As of 1 February 2016, five more countries have followed suit with Qatar and banned screenings of Tom Hooper’s transgender film ‘The Danish Girl’. Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and United Arab Emirates failed to pass local censor requirements over “moral depravity” and that it “promoted homosexuality and gender transformation”. Sources » Gay …

A Bahraini high school student and two teachers have been charged with “insulting Islam” after the boy sang verses from the Qur’an accompanied by musical instruments, the official BNA news agency reported on 11 March 2015. The student is shown in the clip singing verses from Al Fatiha – The …

Indonesia has banned the release of the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Noah’, saying the biblical epic contradicts the teachings of the Koran and may mislead people. The ban in Indonesia follows similar moves in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. » See on time.com » Guardian Liberty Voice – 8 March 2014: Academy …

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses concern in regards to the ongoing attacks on freedom of expression in Bahrain demonstrated in the recent destruction and banning of an art exhibition of the Bahrain Revolution. On 30 October 2013, police forces in Bahrain stormed the building where an exhibition of …

One hundred organisations – among them Pen International and Index on Censorship – call to the King, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister of Bahrain to end assault on freedom of speech, and to free all detained human rights defenders and netizens in Bahrain. The open letter below is …

The first statement from 19BH Group regarding the World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2012 and the status of intellectuals in Bahrain. English translation:   Statement | 19bh Group We / 19bh Group / Bahraini journalists, intellectuals, filmmakers, artists, media, and supporting and sustaining personalities; condemn silence of associations …

  Fadhila Mubarak’s 18-month prison sentence for protesting and listening to ‘revolutionary’ music was upheld by the Court of Cassation in Bahrain’s capital Manama on 30 January 2012. Amnesty International has opened a letter campaign for her release. Fadhila Mubarak was arrested on 20 March 2011 when her car was …

    According to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), 38 year old Fadhila Al Mubarak has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for participating in peaceful protests and for playing a revolutionary CD in her car. On 27 March 2011, Fadhila Al Mubarak was asked to pull …

  A group of Bahraini artists and intellectuals have published a letter to UNESCO Artist for Peace Missa Johnouchi from Japan, who performed in Bahrain at the 20th Bahrain International Music Festival on 15 October 2011. This is the letter which was sent: 8 October 2011 To: Ms. Missa Johnouchi, UNESCO …

In a letter to the Bahraini Minister of Culture, Freemuse has protested against the sacking of cultural workers and artists following the popular uprisings in the country in March 2011, which further led to the conviction of hundreds of intellectuals and cultural workers in the country. Although the letter was …