On 10 January 2017, Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced human rights defender and lawyer Abdulaziz al-Shubaily to eight years in prison followed by an eight-year travel ban. Al-Shubaily is a founding member of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), which documented human rights abuses in the Kingdom while promoting a[…]
03
Jan
Jan
As the largest country economically and the most populous state in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia’s policies significantly affect the policies of its neighbors. Since the 2011 Arab Spring popular protests around the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Saudi Arabia has used its influence to lead the counterrevolutionary charge, and worked assiduously[…]
27
Dec
Dec
On 20 December, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Defense Secretary Michael Fallon admitted that Saudi Arabian forces had used British-made cluster bombs in Yemen. Fallon’s admission before the House of Commons came after a government analysis concluded that the Saudi-led coalition had definitively used UK-manufactured cluster munitions in its ongoing intervention in Yemen. It also comes[…]
14
Dec
Dec
Saudi Arabia has appointed Bahraini judge Mansour al-Mansour to advise the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT). The JIAT is the coalition’s investigatory and accountability body tasked with reviewing alleged human rights abuses, including attacks on civilians. Mansour al-Mansour, now poised to issue verdicts on alleged human rights violations in Yemen, previously[…]
06
Dec
Dec
On 6 December 2016, Saudi Arabia sentenced 15 people to death for allegedly spying for Iran. The Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced 15 other suspects to prison terms ranging from six months to 25 years and acquitted two individuals. Of the 32 subjects, 30 are Shia, while the other two are Iranian and Afghani[…]
