen to our first series - in Conversation with Saudi Women. We hope that through this series, you will get a better understanding of the women’s rights situation in Saudi Arabia and why our participants left the country. All of them are now very active in the fight for human rights and this might be a great opportunity for you to get inspiration from amazing women.
The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) is the European representation of a coalition of other like-minded NGOs – which includes the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain – ADHRB (Washington DC, USA), the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights – BCHR (Copenhagen, DK), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy – BIRD (London, UK) – seeking to promote human rights and democracy in the Gulf region with a particular focus on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Music credits: Blur And Coalesce by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
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