Advocacy / Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Microsoft should suspend data center plans
MENA Rights Group joins 17 organisations in urging Microsoft to suspend its plans to invest in a new cloud data center in Saudi Arabia due to the country's record of human rights violations.
Civil society concerned over Saudi Arabia’s attempt to whitewash its human rights record through the World Expo 2030
Led by MENA Rights Group, civil society calls on the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) to exclude the candidacy of Saudi Arabia as a potential host for World Expo 2030 on account of its grave and internationally documented and recognised appalling human rights record.
Saudi authorities must release human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani and other ACPRA members who are arbitrarily detained
We, the undersigned human rights organisations, call on Saudi authorities to reveal the health condition of and immediately and unconditionally release prominent Saudi human rights defender and co-founder of the now dissolved Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA)*, Dr. Mohammed al-Qahtani, who has been detained incommunicado for six months. We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of four ACPRA members who remain in arbitrary detention.
53 groups urge passage of Senate 502B resolution on Saudi Arabia
MENA Rights Group joined a group of civil society organisations in expressing our support for the passage of the S.Res.109 pursuant to Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act. The resolution, initiated by US Senators Chris Murphy and Mike Lee, requests information on human rights violations in Saudi Arabia when discussing foreign aid to the Kingdom.
Open letter: NGOs call on Boeing to urge Saudi Arabia to lift travel bans on peaceful activists
MENA Rights Group joins 7 human rights NGOs in sending an open letter to Boeing in light of their latest commercial deals with Saudi Arabia, calling on the latter to lift travel bans on human rights activists.
UN Human Rights Council must hold Saudi Arabia accountable for repression of activists
During the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, MENA Rights Group, Right Livelihood and ALQST for Human Rights spoke during the debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention. More specifically, we shed light on the increasing repression of human rights defenders and peaceful dissidents in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia: End Male Guardianship
On International Women's Day, MENA Rights Group joined 7 organisations in calling for the end of male guardianship in Saudi Arabia, which is particularly codified by the Personal Status Law.
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.