Bahrain Centre for Human Rights

Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
FoundedMay 2002 by a group of activists in Bahrain
DissolvedSeptember 2004
TypeNon-profit
NGO
Location
  • Bahrain
ServicesProtecting human rights
FieldsMedia attention, non-violence, research, lobbying
Key people
Nedal al-Salman (President)
Nabeel Rajab (former president)
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja (former president)
Maryam Alkhawaja (Head of the Foreign Relations Office)
Websitewww.bahrainrights.net

The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; Arabic: مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان, romanizedMarkaz al-Baḥrayn li-Ḥuqūq al-Insān) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation founded by Bahraini activists in 2002 and working to promote human rights in Bahrain. The centre was given a dissolution order after its former president Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was arrested in September 2004 a day after criticizing the country's Prime Minister, Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah at a seminar in which he blamed the Prime Minister for the failure of widespread economic development for all citizens. The BCHR is still banned by the government, but has remained very active.

In 2013 the organisation was awarded the Rafto Prize for its work.