Saudi Arabia

IFEX and rights groups warn that Formula 1’s activities in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will only aid in sportswashing abuses if human rights concerns are not addressed.

The prominent Saudi human rights defender has been forcibly disappeared for more than three months.

IFEX and rights groups demand release of Internet activists Osama Khalid, Ziad Al-Sufyani, and others sentenced for online activism.

Internal Wikimedia investigation results in termination of entire Saudi-based team of administrators.

Following US President Biden’s visit, Saudi authorities increased their widespread use of draconian laws to target and retaliate against human rights defenders and dissenting voices.

Mandatory license for income-generating content creators may have other hidden objectives, including diversifying the Saudi economy or controlling online speech.

In a joint letter to the UK Foreign Secretary, rights groups raise the draconian sentences handed to Salma al-Shehab and several others who have been imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Heavy jail terms handed down for organizers of a public symposium in Riyadh.

IFEX joins rights groups in strongly condemning the unlawful sentencing of al-Shehab, which marks a further escalation in the kingdom’s crackdown on free speech.

The outrageous sentence – believed to be the longest ever imposed on a Saudi woman for her peaceful online expression – is an indicator that Saudi leadership is ramping up repression, as it emerges from diplomatic isolation.

Parent company Alphabet rejects a civil society-backed shareholder proposal calling on Google to uphold human rights principles.

IFEX joins human rights organisations in calling on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Lina Alsharif, who has been arbitrarily detained for over a year as a result of her social media activism. Her right to due process has not been respected and there is great concern for her psychological and physical well-being in Al-Ha’ir prison.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) welcomes the release of blogger and human rights defender Raif Badawi, and calls on authorities to lift the ten-year forced travel ban currently imposed on him.

The sentence against Ahmad Ali Abdelkader, 31, is related to tweets and media interviews he shared to Twitter in which he discussed and expressed support for Sudan’s 2018-2019 revolution and criticized Saudi actions in Sudan and Yemen, says Human Rights Watch.

Right groups, digital privacy rights organizations and researchers call on Google to halt its plans to establish a “Cloud region” in Saudi Arabia, pointing to the country’s track record of violating privacy rights to spy on citizens.

The complaint details a litany of crimes against humanity committed against 35 journalists in Saudi Arabia, including that of murdered Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi.