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Under adverse conditions, Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR) produced its highest-quality research and fielded its most impactful advocacy projects in 2024. Amidst mass protests and arrests in Bahrain and war in Lebanon, the SALAM DHR team published four major projects and reports. The largest of these was a survey and study on Bahrain’s Parliament and public perceptions of MPs, finding that Bahraini citizens currently feel marginalised by public affairs and state governance, and advising that public participation minimises the risks of human rights violations and provides justice and accountability. It also published the highly impactful campaign and report “My Mother, My Nationality”, which examined the effects of gender-based discrimination on Bahraini women and their children, examining Bahraini women’s inability to transmit citizenship to their children and how it results in the statelessness of children. The report’s interviews give a voice to Bahraini women and children who have been affected by a unique form of institutional discrimination.
Throughout the year, the SALAM DHR team engaged in global advocacy, attending trainings on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Kisumu, Kenya, which developed into the “Demonstrating is Our Right” campaign and report. SALAM DHR continued its advocacy against statelessness throughout the year, attending the Global Alliance to End Statelessness Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Additionally, SALAM DHR Chairman Jawad Fairooz gave a lecture on his experience as a survivor of citizenship stripping and statelessness at the Statelessness Awareness Forum in Alicante, Spain. Moreover, the SALAM DHR team travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to meet with UNHCR for the 57th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC57), to discuss recent mass arrests, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in Bahrain, and ongoing civil and political issues in Bahrain, along with the ongoing problem of Bahraini women being unable to transmit their nationality, which causes statelessness among children. It has also maintained continuous advocacy with the UK, EU, UN, and Bahraini governments, meeting with officials and civil society for dialogue.
SALAM DHR participated in ten events and six roundtable discussions throughout 2024, covering topics such as citizen representation in the Gulf, options for democratic advocacy and ongoing threats to human rights in the region, the death penalty, citizenship revocation, and gender-based oppression. It also attended the Alternative Human Rights Expo in November 2024 with two dozen partner organisations. The event called for the release of human rights defenders and activists persecuted across the MENA region. It also showcased the resilience of detained HRDs, artists, poets, writers, and musicians, highlighting their work despite ongoing repression.
Outputs remain constant, with SALAM DHR publishing seven articles and five press releases and three films for advocacy. Additionally, SALAM DHR recruited and trained seventeen interns from universities like University College Dublin and Sciences Po. SALAM DHR has worked under tremendous adversity, with its members supporting each other to engage in professional human rights monitoring, research and advocacy. Its mission will continue in 2025, developing projects to the highest standard in the sector.
For 2025, SALAM DHR will continue advocacy, focusing on key issues like the revocation of citizenship. This involves continuing its social media and film campaigns for My Mother, My Nationality, engaging in on-site, in-person meetings for victim impact and expanding advocacy on the issue of citizenship revocation and gender discrimination into a MENA-wide campaign.
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