Although freedom of expression is recognized by law in Kuwait, it is heavily restricted in practice. Kuwait has been struggling with restrictions on free expression for many years; however, since late 2023 and through 2024 serious escalation began under Emir Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Kuwait has been a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil[…]
27
Nov
Nov
Saudi human rights defender and political activist Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi, detained in Bulgaria since 2021, faces a forced deportation order to Saudi Arabia, placing him at serious risk of torture, an unfair trial and the death penalty. Al Khalidi’s case reflects a wider campaign of transnational repression by Gulf regimes seeking to silence peaceful dissent and[…]
25
Nov
Nov
In the United Arab Emirates, freedom of expression remains more a constitutional illusion than a lived reality. Art. 30 of the UAE Constitution nominally guarantees every citizen the right to express their opinions “verbally, in writing, or by any other medium”. Yet, this right is narrowed by legal caveats that allow broad state control over[…]
21
Nov
Nov
The Bahraini authorities arrested opposition leader and former Waad Society secretary general, Ebrahim Sharif, on 12 November 2025, on charges related to exercising his right of freedom of expression. Sharif remains detained to this day, underscoring the government’s ongoing repression of dissent and its use of silencing critics as a tool of control and intimidation.[…]
14
Nov
Nov
The undersigned organisations are deeply concerned by an alarming escalation in executions in Saudi Arabia, in which authorities implemented in the past weeks the execution of Abdullah al-Derazi, who was a child at the time of his alleged crimes, and two Egyptian nationals, Mohamed Saad and Omar Sherif, who were sentenced to death for non-lethal[…]
