Saudi Arabia on the 13th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty

As the 13th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty approaches, the Government of Saudi Arabia has marked its calendar for a separate occasion: the public beheading of two minors. Despite its international obligations under the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child – and despite its seat on the[…]

EU Parliament Adopts Resolution Condemning Ali al-Nimr Execution

8 October 2015 – Brussels – Today, the European Parliament (EP) adopted an Urgency resolution that condemns the imminent execution of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr and calls on King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to “grant pardon or to commute his sentence.” Saudi authorities arrested al-Nimr when he was 17 years old for participating in protests[…]

Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 7: The Destruction of Religious and Cultural Sites

*Best viewed in full-screen mode. In Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 7: The Destruction of Religious and Cultural Sites, ADHRB studies the complicity of the Saudi Ministry for Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah, and Guidance in the destruction and defacement of religious and historical sites within the kingdom. ADHRB finds that the ministry has either ignored[…]

Saudi Arabia to Inspect Own War Crimes Record in Yemen

On 30 September 2015, the Netherlands withdrew its resolution calling for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate possible abuses and conflict-related crimes in Yemen. The withdrawal comes amid significant pressure from Saudi Arabia and its coalition allies to prevent an independent inquiry into the human rights situation in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has[…]

At UN, ADHRB, BIRD, & ECDHR Raise Use of Extraterritorial Censorship in GCC States

Geneva, Switzerland — 28 September 2015 — On behalf of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR), and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), ECDHR advocacy associate Isabel Cerda Marcos delivered an oral intervention on the extraterritorial censorship of activists and human rights defenders in the Gulf[…]