News

On September 24th, during the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council, ALQST, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), MENA Rights Group, and the Right Livelihood Foundation delivered a statement denouncing Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record. In particular, we condemned the arbitrary detention of Right Livelihood Laureates Mohammed al-Qahtani and […]

Sent to: Berlin Mayor Michael Müller Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner London Mayor Sadiq Khan Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi September 18, 2020 Dear Mayor, We are a global coalition of human […]

The undersigned civil society groups are alarmed at the continued and escalating attacks on civic space in Algeria and call on the government to end their crackdown on journalistic and other public freedoms. Despite President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announcing his desire to break with previous repressive practices, freedom of expression especially has come under severe attack since March 2020, with several journalists facing arbitrary arrest and prosecution for conducting their work in the country.

27.08.2020 – Ahead of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30 August, an NGO coalition is calling on African States to end this practice immediately, hold perpetrators to account, search for the disappeared and provide reparations to the victims and their families. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (Sudan), […]

27 août 2020 – À l’occasion de la Journée internationale des victimes de disparitions forcées, le 30 août, une coalition d’ONG appelle les États africains à mettre fin immédiatement à cette pratique, à contraindre les personnes responsables à rendre des comptes, à rechercher les disparu·e·s et à accorder des réparations aux victimes et à leurs […]

MENA Rights Group and 18 organizations are urging the member nations of the World Trade Organization to reject Saudi Arabia’s nominee for Director General of the WTO. August 17, 2020 Dear World Trade Organization Members, We write to urge you to reject Saudi Arabia’s nominee, Mr. Mohammad Maziad al-Tuwaijri, for Director General of the World […]

On August 11, 2020, MENA Rights Group, Amnesty International, Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, World Organisation against Torture and Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, sent a letter to the King of Bahrain urging him to commute all death sentences and establish a moratorium on executions.

On July 28, 2020, MENA Rights Group and 10 NGOs sent a letter to the Permanent Missions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, with a list of concrete measures the authorities should commit to implement when seeking election with the UN Human Rights Council.

23 July 2020 To: States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights RE: Call to States Parties to take into account gender, competence and independence when electing new members to the Human Rights Committee Dear Permanent Representatives of the States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The undersigned […]

On July 16, 2020, CIVICUS, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Gulf Centre for Human Rights, and MENA Rights Group delivered a joint oral statement before the Human Rights Council (HRC) during the adoption of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) outcome of Kuwait. The NGOs expressed concern over the crackdown on human rights defenders […]

Organisations which support human rights, press freedom and journalists are calling on United Nations mechanisms and member states  to help save the lives of four Yemeni journalists who were sentenced to death in April 2020 in the capital Sana’a on charges of “spying” and “spreading false news.” Of the six other journalists in the same […]

Chairpersons of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies  Ms. Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights    RE: UN human rights treaty bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic    Dear Chairpersons of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies and High Commissioner Bachelet,    We, the undersigned non-governmental organisations, write to you concerning the functioning of the […]