Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) fosters awareness of and support for democracy and human rights in Bahrain and the Middle East. ADHRB was initially formed in 2002 through the culmination of a series of six conferences that helped to unite the Bahraini-American community in the United States. ADHRB was formally incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2008, and received its IRS tax-exempt status in 2009.
ADHRB has built relationships with many pro-democracy and human rights NGOs, including Amnesty International, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, and the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), among others. Through its advocacy, ADHRB has also developed relationships with congressional offices and executive branch agencies. Since 2009, ADHRB has been influential in securing several congressional briefings and hearings on human rights abuses in Bahrain.
ADHRB has increased the general public’s engagement on Bahrain-related issues by sponsoring delegations of pro-democracy and human rights advocates from Bahrain–including Nabeel Rajab, Dr. Nabeel Hameed, Jalila al-Salman, and Abdulkhadi al-Khawaja, among others–to allow them to share their firsthand experiences with the public, US lawmakers, and other government and NGO leaders. ADHRB also sponsored delegations of Bahraini-Americans to meet with their legislators in Washington, D.C. to encourage greater engagement on the part of Members of Congress on the human rights situation in Bahrain.
