Rights groups urge Obama to help free Persian Gulf activists

Rights groups have called on US President Barack Obama to help free human rights activists imprisoned by the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf countries.

According to Press TV, in an open letter published on Saturday by the Persian Gulf Center for Human Rights (PGCHR), eleven non-governmental organizations, including Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights First and Front Line Defenders, urged Obama “to press for the release of all detained human rights defenders across the Persian Gulf region who are imprisoned solely due to their peaceful and legitimate human rights work.”

The letter comes as Obama is to attend a Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 21, which is to focus on the fight against terrorist groups and regional conflicts, according to the White House.

The PGCC includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“Instead of working with human rights defenders to combat extremism and build tolerant societies, authorities in the PGCC countries have jailed dozens of them, in some cases for life, simply for exercising their right and duty to promote and protect human rights via freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” the letter said.

The signatories reminded Obama of his “promises made in 2011 to support popular movements for reform across the region”.

The letter comes as rights groups have criticized Saudi Arabia for human rights violations and handing down long-term sentences to anti-regime protesters.

Human rights advocates have also repeatedly called for an end to the oppressive treatment of dissent in Bahrain.

ME