Hussain Jawad

Hussain was arrested in a raid on his house on February 16, 2015. He stood trial on 17 March on charges of "collecting and receiving money from home and abroad in order to support and finance subversive groups". Hussain Jawad denied the charges and told the judge he was tortured when in custody of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID). On May 19, 2015, the 4th Lower Criminal Court ordered his release from prison with the guarantee of his place of residence. However, the cases against Mr. Jawad were not terminated (the court simply adjourned them) and Hussain still stands trial at a later date.

Hussain stood trial on 17 March before a Lower Criminal Court in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on charges of "collecting and receiving money from home and abroad without authorization". He was tried together with two other individuals in the same case, whom one is the Kuwaiti MP Abdulhamid Dashti. Hussain Jawad denied the charges and told the judge he was tortured when in custody of the CID. On May 19, 2015 Hussain was released from prison and the cases against him were adjourned to May 29 and November 7.

On February 13, 2015, Jen Psaki, then a spokesperson for the United States Department of State, at her daily press briefing said that US were closely following the case of Hussain Jawad and continue to gather more information. "We do plan to observe his trial, just as we often observe open hearings in Bahrain and other countries", she said when answering one of the questions.

In March 2015 (in response to a written question from Jeremy Corbyn MP), Tobias Ellwood MP, Minister of State in the United Kingdom's Foreign & Commonwealth Office, said that the government was closely following Mr Jawad's case and that UK has raised its concerns about the case. He also said that the British Embassy in Bahrain has raised the allegations of mistreatment made by Mr Jawad with the Ministry of Interior's Ombudsman and that the embassy officials have attended Mr Jawad's court appearances.

After UK Home Office did not process his application, Jawad decided to return to Bahrain and continue his fight for human rights on the ground. He left the UK on August 28, 2014.

Hussain's active role as a human rights defender has previously subjected him to harassment by the Bahraini authorities. The latest was his arrest in November 2013, when he went to file a complaint against the government claiming they were defaming him in a local newspaper. He was arrested on spot at the Central Province Police station and taken to the dry dock prison where he spent 47 days. His arrest came following a speech he delivered calling for peaceful struggle and democracy. During his imprisonment he managed to monitor and document many cases and violations against detainees, which he revealed following his release in January 2014 on bail pending trial.

Parweez is 67 years old and has been imprisoned in Jau Central Prison since March 2011. He has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of "conspiring to topple the regime and collaborating with a terrorist organization". Mohammed has been among thirteen Bahraini opposition leaders, rights activists, bloggers and Shia clerics arrested between 17 March and 9 April 2011 in connection with their role in the national uprising - a group that is internationally known as "Bahrain Thirteen".

Hussain Jawad Parweez (Arabic: حسين جواد برويز ‎, born on 10 December 1987) is a leading Bahraini human rights activist. He is the Chairman and founder of the European-Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights (EBOHR). He is also one of the founders of Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and served as its Vice-president from 2004 to 2006. Hussain has long been an advocate for peaceful and democratic change in Bahrain and is an active supporter of the freedom of expression and human rights. He has been a member of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights since 2002.