2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia: Agreeing to repeat human rights violations

On the 31st of October, FIFA announced that Saudi Arabia had become the sole bidder of the 2034 World Cup. The decision certainly does not come as a surprise. FIFA has regularly been criticized for bribery scandals and its nonchalance in sponsoring World Cups in states with poor human rights standards (Russia, China, Qatar). Nonetheless,[…]

Saudi Arabia pursues Mass Killings across the Gulf of Aden: Calling for Accountability.

On the 21st of August, 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on the mass killings of Ethiopians at the Yemen-Saudi border. The research indicates that the indiscriminate use of force by Saudi authorities started in March 2022 and is still ongoing. This crisis is of the utmost importance as, according to the International[…]

One year after the disappearance of Mohammed al-Qahtani: condemning Saudi Arabia for committing enforced disappearances

On 22 November 2022, Mohammed al-Qahtani had to be released after the ten years of questionable sentence he received. However, since October 2022, Saudi Arabian authorities have refused to give information about him despite the expiration of his sentence. The refusal of Saudi authorities to release him makes this a case of enforced disappearance for[…]

Self-inflicted wounds: Courting the good-will of Middle East dictators

News that President Biden is traveling to the Gulf region this month to meet with the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a betrayal of his promise to put “human rights at the center of our foreign policy, of the pro-democracy activists and journalists who have[…]

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs calls for an “immediate moratorium on executions” in Saudi Arabia

Two Irish deputies brought the urgent death row case of Jaafar Mohamed Sultan and Sadeq Majeed Thamer to the attention of the Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney on the 1st of June 2022. These two Bahraini men are on death row in Saudi Arabia, having exhausted all legal remedies and are at risk of imminent[…]