After more than two years in hiding, Ali Abdulemam, the globally renowned blogger and free-speech advocate, has been freed from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Abdulemam is now safely in Europe, after a dramatic escape in a secret compartment of a car, and will make his first public appearance in more than two years on Wednesday at the Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF).

Bahrain blogger has been in hiding since being sentenced in absentia in 2011 to 15 years in prison for 'plotting a coup' On 18 March 2011 – in the middle of the Arab spring – the home of the prominent Bahraini blogger and human rights activist Ali Abdulemam was raided by security forces, along with those of fellow protesters who had taken to the streets to call for reform.

Ali Abdulemam, a prominent blogger in Bahrain, has been smuggled out of the troubled Gulf kingdom and taken refuge in the UK, the BBC has learned.

The UN special rapporteur on torture has expressed his "deep disappointment" over Bahrain's decision to indefinitely postpone his visit to the county. Juan Mendez accused the Bahraini government of trying to "avoid responsibility" for the postponement.

"Bahrain is on fire, but race goes ahead", said one news headline this week. Yes, it's that time again. It's April, the birds are singing, the trees are in bloom and ... it's time for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Watch: Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley responds to Bernie Ecclestone’s comments on Formula One in Bahrain. President of Formula One Bernie Ecclestone was quoted in a Reuters piece today saying he has no concerns about the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix becoming a target for protestors.

Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird visited Bahrain during his extended tour of the Middle East. When the so-called Arab Spring wave of unrest first began in 2011, Bahrain was one of a number of states rocked by protests and violence, with the large Shiite majority staging massive protests and demanding the ouster of the ruling Sunni monarchy.

Bernie Ecclestone is an appropriate person to be the public face of Formula 1, a ‘sport’ which is fast becoming known as the event of choice for autocrats who wish to launder their international reputation, as evidenced by the appearance of races in Bahrain and Dubai in recent years

As Bahrain celebrated its “National Day” holiday on December 16, the frustrated efforts of the Shiite-led opposition to isolate the Khalifa monarchy for its allegedly repressive policies continued to be ever more apparent.

Bahrain's information affairs minister has accused the opposition of "misusing" a call for dialogue. Samira Rajab was quoted by the state as saying dialogue would only commence once the opposition "stops violence" and "relinquishes" its conditions.

THE annual mourning for Zein al-Abdin al-Sajjad, an eighth century martyred Shia Imam, is a relatively minor event, even in Iran where Shias hold power. But in the little island kingdom of Bahrain, where the Shia majority chafes at their subjugation under a Sunni ruling family, the Al Khalifas, it has become another excuse to reclaim the streets.

Australia (and in particular Labor icon Herbert Vere Evatt) was instrumental in drafting key elements of the source documents for the UN, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So it would be interesting to know what Doc Evatt would make of contemporary Australian attitudes to human rights.

The chant that has been part of the soundtrack of the uprisings in the Middle East since the beginning of 2011 is a rhythmic rendition of the words in Arabic that mean: "The people want the fall of the regime."

Frustrated by a lack of progress, a younger, more militant faction of Bahrain’s reform movement is threatening the moderates. MUHAZZA VILLAGE, Bahrain — After nearly two years of frustration, the Arab Spring uprising against Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, a key US ally, is growing increasingly tense.

High profile strategic conference looking at Middle Eastern issues cannot ignore continuing unrest in the Gulf state, writes Ian Black

On Tuesday, a Bahrain appeals court cut by a year the prison sentence of Nabeel Rajab, a prominent Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader, condemned for taking part in unlicensed protests.

Bahrain’s continuing attempt to change the subject of international conversation about the kingdom away from its crackdown on dissent took an awkward turn over the weekend, when the nation’s foreign minister posted a message on Twitter thanking Kim Kardashian for saying nice things about the country during a brief visit to open a milkshake shop.

In the island nation of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, a man by the name of Nabeel Rajab is sitting in jail for the "crime" of peaceful protest. But the government that has imprisoned him is a U.S. military ally, and the Obama Administration has done little to push for his release. When U.S. officials arrive in Bahrain this weekend for a global conference, will they finally change course?

"[I] motored out to see a garden on Budeya road, it was cultivated by some Bahrainis for 30 years & now claimed by old Sheikh Isa's wife who produces a valid document gifting it to her by Isa 20 years ago. He used to give people land without ever seeing it & usually it belonged to somebody. Naturally he is unpopular among the Bahrainis who are the original owners of the island."

Over the past couple of years, Bahrain’s international image has been transformed from that of a small, quiet Gulf kingdom into a very different kind of country. Today it suffers from deepening human rights abuses. State-sponsored violence oppresses people who express views which conflict with those of the Al-Khalifa family.