Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society

The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society, (BHRWS) () is a Bahraini human rights organization established in November 2004 which claims to protect housemaids, and to fight for women’s rights.

Its president is Houda Ezra Nonoo, making the Society unique in the Arab world in being the only human rights group headed by a Jewish woman. Nonoo is a business woman. Another prominent member is trade unionist, Faisal Fulad.

The Society has sought to support women's rights activists' campaign for the introduction of a personal status law to protect women in divorce and child custody. In association with the National Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women, the BHRWS launched the Respect Movement, a petition in support of the Personal Status Law . The second part of the Respect Movement’s agenda is a petition for laws to protect housemaids, who are not currently protected by Bahrain’s labour laws.

Nonoo and Falud are members of the Shura Council 2006-2010.

Controversies

In September 2006, founding member Faisal Fulad was implicated in the Bandargate scandal, accused of receiving BD500 (USD 1,326) per month from the head of the scandal, Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa, Bahrain Center for Human Rights, September 2006. The alleged plot aimed to instigate sectarian strife and maintain the dominance of the ruling Sunni community over the majority Shia.

The BHRWS’s defence of leftist writer, Sameera Rajab, also brought the Centre into conflict with Islamists: in...
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