In response to the escalating tensions in the Bahraini capital Manama, and following the State Department's statement of concern regarding the violence in the city, Wilson Center President and CEO Jane Harman issued the following statement.
I was briefed over the weekend on the situation in Bahrain and am pleased that the State Department has expressed deep concern and taken swift action to meet with Nabeel Rajab and to urge a full investigation. I placed a call earlier today to Bahrain’s Ambassador to discuss Mr. Rajab’s status and hope to speak with her soon.
Nabeel Rajab is a courageous human rights activist. I had the opportunity to meet him in December when he was in Washington to receive the Wilson Center’s prestigious Ratiu Democracy Award, and his safety and well-being are of huge personal concern. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Rajab to the Wilson Center again later this year.
I urge the Government of Bahrain to demonstrate its concern for Mr. Rajab’s health and well-being as part of its efforts to assure the international community of its commitment to basic human rights and democratic reform.
The Global Europe Program is focused on Europe’s capabilities, and how it engages on critical global issues. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues. We examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our initiatives include “Ukraine in Europe”—an examination of what it will take to make Ukraine’s European future a reality. But we also examine the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE, Europe’s energy security, transatlantic trade disputes, and challenges to democracy. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media. Read more
The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program serves as a crucial resource for the policymaking community and beyond, providing analyses and research that helps inform US foreign policymaking, stimulates public debate, and expands knowledge about issues in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Read more
