Bahrain’s top court on Monday upheld two-year prison sentence imposed last year by a lower tribunal on rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab over comments he was alleged to have made to journalists.

Human rights defenders and activists experienced a brutal period during 2017; torture, extortion, travel bans and attacks on homes and properties, as well as pressures and threats aimed at turning activists and rights defenders into informants.

A Bahraini citizen resorted on (December 13, 2017) to France after being tortured and sexually harassed in a police station.

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemned upholding the two-year jail term sentence against prominent Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab.

United States urged its ally Bahrain to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into allegations that three members of Activist Sayed Ahmad Alwadaie’s family gave confessions extracted under duress.

A Bahrain court sentenced three family members of a prominent activist to jail terms on weapons charges on Monday, rights group the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said and accused authorities of using torture to extract confessions.

Bahrain has temporarily freed a female activist who has accused her government of torture in detention, rights groups said Monday.

Human rights activist Zainab Al-Khamis said that the authorities prevented her on Monday (October 16, 2017) from leaving the country through Bahrain International Airport.

Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaei, director of advocacy at Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy in London, published an article in “The Guardian” newspaper in which he said that his family is paying the price while Bahrain is buying arms in London.

Activists said that the security authorities launched a campaign today morning targeting religious manifestations of Ashura, a religious occasion commemorated annually by Shia majority in the country. Ashura manifestations were took down in 4 Bahraini villages.

The Public Prosecution interrogated on Sunday (September 17, 2017) human rights activists, charged them with assembly and confirmed the issuance of a travel ban decision against them.

The Bahraini security authorities prevented on Monday (September 18, 2017) Sayed Sharaf Al-Mosawi, the chairman of the Bahrain Transparency Society from leaving the country. The authorities also summoned Bahrain Center for Human Rights member, activist Nidal Al-Salman for interrogation tomorrow.

The First High Criminal Court continued looking into the case of president of Bahrain Center for Human Rights and prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, in which he is accused of criticizing Saudi Arabia via Twitter over Yemen war.

Six UN experts urged the Government of Bahrain to provide information about the violations that detainees of Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaie’s family are subjected to and to confirm the “legal basis” for their detention.

Front Line Defenders expressed its concerns about the continued harassment, intimidation, and summoning of human rights defender Zainab Al-Khamis, who received a subpoena [by the Bahraini authorities] yesterday.

The General Directorate of Investigation and Criminal Evidence summoned activist Zainab Al Khamis for interrogation tomorrow Wednesday (September 6, 2017).

Deputy head of the European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights (EBOHR) said Bahraini security authorities prevented her from leaving the country without clarifying the reasons.

Inspector-General of the National Security Agency (NSA) summoned on Thursday (24 August 2017) the husband of detained activist Ibtisam Al-Sayegh.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), asked its followers to address the Bahraini authorities to immediately release Ibtisam Al-Saegh, Mohammed Al-Shakhoori and Radhi Saleh Al-Qatari and to send letters to each of King of Bahrain, Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs, Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Permanent Mission of Bahrain to the United Nations in Geneva, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Kingdom of Belgium and diplomatic missions and embassy of Bahrain in their countries.

Index on Censorship said in an article on its website that human rights defenders often confront obstacles that make their work difficult. The organization indicated that the families of activists suffer along with their loved ones and are often targeted with official harassment: detention, loss of employment, beatings and harassment. Each case is an individual story of a struggle for freedom.