Analysing the UPR of Saudi Arabia: New Recommendations and Foreseeable Developments – Freedom Of Expression (Part One)

On 22 January 2024, Saudi Arabia received a review of its human rights record in the country’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This mechanism is characterised by a peer review by other UN member states suggesting how to improve the respect of human rights in light of the country’s international obligations. The government has received[…]

Saudi Women Are Separated in Councils

Although Saudi women were permitted to vote and run for political positions in December 2015, the government has required the 17 women who gained elected seats in municipal councils (out of 978 candidates) to sit in separate rooms and only communicate electronically with their male counterparts. This move upset women activists, but government ministers quickly[…]

“It Is Our Right”: Saudi Women on the Positives, Pitfalls of Municipal Elections

In “‘It Is Our Right’: Saudi Women Speak on the Positives, Pitfalls of Municipal Elections,” Americans for Democracy & Human Rights & Bahrain (ADHRB) reviews December’s elections in Saudi Arabia through the eyes of a group of politically-active Saudi women. Excerpting from in-depth interviews conducted in the month before the elections, the briefing paper explores the[…]

NGOs Condemn Detention of Saudi Human Rights Defender Samar Badawi

12 January 2016 – Washington, DC – Earlier today, Saudi authorities arrested prominent human rights defender Samar Badawi. She will appear before the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIP) tomorrow, 13 January 2016. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), and the European Center[…]

Nimr al-Nimr: Britain and the US Must Condemn ‘Reckless’ Saudi Arabia Over Cleric’s Execution

Today, the International Business Times published an op-ed by ADHRB Executive Director Husain Abdulla regarding international fallout over the execution of Saudi cleric and political activist Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. The first paragraphs of the article are found below; the rest can be viewed on the IB Times website. Saudi authorities were not always so rash.[…]