Nabeel Rajab

Nabeel Rajab
نبيل رجب
Nabeel Rajab in July 2011
Born	Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab (1964-09-01) 1 September 1964 (age 59)[1] Bahrain
Education	Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from the University of Pune
Occupation	Human rights activist
Years active	1988–present[2]
Organization	Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)
Board member of	List International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Human Rights Watch CARAM-Asia[3] The Arab Working Group for Media Monitoring Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO) Persian Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR)
Awards	Ion Ratiu Democracy Award (2011) British Silbury Prize (2011) Freedom of Expression Award (2012) Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty (2012) Rafto Prize (2013)

Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab (Arabic: نبيل أحمد عبدالرسول رجب, romanized: Nabīl Aḥmad ʿAbd ar-Rasūl Rajab; born 1 September 1964) is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition figure. He is the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East Division, deputy secretary general for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), member of the Advisory Board of the Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO), co-founder of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), and former chairman of CARAM Asia.

Rajab’s human rights activism began during the 1990s uprising in Bahrain. He later expanded his advocacy to include the rights of migrant workers in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Rajab has used social networking as a tool in human rights campaigning, which has led to conflicts with the Bahraini authorities. His activism has been acknowledged by international human rights organizations such as Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Reporters Without Borders, which have highlighted his targeting by the Bahraini government.

In the 2011 Bahraini uprising, Rajab led several protests, frequently clashing with political authorities and Public Security Forces. He has critiqued not only the Bahraini government but also the stance of Bahrain's allies, including the United States. His activism, especially following the 2012 Grand Prix protests, led to his arrest and multiple incarcerations. In 2012, he was detained and sentenced to three months in prison for a Twitter post deemed as "insulting Bahrainis". Whilst still detained, he received a three-year prison sentence on charges related to his protest activities, later reduced to two years upon appeal.^[4] After being released in 2014, Rajab was re-arrested for criticizing the government via Twitter and was later the same year released on bail pending trial in 2015.

In a notable case on 21 February 2018, the High Criminal Court of Bahrain sentenced Rajab to five years in prison for statements critical of the Bahraini government's actions, including allegations he published of his mistreatment and torture within Jaw Prison in 2015. He was released from prison on 9 June 2020.^[5]