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Category: Middle East and North Africa

  • Twitter ‘unfit’ for banking over alleged complicity in Saudi rights abuses

    Lawyers for family say Saudi government took brother’s data in breach and ‘arrested, tortured, and imprisoned’ him and others

    The company formerly known as Twitter is “unfit” to hold banking licenses because of its alleged “intentional complicity” with human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and treatment of users’ personal data, according to an open letter sent to federal and state banking regulators that was signed by a law firm representing a Saudi victim’s family.

    The allegations by lawyers representing Areej al-Sadhan, whose brother Abdulrahman was one of thousands of Saudis whose confidential personal information was obtained by Saudi agents posing as Twitter employees in 2014-15, comes as Twitter Payments LLC, a subsidiary of X (the company formerly known as Twitter), is in the process of applying for money-transmitter licenses across the US.

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  • Germany says it ended training of Saudi border forces after abuses reported

    Statement comes amid concern about allegations Saudi forces have killed hundreds of migrants

    Germany ended a training programme for Saudi border forces, who have been implicated in the mass killing of migrants at the country’s border with Yemen, after it was alerted to reports of “possible massive human rights violations”, the German interior ministry has said.

    In a statement to the Guardian, the ministry said training undertaken by the federal police service for the Saudi border force had been “discontinued after reports of possible massive human rights violations became known and, as a precaution, are no longer included in the current training programme [for Saudi security forces]”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Lebanon LGBTQ+ activists say attacks are distraction from country’s problems

    Community reports shift from uneasy tolerance to being scapegoated for socioeconomic crisis

    When the Christian extremists of Soldiers of God menaced a bar in Beirut’s nightlife district during a drag show, their members had a chilling message for patrons: “We have warned you a hundred times … this is just the beginning.”

    The group, whose members sometimes carry weapons, have repeatedly threatened places associated with Lebanon’s LGBTQ+ community, accusing them of “promoting homosexuality” amid an increase in homophobic rhetoric from the country’s politicians.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Video shows woman lying dead on floor of migration detention centre in Libya

    Footage provides latest shocking glimpse of conditions endured by refugees in north African country

    Footage has emerged showing a woman lying dead on the floor of a migration detention centre in Libya in the latest shocking glimpse of the conditions endured by refugees in the north African country.

    The clip, believed to have been filmed two weeks ago and shared with the Guardian by a group who arrived in Tunisia from Libya, shows a room inside the Abu Salim detention centre in Tripoli.

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  • ‘Fired on like rain’: Saudi border guards accused of mass killings of Ethiopians

    Report by Human Rights Watch details alleged attacks using explosive weapons and small arms on Saudi Arabia-Yemen border

    Saudi border guards have been accused of killing hundreds of Ethiopians using small arms and explosive weapons in a targeted campaign that rights advocates suggest may amount to a crime against humanity.

    The shocking claims are made in a detailed investigation by Human Rights Watch, which interviewed dozens of Ethiopian people who said they were attacked by border guards while they tried to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen.

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  • At least 500 Bahraini prisoners on hunger strike over conditions

    Detainees at Jau prison that mainly houses prisoners of conscience began refusing food on 7 August

    At least 500 prisoners are on hunger strike inside a Bahraini prison primarily used to detain prisoners of conscience, refusing food in protest at their detention conditions.

    Detainees began refusing food on 7 August, and increasing numbers have joined since.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The Guardian view on the Rabaa massacre: a template for Egypt’s campaign of repression | Editorial

    Ten years on from the slaughter of protesters in Cairo, Gen Sisi’s record is even grimmer

    Ten years ago this week, having recently seized power in a coup, Gen Abdel Fatah al-Sisi commanded police and troops to crack down on mostly unarmed demonstrators in central Cairo. At least 817 people died in the Rabaa massacre, and probably more than 1,000. It was not only the end of the hope for supporters of the deposed government of the Muslim Brotherhood, and for others still committed to the principle of civilian leadership despite the growing authoritarianism of president Mohamed Morsi, ousted by Gen Sisi. It was not only another blow to the optimism and excitement of the Arab spring, already fatally wounded. It was also the beginning of a new era of repression, in which Gen Sisi would prove more merciless than his predecessor Hosni Mubarak. The slaughter at Rabaa set the template for his tyranny.

    Remembering the dead is all the more important when there is no foreseeable prospect of accountability for the massacre. Though Human Rights Watch believes the brutal killings are likely to constitute a crime against humanity, no member of the security forces has ever faced court over them.

    Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Vice blocked news stories that could offend Saudi Arabia, insiders say

    Exclusive: Media company recently signed lucrative deal with Saudi government-controlled MBC Group

    Vice has repeatedly blocked news stories that could offend the Saudi government, leaving its reporters unsure if they are still able to report freely on the kingdom’s human rights abuses, sources have said.

    The media company recently signed a lucrative partnership deal with the MBC Group, a media company controlled by the Saudi government, to establish a joint venture in the Middle Eastern country. Of the 29 jobs currently advertised on Vice’s careers page, 20 are based in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Foreign Office failed to notice torture of British academic in UAE, watchdog finds

    Parliamentary ombudsman says Matthew Hedges was let down by UK government during imprisonment

    The UK’s parliamentary ombudsman has found that the Foreign Office “failed to notice signs of torture” when officials visited a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates.

    Matthew Hedges was convicted on spying charges by the UAE in 2018 after travelling to Dubai to conduct research for his PhD at Durham University. He spent six months in prison, where he has said he had been handcuffed, drugged and questioned for hours, before being pardoned from a life sentence for spying.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s $6bn spend on ‘sportswashing’

    Exclusive: Billions deployed since early 2021 in a move critics say is an attempt to distract from human rights record

    Saudi Arabia has spent at least $6.3bn (£4.9bn) in sports deals since early 2021, more than quadruple the previous amount spent over a six-year period, in what critics have labelled an effort to distract from its human rights record.

    Saudi Arabia has deployed billions from its Public Investment Fund over the last two-and-a-half years according to analysis by the Guardian, spending on sports at a scale that has completely changed professional golf and transformed the international transfer market for football.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iran authorities ban film festival over poster of actor without hijab

    Government blocks event after release of publicity featuring Susan Taslimi in 1982 film The Death of Yazdgerd

    Iranian authorities have banned a film festival that issued a publicity poster featuring an actor who was not wearing a hijab, state media has reported.

    The move came after the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA) released a poster for its upcoming short-film festival featuring the Iranian actor Susan Taslimi in the 1982 film The Death of Yazdgerd.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The Guardian view on Saudi Arabia and the west: don’t count on Riyadh | Editorial

    The UK has invited Mohammed bin Salman for an official visit. Relying on the kingdom for energy or regional stability is a grave error

    Five years ago, Jeremy Hunt, then foreign secretary, echoed the widely voiced horror at the murder of the Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. He promised that Britain’s response would depend upon “our confidence that such an appalling episode cannot – and will not – be repeated”.

    The UK has now invited Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, whom the CIA believe approved the murder despite his denials, for an official visit. His rehabilitation was already under way when Joe Biden fistbumped him a year ago, and Britain, which has profited richly from Saudi arms sales, is hungrier than ever for trade and investment.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Bodies of 87 people found in Sudan mass grave, says UN

    Alleged victims of Sudanese paramilitary and allied militia found in shallow grave in West Darfur

    At least 87 people including ethnic Masalits have been found buried in a mass grave in Sudan’s West Darfur, the UN human rights office has said, adding that it had credible information that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were responsible.

    RSF officials denied any involvement, saying the paramilitary group was not a party to the conflict in West Darfur.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Is anyone convinced by Saudi sportswashing? Only the crooks who sell fake football strips | Adrian Chiles

    Saudi Arabia is pouring a fortune into soccer, including £180m a year for Cristiano Ronaldo. But while the counterfeiters see a chance to make money, the fans won’t forget human rights

    I saw something to make me scoff with amused despair, a thing embodying many a madness and badness of our age. It was a child-sized replica football shirt, swinging gently on its hanger, at a seaside market stall on the Adriatic coast. It’s a noticeably well-appointed retail operation, this stall. Beach towels, Bluetooth speakers, snorkels, fridge magnets, swimwear, pouches of lavender, imitation handguns … you know the kind of thing.

    The football strips included plenty of Croatian national team shirts, plus those of clubs with Croatian players: Modrić’s name printed on Real Madrid shirts, Perišić’s on Tottenham’s, Kovačić’s at Chelsea and so on. (I didn’t ask, but there is probably a deal to be done on that Chelsea shirt, as Kovačić is now at Man City). I doubt any of these garments were what you might call authentic™ official© merchandise®. But whatever.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • What’s behind Saudi Arabia’s answer to Glastonbury? The power of popwashing | Michael Hann

    At events such as Riyadh’s Soundstorm festival, pop music is the new frontier in reputation-laundering for repressive regimes

    You might believe we’re fresh from the biggest music festival in the world, what with more than 200,000 people having assembled in some fields in Somerset. We’re not.

    Actually, Glastonbury is pretty much a minnow compared with the biggest music festival in the world. Soundstorm, held each December, attracts more than triple the Glastonbury crowd, but you don’t hear the headliners wanging on about what a life-changing experience it was. You don’t hear them mention it at all, to be honest. I only heard of it earlier this year, when the CEO of a big production company talked about his firm’s work on the event. The reason you don’t hear about it is that Soundstorm is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

    Michael Hann is a freelance writer, and former music editor of the Guardian

    Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Urgent action needed to protect ‘dying’ Kenyan domestic workers in Gulf, say rights groups

    Deaths and alleged abuse of Kenyan women in Saudi Arabia fuels demands for Nairobi to act on human rights

    Rights groups have expressed concern that not enough has been done to address the alleged mistreatment of domestic workers in Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, after the Kenyan government moved to secure work opportunities abroad for its citizens.

    “This is a matter of grave public interest,” said John Mwariri, a lawyer at Kituo cha Sheria, a legal aid organisation. “Many of our Kenyan citizens have been abused and are dying there. There is an urgent need for protections.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Gillian Anderson and Stanley Tucci back calls to rescue British families in Syria

    Estimated 60 children among those trapped in detention camps since Islamic State collapse

    A group of celebrities including Olivia Colman, Stephen Fry and Gillian Anderson have called on ministers to rescue and bring home British families trapped in detention camps in north-east Syria.

    The stars, along with various NGOs including War Child UK and Human Rights Watch, the Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi and several national security experts, have signed an open letter to the UK government appealing for the rescue of approximately 25 British families, including an estimated 60 children most of whom are under 10 years old, who are languishing in the camps.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The US holds its nose over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record – when the price is right | Nesrine Malik

    The purchase of professional golf by a brutal regime has exposed yet again the lack of moral sanctities on the global free market

    Brace for another season of upheaval in the sports world. The Arabs are coming. Again. After the Qatar World Cup raised misgivings about sportswashing, that charge is now being levelled at Saudi Arabia. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF has essentially bought professional golf, taking over the PGA Tour by merging it with LIV, a new, smaller competition golf series that Saudi Arabia launched in 2021. Last year’s World Cup taught the Saudis a very important lesson. Oil is temporary; sport is for ever.

    The move has triggered outrage. Human Rights Watch declared that Saudi Arabia “is attempting to ‘sportswash’ its egregious record of human rights violations”. US media channels have numerous segments discussing the ethics of accepting money from a notoriously brutal regime. These are justified concerns: Saudi Arabia’s image problem has intensified under its leader, Mohammed bin Salman, who brought the nation into global disrepute with the grisly murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a crackdown on political opposition and the ramping up of capital punishment. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in 24 hours for crimes that included witchcraft and drug smuggling.

    Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • £19.3bn of fossil fuels imported by UK from authoritarian states in year since Ukraine war

    As Russian oil and gas imports fell petrostates including UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia increased exports to UK

    UK fossil fuel imports from authoritarian petrostates surged to £19.3bn in the year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it can be revealed.

    Efforts to end the purchasing of oil and gas from Russia appear to have resulted in a surge in imports from other authoritarian regimes, including Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to data from the Office for National Statistics analysed by DeSmog.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Threatened Saudi dissident told to live like Edward Snowden by Met police

    Col Rabih Alenezi received advice after reporting death threats, of which he says he receives 50 a week

    A Saudi Arabian dissident living in London was told to “emulate” the life of the US whistleblower Edward Snowden by a Metropolitan police officer, amid death threats he received after fleeing his country.

    Col Rabih Alenezi, 44, had been a senior official in Saudi Arabia’s security service for two decades, but sought asylum in the UK after he claimed to have been ordered to carry out human rights violations. His life was threatened for criticising the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Saudi Arabia warns Snapchat users that ‘insulting’ regime is a criminal offense

    Users of the social media app have faced legal consequences for posts – some private – that are critical of Saudi authorities

    Saudi state media issued an explicit warning that it is a criminal offense to “insult” authorities using social media apps like Snapchat, the California-based messaging app whose chief executive officer recently forged a new “cooperation” deal with the kingdom’s culture ministry.

    The threat – which was originally televised in April and then deleted – has gained new resonance as more cases emerge in which Snapchat users and influencers in the kingdom have been arrested by authorities and, in some cases, sentenced to decades-long prison sentences.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘Loss for Iran’s wildlife’: woman jailed in Tehran calls for environmentalists’ release

    Aras Amiri, a former British Council employee, was held in Evin prison with seven members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation

    Aras Amiri has kept a low profile since she was released from Iranian detention two years ago, avoiding interview requests after returning to the UK. But now, the former British Council employee, who spent three years in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, wants to speak. An injustice has compelled her: the detention of seven friends and environmentalists she left behind.

    Kept in solitary confinement for 69 days, Amiri was allowed to return to Britain after serving just under a third of a 10-year prison sentence. In the women’s ward, she not only met fellow British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, but Niloufar Bayani and Sepideh Kashani, two of the seven members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation in jail since 2018. Of the nine originally jailed, one has been released after serving his two-year sentence and another, the founder of the group, Kavous Seyed Emami, died in his prison cell only two weeks after his arrest. The authorities called it suicide, but produced no autopsy.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Australian child pleads with prime minister to be rescued from Syrian detention camp

    Exclusive: ‘I have spent half my life in a tent closed off by gates like a prison,’ says the child, who is under 10, in a voice message to Anthony Albanese

    An Australian child trapped in a Syrian detention camp has pleaded directly with prime minister Anthony Albanese to be rescued and brought home.

    “I am one of the children left behind in Roj camp and I have spent half my life in a tent closed off by gates like a prison,” a voice message sent to the prime minister’s office says. “I have never been to school, laid in grass or climbed a tree.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Millions of Syrian refugees face fight to reclaim homes, says human rights group

    Report by Syrian Network for Human Rights details laws giving Assad’s government powers to seize land

    As many as 14 million Syrians face a near insurmountable barrier to returning to their homes after the government passed laws giving the state power to seize their land and property, according to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

    The report, shared with the Guardian, urged the UN high commissioner for refugees to highlight the laws as one of the main obstacles to refugees returning home.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iran executes three men accused over anti-government protests

    Human rights groups condemn executions following demonstrations that swept country last year

    Iran has executed three men it said were implicated in the deaths of three members of the security forces during anti-government protests, drawing condemnation from rights groups and the EU and risking further international isolation.

    Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were killed on Friday morning, the Tasnim agency reported. Crowds had gathered outside the prison where they were being held on Thursday night as rumours of their imminent executions grew.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iranian police plan to use smart cameras to identify ‘violators of hijab law’

    Women who break Islamic dress code will be identified, warned on first instance and then taken to court

    Police in Iran plan to use smart technology in public places to identify and then penalise women who violate the country’s strict Islamic dress code, the force said on Saturday.

    A statement said police would “take action to identify norm-breaking people by using tools and smart cameras in public places and thoroughfares”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Welcoming Benjamin Netanyahu to No 10 is an insult to British Palestinians like me | Sara Husseini

    The government’s mealy mouthed criticism of the Israeli PM’s increasingly rightwing policies is not enough. He should be persona non grata in the UK

    The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, might have been hoping for some brief respite from the tumult back home during his flying visit to London. Instead, in addition to his meeting with Rishi Sunak and other officials, the Likud leader was met with protests from human rights activists, including a protest by Amnesty International, a Palestine solidarity demonstration outside No 10 and another by the British Jewish group Na’amod.

    Such protests are well justified. Since the new government was sworn in, as reported by international governments, lawyers and human rights groups, Israel has furthered “annexation” of occupied land and advanced construction in illegal settlements. In 2023 so far, 75 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces (as of 13 March); last year, at least 231 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, including nearly 40 children.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Daughter of Danish-Bahraini rights activist offers to take his place in prison

    Maryam al-Khawaja says she fears her father Abdulhadi’s health is deteriorating and condemns Denmark for inaction

    Human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s health has suffered so much inside a Bahraini prison that his daughter Maryam has offered to trade places with him. She fears that without urgent action, her father will slowly die behind bars without being able to see his family.

    “I don’t know how much longer my dad has. I spend every day dreading each time the phone rings, as it might be someone calling me to let me know my dad is no longer around,” said Maryam. “I know he has serious health issues and the authorities are using [lack of] access to proper treatment as a method of punishment. I don’t want to wait around for my dad to be released to us in a coffin. I can’t do that.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • British-Iranian’s hunger strike outside Foreign Office hits day 27

    Vahid Beheshti is striking to persuade the UK government to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps

    British-Iranian Vahid Beheshti is persisting with a 27-day hunger strike outside the Foreign Office in an attempt to persuade the UK government to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

    His hunger strike has now lasted six days longer than the one undertaken outside the Foreign Office by Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of the British Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

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  • Iran rights violations amount to crime against humanity, says UN expert

    Remarks by Javaid Rehman come as EU and UK impose fresh sanctions on Iranian individuals

    A UN human rights expert has said the scale and gravity of Iran’s violations of human rights amount to a crime against humanity.

    The remarks on Monday by the UN rapporteur on Iran, Javaid Rehman, came as the EU and the UK imposed a fresh round of sanctions on Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) officers, judicial officials and clerics, but held back from proscribing the IRGC.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.