Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) is a non-profit human rights organisation based in London which promotes democratisation and human rights in Bahrain.^[1] It was founded by Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Alaa Shehabi and Hussain Abdullah in 2013, and is funded by the Sigrid Rausing Trust^[2] for the years 2016-2019. The National Endowment for Democracy approved a grant for the year 2015.^[3]

Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy

Founded	October 2013 in London
Type	Non-profit NGO
Location	London
Services	Protecting human rights
Fields	Human rights, non-violence, research, advocacy
Key people	Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei
Website	birdbh.org

Leadership

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei

One of the founders of BIRD, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, received attention for his advocacy work^[4] and for protesting against visits by members of the Bahraini Royal Family to the United Kingdom. As a fugitive from Bahrain, he subsequently had his Bahraini citizenship revoked in January 2015 and has applied for asylum in the United Kingdom. In 2020, he was co-winner of the Index on Censorship "campaigning" award, for "[continuing] his work as a prominent critic of the Bahraini government ... despite the danger faced by him and his family."^[5]

Campaigns

BIRD has led a number of campaigns to raise awareness about what they view as the political repression of the Bahraini pro-democracy movement. These have included campaigns around the Bahrain Formula 1^[6] race and the candidacy of Sheikh Salman Alkhalifa for President of FIFA in 2016.^[7]

BIRD has been active in campaigning for the release of Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who has been repeatedly imprisoned in Bahrain after criticising the Bahraini government.^[8][9]

BIRD has worked closely with regional and international human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch, Reprieve, Amnesty International, UK-based Campaign Against Arms Trade, the Stop The War Coalition, Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), and Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB).^[10][11]