Advocacy / Saudi Arabia
Morocco should refrain from deporting Hassan Al-Rabea to Saudi Arabia
Joint letter supported by 9 human rights organisations calling on the Moroccan Government to release Saudi citizen Hassan Mohamed Al-Rabea and to refrain from deporting him to Saudi Arabia, where he would face torture.
Human rights groups call on Belgium to open investigation into Saudi Crown Prince for crimes against humanity
Public statement on the submission of an expert opinion drafted by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), MENA Rights Group, and the Freedom Initiative supporting a complaint filed in Belgium in December 2021 by the Open Society Justice Initiative against Saudi Arabia for crimes against humanity. The expert opinion highlighted “systemic and generalized violations of human rights committed against individuals who have peacefully criticized authorities or their policies”.
Joint NGO letter to Saudi embassies regarding the disappearance of Mohammed al-Qahtani
The undersigned civil society organisations are writing to you to express their grave concern for the wellbeing of detained human rights defender Dr. Mohammed al-Qahtani, who has been subjected to enforced disappearance since 24 October 2022. We urge you to convey to your government the calls to disclose his whereabouts and to release him immediately and unconditionally.
Rights organisations call on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to urge Saudi Arabia to implement a moratorium on executions
In a joint letter addressed to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, a coalition of seven rights organisations raised their concerns over the prevalence of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and its use against child defendants, pro-democracy protestors and non-lethal offences. The coalition further requested that the UN High Commissioner engage with the Saudi authorities on their use of the death penalty and urge them to implement a moratorium on its use.
Fears grow for Saudi detainees awaiting trial or sentencing, following wave of 30-year-plus prison terms
In light of the unprecedented jail sentences recently issued against peaceful activists and others in Saudi Arabia merely for exercising their freedom of expression, concerns are growing for those who remain in arbitrary detention without charge or are facing prolonged trials or retrial. The undersigned NGOs call on the international community to intensify efforts to press the Saudi Arabian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those who are unjustly and arbitrarily detained in the kingdom for peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms.
Saudi authorities silence human rights defenders with increasingly long prison sentences
People standing up for human rights in Saudi Arabia face increasingly lengthy prison sentences, including decades of arbitrary detention for expressing their views on social media, Right Livelihood warned the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with ALQST for Human Rights and MENA Rights Group on Monday.
Joint Statement: President Biden's visit has a negative impact on human rights movement in the MENA region
The human rights movement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has paid a heavy price for the unlimited and unconditional support provided by the United Kingdom and United States to repressive governments across the region. The recent visit of US President Joe Biden has reinforced the practice of international relations that prioritises political and economic interests when dealing with repressive governments while turning a blind eye to human rights abuses at the expense of human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience.
Saudi authorities must release women’s rights activist Salma al-Shehab
Following the sentencing of Saudi women's rights activist and academic Salma al-Shehab to 34 years in prison as a result of her activity on Twitter, MENA Rights Group joins 34 other organisations calling for sustained international pressure on Saudi Arabia to immediately and unconditionally release al-Shehab.
Joint letter calling on US President Biden to secure real progress on human rights ahead of possible visit to Saudi Arabia
Given numerous media reports that US President Biden will imminently visit Saudi Arabia and meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 13 organizations write to express their deep concerns and urge the Biden administration to secure genuine progress on human rights with the Saudi State, which routinely and callously abuses the rights of its own citizens, as well as others around the world.
Saudi Arabia: Free social media activist Dr. Lina Alsharif
The undersigned human rights organisations call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Lina Alsharif, who has been arbitrarily detained in Saudi Arabia for over a year as a result of her social media activism. On 11 May 2022, Dr. Alsharif marked her 34th birthday in Al-Ha'ir prison in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.