Transnational repression: a tool that extends authoritarian government’s capacity for repression

Perhaps not-so-well-known, transnational repression constitutes a threat to human rights that has been going on for decades. The phenomenon, which entails governments reaching beyond their borders to silence or deter dissent by committing human rights abuses against their nationals or former nationals, has been extensively documented by Human Rights Watch. The 2018 murder and dismemberment[…]

Saudi Arabia’s Continued Use of the Death Penalty on Minors: Unveiling Legal Loopholes and Human Rights Violations

In April 2024, the Court of Appeal in Saudi Arabia approved two death sentences for Yousif Al-Manasif and Ali Al-Mubaiouq, both Saudi nationals, who were accused of protest-related crimes allegedly committed as children. The two men were arrested between April 2017 and January 2018 for protesting against the government and ‘betraying the homeland’, a time[…]

The Bedoon situation in Kuwait

Bedoon, meaning “without nationality” in Arabic, is a stateless Arab minority in Kuwait who were not granted citizenship at the time of the country’s independence or shortly thereafter. The government currently labels Bedoon as “illegal residents,” despite many having no tangible connections to any country other than Kuwait, and notwithstanding decades of social discourse depicting[…]

The number of women migrant workers in the Gulf region is to increase, and so is the potential for human rights abuses

Indian women migrant workers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to reach 6 million in 2-3 years. Due to the loosening of labour restrictions regarding women in the region, for example, the removal of restrictions on work during night hours, there has already been a 23% growth in demand for[…]

Profile in Persecution: Sayed Adnan Majed Hashem

Updated: Sayed Adnan Majed Hashem was a 22-year-old worker at the Al-Manhal water factory when he was arrested in October 2018, for the fourth time, from a house in AlDair. During his detention, Sayed Adnan endured physical and psychological torture, forced disappearance, medical neglect, and denial of contact with his family and attorney. He was[…]