Saudi Arabia

GCHR is concerned for the health of Dr. Al-Qahtani in solitary confinement. He is serving a 10-year sentence for his peaceful human rights activities.

“While the world is seeking answers to the savage murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the fate of women and human rights activists in Saudi prisons continues to hang in the balance.”

Israa Al-Ghomgham stands to become the first woman in Saudi Arabia to face capital punishment for human rights activism – one ‘first’ that has received scant media attention.

This kind of attack, mixing phishing and the theft of journalists’ identities, undermines trust in the media and at the same time endangers the sources of those who are targeted.

Al-Ghomgham remains in the General Intelligence Prison in Al-Dammam where she has been for the past three years.

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) believes that Saudi Arabia should be ostracised for the barbaric murder of renowned Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul,Turkey.

At least 28 journalists are currently in prison in Saudi Arabia, the victims of an opaque and arbitrary judicial system.

More than four months after he was arrested in Saudi Arabia, the whereabouts of Yemeni writer Marwan Almuraisy remain unknown.

“There is no single path to justice in the Jamal Khashoggi murder. Precisely because of Saudi influence, there needs to be multiple efforts on different fronts.”

The investigation should determine the circumstances surrounding Saudi Arabia’s role in the enforced disappearance and possible killing of Khashoggi, urge the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders.

“This ridiculous assertion is further evidence of a cover up,” said CPJ. “We need an international investigation and relentless pressure on Saudi Arabia from the Trump administration, if we ever hope to get to the truth.”

Khashoggi’s disappearance has come amid a particularly harsh and opaque crackdown on Saudi journalists and bloggers.

RSF wants to know what has happened to Jamal Khashoggi, a well-known dissident Saudi journalist who has not been seen or heard from since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

Since becoming crown prince in July 2017, Salman has directed a wide-ranging crackdown on dissidents under the guise of fighting corruption and extremism.

CPJ strongly condemns the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition’s recent airstrike on a Yemeni radio station.

NGOs around the world urge their governments to publicly engage with Saudi Arabia to call for the release of detained writers and activists, and to issue strong recommendations to end restrictions on the right to freedom of expression.