NGOs call for human rights abuses to be addressed in the forthcoming EU-GCC Ministerial Meeting

18 July 2016 – With the 25th European Union-Gulf Cooperation Council (EU-GCC) Ministerial meeting set to take place in Brussels on 18 July 2016, we, the undersigned organisations, call on Ms Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as well as the ministers of EU member states, to[…]

For Saudi women, political and social change has yet to come

The participation of Saudi men and women in the 2011 Arab Spring protests placed significant pressure on the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia to make social, political, and economic reforms. In particular, women’s rights activists leveraged the influence of social media on the Arab Spring to bring attention to the lack of women’s rights granted by the[…]

ACPRA and Restrictions on Human Rights Organizations in Saudi Arabia

In March 2013, the Saudi government forced the Saudi Arabian Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) to close. ACPRA was a prominent human rights organization, and one of the few independent civil society organizations in the country. On 29 May 2016, the government’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced ACPRA’s last free co-founder, Abdulaziz al-Shubaily, to[…]

Medina 2009: Sheikh Nimr’s rise to prominence

Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was not always a prominent cleric in Saudi Arabia, but by the time of his execution on 2 January 2016, he had become a symbol of Shia demands for political equality. He began to rise in prominence and popularity in the wake of confrontations between Shia pilgrims and the Saudi[…]

HRC32: ADHRB doubts Saudi Arabia’s commitment to UPR recommendations

On June 27, Ranya Alammar on behalf of  ADHRB delivered an oral intervention at the 32nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva under Item 6.  Please continue reading for full remarks or click here to download a PDF. الرجاء الضغط هنا لقراءة هذه الرسالة باللغة العربي Mr. President, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in[…]