Saudi Arabia

Jailing human rights activists for years or decades is nothing new for Saudi Arabia. But the Gulf nation is outdoing itself lately, as it lets dissenters stay in jail well beyond their original sentences.

He was taken immediately after the verdict to Al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh. There are fears that the authorities will refuse to officially deliver a copy of the verdict to him or his family, which might prevent them from seeking an appeal of the sentence at the Court of Appeal.

Saudi Arabia’s vision of its future will inevitably remain near-sighted unless Riyadh stops ignoring the links between economic and societal development.

Saudi Arabia’s vision of its future will inevitably remain near-sighted unless Riyadh stops ignoring the links between economic and societal development.

An ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia sees two men arrested and another sentenced to eight years in prison.

An ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia sees two men arrested and another sentenced to eight years in prison.

Saudi authorities are still holding a Saudi activist even though his eight-year sentence for protesting the war in Gaza expired on October 5, 2016.

Denouncing decades of Saudi state-sponsored discrimination, clerics like Sheikh Habib and Sheikh Nimr evoke international human rights principles and advocate for political equality.

In a hearing which took place on 29 May 2016, the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh sentenced Al-Shubaili to eight years in prison followed by another eight years of a travel ban to start after he serves his sentence.

Eleven regional and international civil society groups have penned a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama urging him to press for the release of all detained rights defenders across the Gulf region who are imprisoned solely due to their peaceful and legitimate human rights work.

A Saudi Arabian court replaced a death sentence for Palestinian poet, Ashraf Fayadh, with an eight year prison term and 800 lashes on charges of apostasy.

The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association was established in 2009 to promote civil and political rights and to respond to increased arrests following the second Gulf war. The Saudi government, intent on shutting it down, has been systematically targeting members.

A second journalist has been killed in the space of a week as a result of the Saudi-led coalition’s air-strikes and an Al Jazeera reporter has been abducted together with his crew.

Saudi courts are sentencing prominent reform advocates, activists, and writers to lengthy jail terms – and even death – on vague charges related to the peaceful exercise of free expression.

The law – long overdue – is a significant advance for a country where civil society organizations are generally barred from operating, and activists are often jailed for speaking their minds.

Ashraf Fayadh, a poet, was first detained in August 2013 in relation to his collection of poems, Instructions Within. According to reports, Fayadh, originally sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes in May 2014, is now due to be executed following a retrial.