On 11 July, the Government of Saudi Arabia executed four men from the Eastern Province because of their participation in protests. According to the Saudi Ministry of the Interior, the men, Yusuf al-Msheikhass, Amjad al-Muaybed, Zuhair al-Basri, and Mahdi al-Sayegh, were guilty of a number of terrorism-related crimes. However, according to human rights organizations Amnesty[…]
On 4 May 2017, Ben Emmerson, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, returned from a five-day visit of Saudi Arabia. Upon the conclusion of his trip, he released his preliminary observations. While he noted that the Saudi government was engaging in some positive steps to[…]
The Government of Saudi Arabia is pressuring the Government of Qatar to extradite Saudi activist Mohammed Abdullah al-Otaibi from Qatar, where he is seeking political asylum, back to Saudi Arabia. If Qatar gives into the Saudi government’s pressure, al-Otaibi is at risk of being arbitrarily detained and sentenced to prison in an unfair trial, if[…]
Since the beginning of the New Year, Saudi Arabia has sentenced or detained several human rights defenders. Within the span of one week, Saudi authorities questioned and detained human rights defenders Ahmed al-Mushaikhass, of the Adala Center for Human Rights, and Essam Koshak. On 10 January, a court sentenced Abdulaziz al-Shubaily, of the Saudi Civil[…]