ATTN: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,
ATTN: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
الشمالي الفرعي، 7482 الطريق الدائري، 7482، 2277
Northern Ring Branch Rd, An Nakhil, Riyadh 12385,
Riyadh 11515, Saudi Arabia
December 5, 2024
Your Majesty and your Royal Highness,
We write to draw your attention to the grave human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, where the voices of your citizens, namely human rights defenders, are being systematically silenced. The suppression of civic space in your Kingdom has reached alarming levels, and it is imperative that you end this unlawful repression and take action to support those who are standing up for their fundamental rights. The European Center for Democracy and Human Rights, along with the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights, has launched the “Unmuting Saudi Voices: A Call for Civic Freedom” social media campaign to bring to light what is happening under your reign.
Since your rise to power, Your Royal Highness, your government has intensified its crackdown on freedom of expression, assembly, and association. Human rights defenders, journalists, and ordinary citizens who dare to speak out face arbitrary detentions, severe punishments, and false charges of terrorism or undermining national security. These individuals are not criminals; they are advocates for justice, equality, and human dignity, fighting for a better future for all Saudi Arabians.
Your government has repeatedly used the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), which was originally set up to try terrorist-related cases, to prosecute peaceful dissidents. A prominent case is Loujain al-Hathloul, the women’s rights activist who was detained for campaigning for women’s right to drive and for the abolishment of the male guardianship system. Though she was released after three years in 2021, her freedom remains severely restricted by a travel ban. Similarly, human rights lawyer Waleed Abulkhair was wrongfully sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2014 under the Counter-Terrorism Law for exercising his right to freedom of expression. These cases highlight that your government misuses anti-terror laws to target human rights defenders, eroding their ability to hold your state accountable by denying them their basic right to speak freely.
Your Royal Highness, despite the package of legislative reforms you announced in February 2021 with the aim to “preserve rights, protect human rights”, the human rights situation has continued to deteriorate. Moreover, your promise in 2018 to reduce the number of offenses punishable by death has not been fulfilled given that 172 executions were registered in 2023. Worse than that, many executions were for non-violent offenses. Of the 172, 10 were for drug-related crimes and 25 for “terrorism-related” offenses, which included posting tweets criticizing the government.
In addition to harsh legal crackdowns and unlawful sentences, your state employs widespread surveillance and uses advanced spyware such as Pegasus to monitor activists, journalists, and dissidents, both within the Kingdom and abroad, compromising their privacy and safety, while increasing censorship. The internet is heavily censored, with websites critical of the regime routinely blocked, and online platforms like social media are under constant scrutiny. This mass surveillance creates an environment of fear, where even the digital space has become another tool for state repression, silencing those who dare to speak out.
The lack of accountability for your violations only exacerbates the situation, leaving those who are silenced without protection. Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who openly criticized your Kingdom for arbitrarily arresting human rights defenders, was killed inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018. The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Agnès Callamard published a reliable report on 19 June 2019, stating that there is credible evidence linking your orders to the murder. Despite international outcry and your government’s dismissal of the report, you have not taken any meaningful action to undergo a fair and thorough investigation to hold those responsible accountable and stop this pattern of human rights impunity.
As a result, your country’s civic space is virtually non-existent. In 2023, CIVICUS, a global alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action, rated Saudi Arabia a mere 4 out of 100 for openness, categorizing it as closed. This ranking reflects an alarming reality – your government has created an environment where dissent against it is suppressed, and the fundamental human rights of your citizens are being denied.
We cannot turn a blind eye to these injustices. As rulers of your country, you have a moral obligation to support your people and their human rights – not strip them of their freedoms, and a constitutional obligation to “provide security for all citizens and residents on its territories”. Moreover, you also have international obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Given this, we respectfully call on you to:
- Condemn the Repression: Publicly denounce the ongoing repression of civic space and the persecution of human rights defenders.
- Take Accountability: Release all individuals detained for peacefully exercising their rights and to hold those responsible for human rights abuses accountable.
- Support Civil Society: Provide support and protection to Saudi Arabian human rights organizations, activists, and journalists.
- Promote Dialogue: Engage in meaningful dialogue with civil society and international human rights bodies to address these issues and enact reforms.
- Respect obligations: Respect your national and international obligations, as well as your promises to protect and promote human rights in your country.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
- The Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain
- The European Center for Democracy and Human Rights.
