Saudi Arabia finalizes the destruction of al-Mosawara despite the UN’s denunciation

On 16 August, the last residential building in al-Mosawara was demolished by the Saudi authorities, after a process of flattening and relocation that started in mid-May, and which led to conflict between residents and security forces. The al-Mosawara neighborhood was a historic quarter in the Shia-majority town of al-Awamiyah, with a rich history, significant cultural[…]

ACPRA co-founder Abdulaziz al-Shubaily’s sentence upheld by Court of Appeal

On 31 July 2017, the Saudi human rights defender and lawyer Abdulaziz al-Shubaily was informed that the Court of Appeal in Riyadh had upheld his eight-year prison sentence. He is now at risk of being imprisoned at any time for speaking out against injustices and in defense of victims of human rights violations in Saudi[…]

57 NGOs Call for an Independent International Inquiry into Rights Abuses in Yemen

Today, ADHRB and 56 other national, regional, and international nongovernmental organizations sent a letter to the Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council calling on the States to support the creation of an independent international investigation into widespread violations and abuses of human rights on both sides of[…]

US Department of State releases 2016 International Religious Freedom Report on Saudi Arabia

  On 15 August 2017, the US Department of State released its 2016 International Religious Freedom report, which “details the status of religious freedom in 199 countries and territories,” including in Saudi Arabia. In remarks introducing the report, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson specifically criticized Saudi Arabia for the dire status of religious freedom in[…]

ADHRB Executive Director Criticizes US Complicity in Violence in Awamiya

14 August 2017 – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) Executive Director Husain Abdulla criticizes US complicity in the ongoing violence in Awamiya, Saudi Arabia and condemns all violence that has occurred in the area over the past months. “The Saudi government’s ongoing military operation in Awamiya is buttressed and sustained by[…]