Brian J Dooley

Background

Dooley works primarily with human rights defenders in danger, engaging with the U.S. and other governments to end threats to human rights activism.

For the 20 years prior to joining Human Rights First, Brian worked for U.S., Irish and international NGOs. He writes for or is regularly quoted in international print and broadcast media including the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, BBC, CNN, Foreign Affairs and Al Jazeera, and is a columnist for the Huffington Post. During the 1980s and 1990s he was a regular literary critic for The Economist, The Guardian, and for The Irish Times.

He led Amnesty International's work on partnering with national NGOs in the global South for many years, and worked as Head of Media for Amnesty International in London and in Dublin, and as Director of Communications for Public Citizen in Washington, D.C.

He is the author of several books about civil rights and U.S. politics, and had early experience on the Hill, interning for Senator Edward Kennedy in the mid-80s as a legislative researcher, contributing to what ultimately became the 1986 Anti-Apartheid Act.

He lived and worked as an English teacher and community organizer in a black township in South Africa in 1981-1982 in defiance of apartheid's racial segregation laws. Other human rights work included helping establish Baltic Pride marches 2007–2010.

His work for Amnesty International included being on research teams sent to conflicts in Lebanon 2006 and Gaza 2009, and on the ambassador of Conscience Award project for Nelson Mandela in 2005.

Dooley has an MPhil in Government and Politics from the Open University, and a B.A. with honors in Political Science from the University of East Anglia. He represented The University of East Anglia at cricket and football, and the George Washington University in Washington DC at football (soccer).

Books

Dooley has written three books, "Black and Green: The Fight for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland & Black America" about the historic links between the civil rights movements in Northern Ireland and the US, "Robert Kennedy: The Final Years" a political biography of Bobby Kennedy, and "Choosing the Green?" about the Irish diaspora and the Irish conflict.

Bahraini uprising

Throughout the Bahraini uprising, Brian has produced a series of reports and articles highly critical of the Bahraini regime which are regularly featured in the international press. A November 2013 report urged the U.S. to change its approach on Bahrain - Plan B for Bahrain: What the U.S. government should do next. A 2015 report suggested ways the U.S. government could help bring stability through the promotion of human rights in Bahrain. A 2016 report suggested how the US government should drastically alter its relationship with the Gulf kingdom - How to Reverse Five Years of Failure on Bahrain.

He is a speaker on human rights issues at government, academic, and think tank events and has testified at U.S. Congressional hearings and briefings on the threats to civil society and human rights worldwide and on Bahrain.

He was denied access to Bahrain in January 2012 which promoted members of US Congress to complain to the government of Bahrain. Admitted to Bahrain in March 2012, he has been refused access to the country since, despite repeated requests to enter. In August 2014 Dooley was refused access to Bahrain with U.S. Congressman James McGovern. The continued denial of Dooley's access to Bahrain is documented in the U.S. State Department's Country Reports for 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The Bahrain Ambassador to the US wrote a blog in 2012 criticizing Dooley, entitled "Responding to Brian Dooley's Article in Foreign Policy" and Brian invited the ambassador for a public debate, which was refused. He is also regularly attacked by Bahrain's pro-regime press.

In September 2014 an article he wrote about Bahrain for Defense One was featured by the Washington Post editorial board in a piece on U.S. Imperfect Allies in the Middle East and by the Aspen Institute as a Best Idea of the Day. He was cited again by name in a June 2015 Washington Post editorial Bahrain's Rulers Now Flout the U.S. Openly

Other human rights work: Egypt, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Guantanamo, Syria, Hungary and Northern Ireland

In March 2013 and May 2013 he authored reports critical of the Morsi government in Egypt and reported from Cairo in August 2013 on the government's decision to clear the Muslim Brotherhood protests. In January 2014 he was in Cairo reporting on Egypt's constitutional referendum and authored a report on the continuing crackdown on human rights in Egypt which called for an overhaul of U.S. government policy towards Egypt and in December 2014 another report on the fears of Egyptian civil society confronted with a new crackdown. In January 2016 in the run up to the fifth anniversary of Egypt's uprising he visited Egypt and wrote a report and oped on the targeting of human rights activists. In August 2017 he authored a report and opeds detailing continuing human rights abuses in Egypt, including the radicalization of prisoners by ISIS in Egyptian jails. He recommended the U.S. government cut military aid to Egypt until human rights improved. Three weeks after the report was released the U.S. government announced that for the first time it was cutting military aid to Egypt, denying $60m in military aid and suspending $195m more on human rights rights grounds.

In 2014 Dooley reported on political extremism in Ukraine and on difficulties for civil society during the conflict with Russia and in October 2014 authored a report on what the U.S. government should do to support democracy and human rights in Ukraine.

In 2015 he reported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the suffocation of civil society there on the eve of UEA and other Gulf leaders arriving at Camp David for a summit meeting with President Obama. He authored a report on human rights in the UAE and articles on the summit.

In 2015 he also reported from Kenya on the country's efforts to counter violent extremism, and authored a report in advance of the visit of President Obama's visit to Kenya.

In 2015 he observed the Guantanamo hearings of those accused of the September 11, 2001 hijackings, and wrote a series of pieces on the courtroom scenes

In 2016 he wrote a series of pieces in Foreign Affairs and elsewhere about the Syrian conflict and the role of civil society in the country's politics.

In 2017 he also authored reports on attacks on civil society in Hungary, and on the vilification of human rights lawyers in Northern Ireland.

Mandela legacy

On the death of Nelson Mandela in December 2013 Dooley provided analysis and media commentary on the legacy of Mandela, including in the New York Times, NPR, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post and various other international media.