After the Corruption Purge Saudi Royals Will See Rise in Allowances

Starting on 4 November 2017, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) arrested over 200 high profile princes, officials, and businessmen in an anti-corruption purge and detained them at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh. After holding them for three months without trial or charge, MBS released over 100 detainees. However, in order to secure[…]

Bahrain: Maher Al-Khabbaz Awaits Impending Execution Following Flawed Trial

On 29 January 2018, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation confirmed the conviction of death row detainee Maher Abbas al-Khabbaz. Because the Court of Cassation is the country’s highest court, he can no longer appeal his death sentence, and his execution is now at the discretion of the king. The court’s decision comes in spite of credible[…]

Profiles in Persecution: Mohamed Ramadan & Husain Moosa

Updated: Mohamed Ramadan, a 40-year-old former security officer at the Bahrain International Airport, and Husain Ali Moosa, 37 years old, are two Bahraini citizens sentenced to death in a collective judgment in 2014. They were convicted for their alleged involvement in the Al-Dair bombing of 14 February 2014, where a group allegedly ambushed security personnel[…]

British Lawyers Calling for Saudi Arabia to be removed from the UN Human Rights Council

Although Saudi Arabia’s seat on the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council does not expire until 2019, several British lawyers have recently launched a campaign calling for the kingdom’s removal from the Council. The two lawyers, Rodney Dixon QC and Lord Kenneth Donald John Macdonald said that the removal of Saudi Arabia would “act as[…]

GCC Countries Enforce Legislation Criminalizing Online Expression

2 February 2018 –Kuwait recently sentenced online activist Abdullah al-Saleh to ten years in prison for Tweets “abusing Saudi Arabia” and insulting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. His sentence demonstrates how countries like Kuwait employ prison sentences as deterrents to free expression online, especially as the government imposes increasing restrictions on the freedom[…]