radiofree.asia

Category: saudi arabia

  • Suppression of Online Expression in Saudi Arabia

    1.1. The legislative framework

    In Saudi Arabia, online expression is heavily restricted by a combination of laws, regulations, and enforcement practices that aim to control the flow of information and suppress dissent. The government employs various mechanisms to monitor and censor online content, targeting individuals and platforms that challenge its authority or promote views deemed contrary to the state’s interests. The restrictive legal framework in Saudi Arabia is anchored by several key pieces of legislation that collectively stifle online expression. The Anti-Cyber Crime Law, the Anti-Terrorism Law, and the Press and Publications Law are among the most significant. These laws grant the government extensive powers to control digital content, often under broad and vaguely defined provisions that can be easily interpreted to justify the suppression of dissent. Collectively, the legislative framework creates a hostile environment for freedom of speech and democratic discourse in Saudi Arabia. The vague and overly broad language of the legislation provides authorities with ample discretion to target individuals who express dissenting opinions or challenge the status quo. The fear of reprisals and harsh penalties leads many individuals to self-censor or avoid discussing sensitive topics online, undermining efforts to foster open debate, accountability, and social progress.

    Several key laws regulate online content in Saudi Arabia, including the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, the Anti-Terrorism Law, and the Press and Publications Law. These laws are often interpreted broadly to criminalize dissent and restrict freedom of expression:

    –   Anti-Cyber Crime Law:  Enacted in 2007, the Anti-Cyber Crime Law[3] was introduced to combat cybercrimes such as hacking, identity theft, and online fraud. However, it contains provisions that grant authorities broad powers to monitor, censor, and prosecute individuals for expressing dissenting opinions or sharing content deemed offensive or subversive. Article 6 of the law, for example, criminalizes the production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material that violates public order, religious values, or public morals. This vague and overly broad language is often used to target activists, journalists, and social media users who criticize the government or advocate for political or social change.

    –   Anti-Terrorism Law: The Anti-Terrorism Law, enacted in 2014, includes provisions that define terrorism broadly and give authorities sweeping powers to crack down on perceived threats to national security[4]. The law has been used to target individuals and groups engaged in peaceful dissent or activism, including human rights defenders, journalists, and religious minorities. Under the purpose of combating terrorism, the government has arrested and prosecuted individuals for expressing dissenting opinions online, sharing critical content, or participating in protests. In November 2017, a new antiterrorism law was enacted, featuring expansive definitions of terrorist acts. Under this legislation, individuals face criminal penalties ranging from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment for depicting the king or crown prince, directly or indirectly, “in a manner that brings religion or justice into disrepute.” Moreover, using one’s “social status or media influence to promote terrorism” can result in a 15-year sentence[5]. Originally established in 2008 to handle terrorism cases, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) has been widely utilized to incarcerate human rights activists and defenders. International rights organizations have criticized the antiterrorism law for its ambiguity and its deviation from international human rights standards. These groups argue that the law suppresses criticism and dissent by means of prosecution and the threat of arrest and detention.

    –   Press and Publications Law: Originally introduced to regulate traditional media outlets, the Press and Publications Law was extended in 2011 to cover online content as well. The law requires all online publishers, including bloggers and social media influencers, to obtain a license from the government. It also imposes strict controls on the dissemination of news and information, prohibiting the publication of anything that could harm public order, religious values, public morals, and the safety and security of the state[6]. This broad censorship authority allows the government to suppress critical reporting and dissenting voices, stifling independent journalism and free expression online.

    1.2. The Role of Social Media Platforms

    Social media platforms play a significant role in shaping digital rights discourse in Saudi Arabia. While they provide a space for individuals to express themselves and mobilize for social causes, they are also subject to government oversight and censorship. Platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are commonly used by activists and human rights defenders to raise awareness of issues and advocate for change, but they are also vulnerable to censorship and harassment. Social media companies themselves play a dual role in the digital rights discourse. On one hand, they provide platforms that facilitate free expression and the mobilization of social movements. On the other hand, they are often complicit in government censorship and surveillance efforts. Social media companies have been criticized for complying with government requests to remove content or share user data, sometimes without adequate transparency or due process. This compliance raises significant ethical questions about the responsibility of social media companies to protect user rights and uphold freedom of expression. The dynamics between social media platforms, government oversight, and user activism profoundly impact public discourse in Saudi Arabia. While social media enables unprecedented levels of connectivity and information sharing, the pervasive threat of censorship and repression limits the scope of open debate. Many users self-censor to avoid potential repercussions, leading to a constrained public sphere where critical voices are often silenced or marginalized.

    The Saudi government tightly controls news outlets across all mediums, including digital platforms, and uses various online tactics to create an illusion of popular support for its policies. Critics believe the government employs an “electronic army” to promote pro government views, especially on social media. These trolls use “hashtag poisoning” to disseminate popular hashtags with unrelated or opposing posts, disrupting criticism. According to a report by the University of Oxford’s Computational Propaganda Research Project[7], Saudi Arabia is one of seven countries identified by Facebook and Twitter for using these platforms to influence global audiences. In addition, the Saudi government has invested in online outlets to promote its narrative, partnering with foreign news organizations like Bloomberg and the Independent[8]. In 2019, Facebook removed several hundred government-linked pages involved in influence campaigns, and Twitter blocked tens of thousands of accounts amplifying pro government messages[9].

    The role of social media in Saudi Arabia also has broader implications for digital rights in the region and globally. Despite their potential for empowerment, social media platforms in Saudi Arabia operate under strict government oversight. Authorities monitor these platforms closely, using sophisticated technologies and human resources to track and censor content and suppress dissent. This includes removing posts deemed objectionable, blocking accounts, and even shutting down entire platforms during critical moments. The government exercises pressure on social media companies to comply with local laws and regulations, often requiring them to provide data on users or take down specific content.

    1.3. Digital Violence Against Human Rights Defenders and Saudi Government’s Surveillance

    Human rights defenders and activists in Saudi Arabia face significant risks of digital violence, including online harassment, surveillance, and cyberattacks. State-sponsored actors and anonymous trolls often target activists with smear campaigns, threats, and intimidation tactics to silence dissent and deter others from speaking out. Such attacks not only undermine the work of human rights defenders but also create a climate of fear and self-censorship.

    The Saudi government employs sophisticated surveillance technologies to monitor the digital activities of human rights defenders. This includes hacking into personal devices to gather information, intercepting communications, and installing spyware. Authorities regularly monitor websites, blogs, chat rooms, social media, emails, and text messages. After lifting the ban on online voice and video call services in September 2017, the government announced that all calls would be monitored and censored[10]. The country has heavily invested in advanced surveillance systems. Citizen Lab reported that spyware from the Israeli firm NSO Group has been used to target activists and dissidents in Saudi Arabia. In December 2021, Citizen Lab noted that Saudi authorities likely switched from NSO’s Pegasus spyware[11] to Predator spyware from Cytrox[12], a North Macedonia-based developer[13]. Meta also indicated that Cytrox spyware is likely used by Saudi entities[14]. These measures not only violate privacy but also create a pervasive atmosphere of fear.

    Doxxing is another prevalent form of digital violence, where personal information such as home addresses, phone numbers, and private communications are published online without consent. This exposes human rights defenders to physical threats and harassment, further endangering their safety and that of their families. The exposure of private information is intended to intimidate and silence activists by making them vulnerable to both state and non-state actors. Pro-government trolls and bot networks often engage in coordinated online attacks to overwhelm and intimidate human rights defenders. These coordinated efforts flood social media with abusive messages, false accusations, and propaganda, making it difficult for activists to maintain a presence online. The scale and intensity of these attacks can lead to psychological distress and burnout among defenders, reducing their capacity to continue their work.

    Notably, online gender-based violence[15] is a significant issue, particularly for women human rights defenders who challenge societal norms and advocate for gender equality and human rights. Women activists in Saudi Arabia frequently receive threats of physical and sexual violence. These threats can be explicit, such as threats of rape or physical assault, or more implicit, suggesting potential harm to the individual or their family members. Such threats create a climate of fear and discourage women from participating in online activism. Moreover, smear campaigns are used as coordinated efforts to damage an individual’s reputation by spreading false or misleading information about them. Women activists are often targeted with rumors and defamatory content intended to discredit their work and undermine their credibility. OGBV has a significant silencing effect on women activists. Fear of harassment and violence leads many women to self-censor, avoiding discussing controversial topics or participating in public debates. It refrains other women from engaging in activism or public life and discourages women activists from speaking out or participating in advocacy efforts, further marginalizing their voices in public discourse. To combat OGBV effectively, legal reforms are necessary to provide stronger protections for women online. This includes enacting specific laws that criminalize online harassment, threats, and doxxing, and ensuring that these laws are enforced fairly and consistently.

    1.4. Impact on Freedom of Speech and Democratic Discourse

    The pervasive threat of digital violence inevitably affects the freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia. The country has been ranked 170th out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders[16], reflecting the severe restrictions on freedom of expression and press freedom. As well, Freedom House’s “Freedom on the Net 2022” report rated Saudi Arabia as “Not Free,” with a score of 24 out of 100[17]. The report highlighted extensive government surveillance, censorship, and harassment of online users. In many cases, activists are arrested and charged under broad laws such as the Anti-Cyber Crime Law or the Anti-Terrorism Law, based on their social media activities. High-profile cases, such as those of Raif Badawi and Loujain al-Hathloul, demonstrate the severe consequences that can result from online dissent. Fear of reprisal leads many individuals to self-censor, avoiding the discussion of sensitive topics or criticism of the government online[18]. The limitation of public debate prevents the emergence of a civil society and undermines the development of democratic processes.

    1. Notable Cases

    In the realm of digital rights advocacy, several high-profile cases have garnered international attention, shedding light on the challenges and threats faced by individuals exercising their rights in the digital sphere. Here, we delve into three notable cases from Saudi Arabia, each highlighting different aspects of digital rights violations and their broader implications.

    2.1. Jamal Khashoggi’s case: Analysis of the assassination and its implications on digital rights

    Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and former advisor to the royal family, dedicated his career to reporting on sensitive political issues and advocating for reform in Saudi Arabia[22]. As a columnist for The Washington Post, Khashoggi fearlessly criticized the Saudi government’s policies, particularly its human rights record and military intervention in Yemen. However, his vocal opposition to the government made him a target of Saudi authorities. In October 2018, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Tragically, he never exited the consulate alive. Investigations later revealed that Khashoggi was brutally murdered by a team of Saudi agents who had flown in from Riyadh. The assassination, widely believed to have been ordered by high-ranking Saudi officials, lighted up a diplomatic crisis around the world[23]. The case of Jamal Khashoggi highlights the dangers faced by journalists and dissenters in the digital age. Khashoggi’s use of online platforms to express his views made him a target of digital surveillance, ultimately leading to his tragic demise. His assassination highlights the risks journalists and activists face when speaking truth to power in repressive regimes.

    2.2.Raif Badawi’s case: Examination of the blogger’s imprisonment for online expression

    Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger and founder of the Free Saudi Liberals website, used his online platform to advocate for secularism, freedom of speech, and human rights in Saudi Arabia. Through his writings, Badawi challenged religious orthodoxy and called for political reform in a country known for its strict censorship laws. However, his activism caught the attention of Saudi authorities. In 2012, Badawi was arrested on charges of “insulting Islam” and “apostasy,” crimes punishable by severe penalties under Saudi law. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison, as well as 1,000 lashes, a punishment that drew condemnation from human rights organizations worldwide[24].  Amnesty International reported that Badawi received his first 50 lashes in January 2015, an act that sparked global outrage and protests. According to Amnesty, the punishment was intended to be carried out over 20 weeks, but subsequent lashings were postponed due to international pressure and concerns about Badawi’s health[25]. The harsh punishment and conditions of Badawi’s imprisonment have led to severe physical and psychological suffering, underscoring the Saudi government’s ruthless approach to silencing dissent. Despite international pressure and campaigns calling for his release, Badawi remains imprisoned, enduring harsh conditions and physical abuse. Raif Badawi’s case illustrates the Saudi government’s crackdown on online dissent and the suppression of freedom of expression. His story highlights the risks activists face when using digital platforms to challenge authoritarian regimes and advocate for democratic reforms. Moreover, his continued imprisonment serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for human rights in Saudi Arabia.

    2.3.Samar Badawi and Loujain Al-Hathloul’s cases: the arrest of the women’s rights activists for their online exposure

    Samar Badawi and Loujain Al-Hathloul, two prominent women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, have been instrumental in advocating for gender equality and civil liberties in the kingdom. Their efforts, both online and offline, have challenged discriminatory laws and societal norms, aiming to bring about significant reforms that enhance women’s rights and empower marginalized communities. Samar Badawi, a recipient of the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage Award, has long been a vocal advocate for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Through her online activism and advocacy work, she has addressed issues such as the guardianship system and the right to drive, advocating for gender equality and greater freedoms for women. However, her outspokenness made her a target for the Saudi authorities. In 2018, Samar Badawi was arrested by Saudi authorities on charges of “promoting women’s rights” and “contacting foreign entities.” This arrest became relevant among the human rights community and highlighted the Saudi government’s determination to silence dissent, particularly among women activists. In June 2021, Badawi was released after she served a three years’ sentence. Her case underscored the risks faced by individuals who use digital platforms to amplify marginalized voices and challenge societal norms.

    Similarly, Loujain Al-Hathloul, renowned for her activism against the female driving ban in Saudi Arabia, has faced relentless persecution for her advocacy work. Al-Hathloul’s efforts to challenge gender norms and promote women’s rights through online activism garnered both admiration and scrutiny from the Saudi authorities[26]. Her activism began gaining significant attention in 2014 when she attempted to drive into Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates, openly defying the ban. She live-streamed her action, drawing widespread attention and international support. However, this act of defiance led to her arrest and a 73-day detention, marking the beginning of a series of state reprisals against her. In 2018, she was detained and subjected to arbitrary detention, alleged torture, and solitary confinement, signaling the Saudi government’s suppression of dissent. During her detention, Al-Hathloul faced severe mistreatment. Reports from her family and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, allege that she was subjected to torture, including electric shocks, flogging, and sexual harassment, during interrogation sessions. She was also held in solitary confinement for extended periods, which is considered a form of psychological torture. Al-Hathloul was charged with various offenses, including attempting to destabilize the kingdom, working with foreign entities to harm national security, and advancing a foreign agenda. In December 2020, she was sentenced to nearly six years in prison by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court, which handles terrorism-related cases. This court is often criticized for its lack of independence and the harsh sentences it imposes on activists and dissenters. Despite her release on probation in February 2021, Al-Hathloul remains under strict travel restrictions and a suspended sentence that could see her re-imprisoned at any time if she engages in further activism[27].

    The cases of Samar Badawi and Loujain Al-Hathloul serve as reminders of the dangers faced by women activists in Saudi Arabia, particularly those who engage in digital activism. Their stories highlight the gendered nature of online repression, with women activists facing heightened risks and scrutiny for their advocacy work. These cases underscore the urgent need for greater international attention and solidarity in support of women’s rights defenders and digital activists in Saudi Arabia.

    1. International community, Challenges and Recommendations

    The international community has consistently applied pressure on Saudi Arabia to reform its digital policies, particularly regarding surveillance, censorship, and human rights abuses. Organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Citizen Lab have documented and condemned the misuse of surveillance technology against activists, journalists, and political dissidents. This global scrutiny has heightened awareness and fostered calls for accountability, which has led to some policy changes and encouraged greater transparency. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain in improving digital rights within the kingdom. The Saudi government’s entrenched commitment to maintaining strict control over information flow and surveillance presents a considerable obstacle. Authorities often justify extensive monitoring and censorship as vital for national security and social stability. This resistance to change is deeply rooted in the political and social fabric of the country, making substantial reforms difficult to achieve. Alongside, the rapid development and deployment of sophisticated surveillance technologies by firms like NSO Group and Cytrox pose ongoing challenges. These tools provide extensive monitoring capabilities that are difficult to counter with existing regulatory frameworks.

    Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s legal system lacks comprehensive protections for digital rights, making it difficult to safeguard privacy and freedom of expression. The absence of independent judicial oversight exacerbates the situation, as there are few checks and balances to prevent abuse of surveillance powers. Current laws are often broadly interpreted to justify actions against dissent, leaving little room for legal recourse. Last, cultural norms and social expectations in Saudi Arabia can also impede efforts to enhance digital rights. Traditional views on authority and dissent, coupled with limited public awareness of digital privacy issues, create an environment where government surveillance is more readily accepted or overlooked.

    The following recommendations aim to address these challenges by leveraging international collaboration, legal reforms, technological safeguards, and educational initiatives. By implementing these measures, Saudi Arabia can foster a more secure, informed, and empowered digital society.

    1. Adopt International Standards: Align national laws and practices with international standards and guidelines on digital rights and privacy, such as those established by the United Nations and the European Union.
    2. Establish Comprehensive Digital Rights Legislation: Enact laws that explicitly protect digital privacy, freedom of expression, and data security. These laws should include clear definitions and provisions that limit government surveillance and ensure judicial oversight.
    1. Encouraging Corporate Responsibility: Technology companies supplying surveillance tools should be encouraged or compelled to adopt rigorous human rights policies.
    1. Promoting Digital Literacy: Implement nationwide programs to enhance digital literacy among citizens. This includes educating individuals on the importance of digital privacy, recognizing online threats, and understanding how to use technology safely and responsibly. Digital literacy curriculums should be integrated into the education system from an early age, emphasizing critical thinking and safe online practices.
    2. Creating Safe Online Spaces: Establish safe online platforms and forums where citizens can learn about digital rights, share experiences, and seek advice without fear of surveillance or reprisal. These platforms can be moderated by trusted organizations to ensure they remain secure and supportive.
    3. Safeguarding Journalistic Freedom: Ensure protections for journalists and media outlets to operate freely without fear of retribution. This includes decriminalizing defamation and other speech-related offenses that are often used to silence dissent.

    [1]Economy Middle East. (2023). Saudi Arabia internet penetration reaches record high. Economy Middle East. https://economymiddleeast.com/news/saudi-arabia-internet-penetration-reaches-report/#:~:text=The%20report%20reveals%20that%20a,universal%20access%20across%20its%20population?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [2] Context News. (2023). Saudi surveillance city: Would you sell your data to The Line? Context News. https://www.context.news/digital-rights/saudi-surveillance-city-would-you-sell-your-data-to-the-line?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [3] Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers. (n.d.). Law details. Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers. https://laws.boe.gov.sa/BoeLaws/Laws/LawDetails/25df73d6-0f49-4dc5-b010-a9a700f2ec1d/2?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [4]Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB). (n.d.). Mapping the Saudi state: Human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/RuleOfLaw/NegativeEffectsTerrorism/ADHRB.pdf?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [5] Human Rights Watch. (2017, November 23). Saudi Arabia: New counterterrorism law enables abuse. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/23/saudi-arabia-new-counterterrorism-law-enables-abuse?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [6] U.S. Department of State. (2023). 2022 Report on international religious freedom: Saudi Arabia. U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Saudi Arabia. https://sa.usembassy.gov/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom-for-saudi-arabia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [7] Oxford Internet Institute. (2019). CyberTroop Report 2019. Retrieved from https://demtech.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2019/09/CyberTroop-Report19.pdf?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [8] New York Times. (2018, October 20). Saudi Arabia’s clout in Washington is being questioned. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/20/us/politics/saudi-image-campaign-twitter.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [9] Facebook. (2019, August 1). Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Facebook Newsroom. Retrieved from https://about.fb.com/news/2019/08/cib-uae-egypt-saudi-arabia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [10] Reuters. (2017, September 21). Saudi lifting ban on Skype, WhatsApp calls, but will monitor them. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-telecoms-ban/saudi-lifting-ban-on-skype-whatsapp-calls-but-will-monitor-them-idUSKCN1BW12L?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [11] Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group, is a sophisticated tool designed for covert surveillance. Established in 2010, NSO Group created Pegasus to enable government agencies and law enforcement to monitor and extract data from mobile devices.

    [12] Similar to NSO Group’s Pegasus, Cytrox spyware is designed for covert monitoring and data extraction from mobile devices.

    [13] Citizen Lab. (2021, December 14). Pegasus vs. Predator: Dissidents Doubly Infected iPhone Reveals Cytrox Mercenary Spyware. Retrieved from https://citizenlab.ca/2021/12/pegasus-vs-predator-dissidents-doubly-infected-iphone-reveals-cytrox-mercenary-spyware/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [14] Facebook. (2021). Threat Report on the Surveillance-for-Hire Industry. Retrieved from https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Threat-Report-on-the-Surveillance-for-Hire-Industry.pdf?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [15] Online Gender-Based Violence refers to harmful behaviors directed at individuals based on their gender, facilitated through digital platforms and communication technologies. This form of violence includes harassment, threats, stalking, and exploitation, and it disproportionately affects women and gender minorities.

    [16] Reporters Without Borders. (n.d.). Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from https://rsf.org/en/country/saudi-arabia?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [17] Freedom House. (2022). Saudi Arabia. Freedom on the Net 2022. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-net/2022?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [18] Reporters Without Borders. (2023, April 20). RSF issues warning about Saudi Arabia’s press freedom index ranking. Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved from https://rsf.org/en/rsf-issues-warning-about-saudi-arabias-press-freedom-index-ranking?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [19] Hoffmann, Amanda, and Emily J. Knox. “The Role of Digital Literacy in Advocacy for Intellectual Freedom.” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, vol. 90, no. 4, 2020, pp. 372–386.

    [20] Saudi Arabia Vision 2030. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved from https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/en/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [21] DataReportal. (2024). Digital 2024: Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-saudi-arabia?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [22] Amnesty International. (2023, September 21). Saudi Arabia: Still no justice for state-sanctioned murder of Jamal Khashoggi five years on. Amnesty International. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/saudi-arabia-still-no-justice-for-state-sanctioned-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi-five-years-on/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [23] Washington Post. (2018, December 21). Jamal Khashoggi’s final months: An exile in the long shadow of Saudi Arabia. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/jamal-khashoggis-final-months-an-exile-in-the-long-shadow-of-saudi-arabia/2018/12/21/d6fc68c2-0476-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [24] Amnesty International. (2015, June 7). Saudi Arabia: Raif Badawi sentence a “dark day” for free speech. Amnesty International. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/06/saudi-arabia-raif-badawi-sentence-dark-day/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [25] Amnesty International. (2016, January 6). Saudi Arabia: A year of bloody repression since flogging of Raif Badawi. Amnesty International. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/saudi-arabia-a-year-of-bloody-repression-since-flogging-of-raif-badawi-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [26] Amnesty International. (2018, June 6). Saudi Arabia: Release women human rights defenders. Amnesty International. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/saudi-arabia-release-women-human-rights-defenders/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    [27] Human Rights Watch. (2021, February 10). Saudi Arabia: Prominent women’s rights activist released. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/10/saudi-arabia-prominent-womens-rights-activist-released?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    The post Suppression of Online Expression in Saudi Arabia appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • AI Regulation in Saudi Arabia: Innovation over Human Rights

    With the global rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), countries have increasingly adopted regulations to restrict the use of this new technology, exemplified by the AI Act in the European Union. In contrast, Gulf governments have taken a more business-friendly approach to AI regulation, raising concerns about potential breaches of their populations’ privacy rights. Notably, Saudi Arabia has sought to create an attractive environment for data and AI businesses and has so far avoided implementing binding regulations.

    Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in AI as part of its Vision 2030 initiative and plans to integrate various AI technologies into its futuristic city-building project, Neom. These intentions raise significant concerns about potential human rights abuses by the Saudi government involving the use of AI, such as ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence language model making international headlines. These concerns are not limited to AI but extend to the misuse of a broader range of digital technologies. Recent high-profile cases involving Saudi Arabia include the use of digital technologies to spy on dissidents and their families overseas, as well as attempts to infiltrate Twitter to identify government opponents using anonymous accounts. Thus, AI presents yet another opportunity for the Saudi government to infringe on people’s most basic rights to privacy through surveillance and manipulation, exacerbating existing injustices.

    These concerns would be less severe if the Saudi government introduced rules to regulate AI. However, the kingdom has only issued guidelines for AI use, without enforcing any legally binding regulations. This absence of strict regulations means that the Saudi government could potentially violate international human rights laws and standards on privacy without breaching its own laws. Given Saudi Arabia’s tendency to disregard the international right to privacy with its current digital technology, this situation poses significant risks for the future of not only the Saudi population but also any person visiting their future mega city, Neom.

    To address these concerns, it is crucial for the international community to take action. Governments and international organizations should apply pressure on Saudi Arabia to implement comprehensive and binding AI regulations. Such regulations should ensure the protection of human rights and privacy, adhering to international standards. Additionally, countries should collaborate on establishing a global framework for AI governance that promotes ethical use and prevents abuses.

    Furthermore, multinational corporations and AI developers should be encouraged to adopt ethical guidelines and refuse to participate in projects that could lead to human rights violations. By fostering a culture of accountability and ethical responsibility, the international community can mitigate the risks associated with the misuse of AI technologies.

    The post AI Regulation in Saudi Arabia: Innovation over Human Rights appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Saudi Arabia’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council: the Truth from NGOs Vs. the Lies of the Saudi Human Rights Commission

    The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is an important tool to keep states accountable, combat impunity for human rights violations, and promote open dialogue on human rights issues. Nevertheless, states such as Saudi Arabia notoriously do not follow through on their promises to implement recommendations, a fact that many at Saudi Arabia’s fourth Universal Periodic Review consideration meeting emphasized. This meeting was held on Thursday 4 July 2024, as part of the Human Rights Council’s 56th regular session. The meeting ended with the unanimous adoption of the outcome of the UPR of Saudi Arabia.

    The country received 354 recommendations from 135 states. The president of the Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC), Dr. Hala bint Mazyed Al-Tuwaijri, claims that they have accepted more than 80% of these recommendations, and specified that 273 were accepted, 12 partially accepted with clarifications, and 69 were noted. She also emphasized that 97% of those regarding women were accepted. Although these statistics may appear reassuring, it is important to remember that many of the recommendations from Saudi’s third periodic review in 2018 remain either partly or not at all implemented. Therefore, these empty promises mean nothing until they are accompanied by concrete action.

    There was a clear division between the remarks from nation-states and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Representatives from Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan, to name a few, all commended the country’s efforts. It should be pointed out that all these countries submitted recommendations that did not address Saudi’s human rights violations. Even the wording of their recommendations, most of which started with “continue” rather than more proactive terms such as “strengthen”, “adopt”, or “abolish” as used by other states, showcases a weak attempt to hold the country accountable for its wrongdoing.

    On the other hand, representatives from NGOs such as Human Rights Watch were a lot more vocal about their views on Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations. The speaker of the organization rightfully said that Saudi authorities continue to infringe on the human rights of its people and that the limited reforms thus far are inadequate. They also underlined that there is no credible accountability for the crimes against humanity committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, which ECDHR also agrees with. Despite these being well-known facts, impunity prevails and tools such as the UPR appear to not do enough to change the situation.

    It has not gone unnoticed that, despite the 80% acceptance rate, key recommendations were rejected. One of which is Belgium’s recommendation (number 43.65) on refraining from reprisals against human rights defenders with interaction with UN human rights mechanisms. Saudi Arabia is condemning innocent people for using mechanisms that have been specifically set up to protect their rights. This is a common tactic used to silence dissidents and hide the state’s abuses.

    Issues of transparency and accountability were also brought up. The International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR), rightly, demanded that the Saudi Human Rights Commission abide by the Paris Principles. Moreover, the Amnesty International representative spoke on Saudi’s proven lack of engagement with the demands of the international community, highlighting that despite its alleged acceptance of the recommendations on women’s rights, the male guardianship system remains unfortunately strong. This shows that there is a lack of dedication from the Saudi HRC and the state to follow through on its commitments.

    The need to abolish the cybercrime and counter-terrorism law was also addressed, including by Amnesty International and The Gulf Center for Human Rights. Amnesty International rightfully requested for the release of human rights defenders who have been unlawfully detained for simply exercising their right to freedom of expression. The president of HRC stated that the laws were in line with international standards and that the presumption of innocence is always applied. This is evidently not the case as innocent activists are continuously detained without real justifications.

    Many NGOs, including The Gulf Center for Human Rights and The Advocates for Human Rights, raised the issue of the unlawful use of the death penalty. The representative of The Advocates for Human Rights highlighted the continued use of the death penalty on minors, which the president of the Saudi HRC claimed does not happen despite the evidence clearly showing otherwise.

    Saudi Arabia’s UPR report consideration meeting allowed NGOs around the world to speak out about the human rights violations occurring and try to hold the country accountable. Unfortunately, Dr. Hala bint Mazyed Al-Tuwaijri appeared set in the fact that Saudi Arabia had already addressed many of the issues discussed. ADHRB calls on Saudi Arabia to take its commitments under the UPR seriously and take accountability for its violations. Additionally, we call on other human rights organizations to keep advocating for much-needed systemic change in the country so that its people can have their human rights respected as they deserve.

    The post Saudi Arabia’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council: the Truth from NGOs Vs. the Lies of the Saudi Human Rights Commission appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • UK ‘turning a blind eye’ to threats to kill Saudi activists living in exile

    Saudis living in the UK claim Riyadh is targeting them for speaking out on human rights and jailing of female activists

    Saudi exiles living in the UK have spoken of threats to their lives and harassment over their support for improvements in human rights in their home country.

    Saudi Arabia has been attempting to present itself as a reformed state since the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi hit squad at its consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

    It has spent billions on sporting deals and promoting tourism in the country and was recently named host of a UN commission on women’s rights, despite what Amnesty International called its “abysmal” record on women’s rights.

    Continue reading…

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

  • Forced Labor Complaint Exposes Saudi Arabia’s Migrant Worker Abuses Amid Vision 2030 Ambitions

    The recent forced labor complaint against the Saudi Arabian government by the Building and Wood Workers’ International Union (BWI) underscores significant concerns about the treatment of migrant workers under the country’s Vision 2030 plan. This action by the BWI, representing 12 million members, serves as a stark warning to Saudi authorities, businesses, and investors about the predictable and preventable migrant labor abuses that mar the Kingdom’s ambitious economic blueprint.

    Filed on June 5th, 2024, under Article 24 of the ILO constitution, the complaint highlights the exploitative living and working conditions faced by Saudi Arabia’s 13.4 million migrant workers. The most pressing issues include widespread wage theft, abusive working conditions, and the lack of enforcement of international labor treaties ratified by Saudi Arabia. The evidence presented by BWI includes testimonies from 193 migrant workers detailing abuses such as movement restrictions, intimidation, retention of identity documents, debt bondage, and excessive overtime. These conditions are exacerbated by the workers’ inability to exercise their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, raising serious questions about the measures in place to address these issues.

    Central to these abuses is Saudi Arabia’s kafala system, which grants employers excessive control over their workers’ mobility and legal status. According to a BWI survey, 63 percent of migrant workers cannot freely terminate their employment, 85 percent of indebted workers cannot leave their jobs, and 46 percent report delayed or withheld wages. These figures highlight the urgent need for awareness and action. The timing of this complaint is especially crucial as it precedes FIFA’s decision in July on Saudi Arabia’s sole bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which flagrantly disregards FIFA’s own human rights rules and due diligence requirements. FIFA’s history of overlooking human rights abuses, notably during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was awarded without proper human rights due diligence and led to widespread labor exploitation, should serve as a cautionary tale. Qatar faced a labor complaint in 2014, and despite some reforms, the complaint was not taken seriously enough, resulting in severe abuse and even deaths among workers. The recent ILO complaint against Saudi Arabia signals a similar trajectory that must not be allowed to continue.

    Beyond FIFA, mega projects such as the futuristic NEOM city, part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, heavily rely on a migrant labor force. Without significant improvements in labor protections, these projects risk perpetuating the cycle of abuse and exploitation. International companies involved in these projects must conduct thorough due diligence to ensure they do not contribute to or exacerbate these abuses. Furthermore, countries with trade investment agreements with Saudi Arabia, such as the United States, must leverage their influence to pressure the Saudi government to eradicate human rights violations. More importantly, Saudi authorities must critically examine the kafala system and prioritize its reform over superficial efforts to improve their global image.

    The forced labor complaint is a critical reminder of the urgent need for systemic labor reforms. As the world watches, Saudi Arabia has an opportunity to demonstrate a genuine commitment to protecting migrant workers’ rights and rectifying past injustices. Only then can the country truly realize its Vision 2030 without the stain of human rights abuses.

    The post Forced Labor Complaint Exposes Saudi Arabia’s Migrant Worker Abuses Amid Vision 2030 Ambitions appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • U.S. divide and rule no more… Washington’s Gulf allies embrace Iran

    In a sign of major geopolitical realignment, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states sent warm congratulations to Iran on its newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian.

    Saudi King Salman welcomed the news of Iran’s election winner last weekend and said he hoped that the two Persian Gulf nations would continue developing their relations “between our brotherly people”.

    That olive branch from Saudi Arabia to Iran is an unprecedented diplomatic development – one that will trigger alarm in Washington whose primary goal in the Middle East has been to isolate Iran from its neighbors.

    There were similar cordial official messages from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain. Together with Saudi Arabia, these oil-rich states comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). There is much talk now of the Gulf Arab bloc normalizing relations with its Persian neighbor.

    For his part, President Pezeshkian – a heart surgeon by profession – says he wants to prioritize peaceful regional relations.

    For decades, since the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Gulf Arab states have viewed the Islamic Republic with deep suspicion and hostility. For one thing, there is the sectarian tension between Shia Islam as professed mainly by Iran and the Sunni Islam that dominates the Gulf Arab states.

    There is also the visceral fear among the Arab monarchies that the revolutionary politics espoused by Iran might infect their masses thereby threatening the rigid autocracies and their system of hereditary rule. The fact that Iran holds elections stands in stark contrast to the Gulf kingdoms ruled by royal families. So much for President Joe Biden’s mantra about the U.S. supposedly supporting democracy over autocracy.

    The United States and its Western allies, in particular, the former colonial power Britain, have exploited the tensions in the Persian Gulf to exercise a divide-and-rule policy. The British are past masters at playing the sectarian game in all their former colonies from Ireland to Myanmar and everywhere in between, including the Middle East.

    Taking a leaf out of that imperialist playbook, Washington has historically fuelled fears of Iranian expansionism. This has ensured Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors remain under U.S. “protection” which is vital for maintaining the petrodollar system that underpins the American dollar as the international reserve currency. Without the petrodollar privileges, the U.S. economy would implode.

    Secondly, the Gulf is an eye-watering huge market for American weapons exports, from overrated Patriot air defense systems to overpriced fighter jets.

    In short, the policy of the U.S. and its Western allies was and is to promote a Cold War in the Gulf between the Arab states and Iran.

    The schismatic animosity cannot be overstated. The Arab monarchies were habitually paranoid about Iran infiltrating their societies. Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni rulers conducted severe repressive policies towards their Shia populations.

    In 2010, an explosive exposé by Julian Assange’s Wikileaks organization showed the then Saudi ruler King Abdullah pleading with the United States to launch military attacks on Iran. The Saudi monarch described Iran as “the head of the snake” and he implored the U.S. to decapitate the Islamic Republic.

    Fast forward to the present Saudi ruler, King Salman, a half-brother of the deceased Abdullah, who is now calling for fraternal relations with Iran – as are other Gulf Arab states.

    Saudi heir to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also extended his congratulations to Iran’s new president and went further to propose regional security cooperation. The Saudi heir reportedly told President Pezeshkian: “I affirm my keenness on developing and deepening the relations that unite our countries and peoples and serve our mutual interests.”

    This is an astounding turnaround for positive relations. Crown Prince MbS was the main instigator of Saudi’s disastrous war on Yemen in 2015 which was prompted by his fear of Iran’s alliance with the Houthis in Saudi’s southern neighbor following the landmark international nuclear deal with Tehran.

    Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Sunni states were also instrumental in pursuing the U.S.-led covert war for regime change in Syria against Iranian ally Bashar al Assad. That proxy war effort was a defeat for the U.S. side after Russia and Iran stepped in to defend Syria.

    What’s happening here is a major geopolitical realignment. Russia, Iran, China and others have put a decisive marker down spelling the end of U.S. and Western hegemony.

    It is clear that the U.S.-led so-called “rules-based global order” is nothing more than a dead-end scam imposed on the rest of the world. All empirical evidence shows that the primary enemy of international peace and security is the U.S. hegemon and its Western vassals.

    The U.S.-instigated proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is recklessly pushing the world to the abyss of a nuclear catastrophe. Elsewhere, in the Middle East with the Western-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza and the relentless belligerence of NATO in the Asia-Pacific toward China, it is increasingly evident what is the source of international conflict and chaos – U.S.-led Western imperialism.

    The Gulf Arab leaders may not be reacting out of democratic sensibilities. But they must surely know that the writing is on the wall for American hegemony and its destructive death wish to survive at all costs.

    The world is changing dramatically to a new multipolar order where the majority of nations are trying to come to a peaceful coexistence.

    Last year, China brokered a historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. All of these parties know that the U.S. disorder of hegemonic Cold War division is unsustainable and ultimately self-defeating for those who adhere to it.

    The Saudis know that the Eurasian economic engine is driving the world economy and the embrace of the Global South of a multipolar order is hammering nails into the coffin of Western hegemony.

    Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states are signing up as new members of the Shanghai Cooperation Council which also includes Russia, China, Iran, India and Pakistan, among others.

    King Salman and other Arab leaders are finally realizing that Uncle Sam’s patronage is like putting a loaded gun to your head. As that old American war criminal Henry Kissinger once reputedly remarked with his trademark cynicism: being an enemy of the U.S. can be dangerous but to be an ally of Uncle Sam is absolutely fatal.

    The days of Washington and its Western minions playing divide and rule are over because they have discredited themselves irreparably.

    • First published in Strategic Culture Foundation

    The post U.S. divide and rule no more… Washington’s Gulf allies embrace Iran first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Fresh scrutiny of free speech in Saudi Arabia after brothers’ convictions over tweets

    Crown prince criticised ‘bad laws’ for Mohammed al-Ghamdi’s death sentence months before second conviction

    Fresh questions have been raised about the suppression of free speech in Saudi Arabia after the brother of a man facing the death penalty for tweeting to 10 followers was handed a 20-year sentence for largely innocuous tweets.

    The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had said Mohammed al-Ghamdi was a victim of “bad laws” after being sentenced to death, yet the crown prince permitted the same laws to be used to sentence Ghamdi’s younger brother, Asaad al-Ghamdi.

    Continue reading…

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

  • Fresh scrutiny of free speech in Saudi Arabia after brothers’ convictions over tweets

    Crown prince criticised ‘bad laws’ for Mohammed al-Ghamdi’s death sentence months before second conviction

    Fresh questions have been raised about the suppression of free speech in Saudi Arabia after the brother of a man facing the death penalty for tweeting to 10 followers was handed a 20-year sentence for largely innocuous tweets.

    The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had said Mohammed al-Ghamdi was a victim of “bad laws” after being sentenced to death, yet the crown prince permitted the same laws to be used to sentence Ghamdi’s younger brother, Asaad al-Ghamdi.

    Continue reading…

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

  • #GameOverSaudi: ADHRB and ECDHR joint women’s rights campaign

    Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, together with the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, launches the #GameOverSaudi campaign, a concerted effort to address the women’s rights situation in Saudi Arabia amid the celebration of the Esports World Cup in the country.

    The tournament, which arises as the largest global event of its kind, represents the last Saudi effort to divert the international community’s attention from its appalling human rights record. The question is: will you let this happen?

    Human rights abuses should never be overlooked. The situation of Saudi women is particularly concerning, being that they are treated as second-class citizens subordinated to their male relatives. With this campaign, we want to bring to people’s attention the following facts:

    In Saudi Arabia, every woman has a male guardian authorized to make critical decisions on her behalf (”male guardianship system”). Traditionally, a woman’s guardian is her father from birth and her husband once she is married.

    In 2022, on International Women’s Day, Saudi Arabia passed a law that codified many of the widespread informal problematic practices inherent to the country’s male guardianship system.

    Saudi Arabia’s 2022 Personal Status Law (PSL) entrenches a system of gender-based discrimination in matters such as marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance and includes provisions that facilitate domestic violence:

    The idea that husbands are expected to protect and provide and wives, in turn, must obey, is enshrined in Saudi PSL.

    Following the country’s longstanding practice, the 2022 PSL states that a woman must obtain a guardian’s permission to marry and for the marriage contract to be valid.

    According to Articles 42 and 55 of PSL, a wife is obligated to “reasonably” obey her husband and a wife’s right to financial support shall be forfeited if she does not do so.

    Saudi PSL asserts that in exchange for the husband’s maintenance during marriage -food, clothing, accommodation, and other essential needs-, the wife must submit to him. If she refuses to do so, the husband has the right to deny maintenance. Such provisions place women at risk of exploitation and abuse,which is not criminalized in Saudi law.

    Men and women do not have the same ability to access divorce: In Saudi Arabia, upon separation, the mother is automatically granted custody of the child. However, the father remains the child’s legal guardian and, therefore, retains the power to make critical decisions about the child’s life.

    Moreover, women campaigning for equal rights and the abolishment of the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia have been subjected to ongoing repression. Prominent women’s rights activists have been arbitrarily detained, banned from travel, and horrifically tortured or ill-treated in prison.

    This is the reality that people who are not critically engaging with the Esports World Cup celebration in Saudi Arabia will support. If this makes you uncomfortable, join our campaign by saying #GameOverSaudi and sharing this information in the chatrooms that will broadcast the game live on YouTube and Twitch. You can also contribute to the campaign by repeating the same action in the chat section of YouTubers -big or small-, that you might know and who are covering or commenting on the tournament.

    For women, #GameOverSaudi.

    The post #GameOverSaudi: ADHRB and ECDHR joint women’s rights campaign appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Diverting attention from human rights abuses: the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia

    On July 3, 2024, the Esports World Cup, the largest global event of its kind, will kick off in Saudi Arabia amid in the gaming community. Saudi’s last attempt to become a hub for international esports has, once more, triggered discussions about the ethical implications of hosting major sports -and esports- events in countries with poor human rights records.

    The Esports World Cup is the successor to Gamers8, a series of tournaments and gaming festivals hosted in 2023 by the Savvy Gaming Group, and the latest major esports project of this esports company owned by Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion Public Investment Fund. A Public Investment Fund that has made relevant investments in esports and games in recent years in an effort to enhance the kingdom’s progress towards “realizing the Vision 2030 objectives of diversifying the economy”. Specifically, this tournament, according to the press release announcing the launch of the event, aims to increase the gaming sector’s contribution to the kingdom’s GDP by more than SAR 50 billion by 2030 and create 39,000 new job opportunities. It also plans to draw visitors and tourists to Riyadh during the summer, when the country experiences a drop in hotel occupancy rates and tourism spending.

    The event has caught the attention of gaming-specialized media thanks to offering a “life-changing prize money” of 60 million dollars -the largest prize pool ever awarded in the history of esports- and the feature of some of the most popular games in the world across different genres: League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, and Fortnite, among multiple others.

    The League of Legends (LoL)’s involvement in the tournament is particularly interesting: in 2020, Riot Games, the developer of LoL among other famous games, announced a partnership with the Saudi state-backed city development NEOM for the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) that was canceled less than 24 hours later due to public backlash. More specifically, LEC/Riot staff and members of the LoL gaming community were preoccupied with the Kingdom’s human rights violations. It is therefore understandable why the renewed ties between Riot and Saudi Arabia for the 2024 Esports World Cup prompted, again, controversy among the LoL community. This time, however, it looks like Riot’s apologies will not be heard and Saudi’s money stands above moral values within the esports industry.

    As a matter of fact, Saudi’s sponsorship can be seen by some as quite alluring at a time of so-called esports winter, a period following the 2021 and 2022 “bonanza” that is characterized by the lack of investments and the industry’s struggle to turn a profit. Nonetheless, as Travis Gafford, fan and voice of the esports industry for the past 13 years, states:

    “I have heard many people suggest that (…) in order to survive we must do this. Even if it is true I have to ask (…), we deserve to exist then? If the only way for us to continue to do all of this is to partner with totalitarian regimes with a history of human rights abuse, what are we even doing? (…) When I signed up for this I though it was just going to be about games competitions and now I am making this video talking about assassinations and terrible governments and the decisions they are making”.

    Saudi Arabia is already home to some of soccer’s biggest stars and co-owner of professional golf. Now the country wants to become the capital of esports in the coming years. This is sportswashing at its finest. Will the gaming community let Saudi Arabia trick them into thinking that the kingdom’s a “cool, forward-thinking, interesting place to go on holiday” or will they address the big elephant in the room, namely, Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights violations?

    We encourage the young gaming community not to cover or watch the Esports World Cup, saying loud and clear: not in my name. Young people deserve more, and although it is not fair for them to have to decide whether to enjoy their hobby or support human rights, this is where the gaming industry and its co-optation by Saudi money have led us.

    The post Diverting attention from human rights abuses: the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • ADHRB at #HRC56: Saudi Arabia should harmonize its legislation with human rights standards

    On 28th June 2024, ADHRB delivered an intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 56 during the annual discussion session on the human rights of women. ADHRB considered that Saudi Arabia should harmonize its legislation with human rights standards and release those detained for speaking out and advocating for women’s rights.

    Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system is a legal and social framework that severely limits women’s autonomy and has profound effects on women’s rights and freedoms. It continues to prevent them from making crucial decisions such as traveling, marriage, or accessing certain health care services.

    Significant obstacles remain in the plan to advance women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. In addition to the guardianship system, women human rights defenders face prosecution, and some of them have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms of up to 45 years for exercising their right to freedom of expression. This includes Loujain Al-Hathloul, Nassima Al-Sada, and Samar Badawi, who have been arbitrarily arrested, banned from traveling, and subjected to horrific torture and ill-treatment in prison.

    As a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Saudi Arabia should harmonize its legislation with human rights standards, including the Personal Status Law of 2022. The repression of freedom of expression must stop, and Saudi Arabia must release at least 44 women detained for expressing their opinions and advocating for women’s rights issues.

    The post ADHRB at #HRC56: Saudi Arabia should harmonize its legislation with human rights standards appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Advanced arms and technology for a monarchy with an appalling human rights record: the US-Saudi Arabia Security Pact

    A security guarantee, assistance in developing a nuclear program, and more unrestricted arms sales in exchange for the normalization of Israeli-Saudi relations is what the Biden administration proposes to Saudi Arabia in a bilateral agreement that is close to being finalized between the two countries. Long gone are Biden’s words in the 2019 Democratic primary elections declaring Saudi Arabia’s state as a “pariah” after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi intelligence officials in Turkey. According to the new Biden posture, the kingdom is now worthy of a security guarantee.

    The supporters of the agreement assert that it would enhance regional security in the Middle East by reinforcing the U.S.-led alliance against Iran, containing the rising influence of China in the Arab world, and pushing for the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, as Foreign Policy noted, the potential harms of this deal seem to outweigh the overstated benefits it would bring for the Biden Administration and the international security order as a whole.

    Concerning the alliance against Iran, the reality is that Saudi Arabia has, for quite a while now, benefited from both U.S. arms sales and military and diplomatic assistance. Thanks to that, the U.S. has already been placing relevant constraints on the Islamic Republic’s actions, and there is no pressing need to add more elements to this deterrence strategy. If anything, by strengthening security ties with the kingdom, Saudi Arabia might feel freer than before to make aggressive moves in regional policy, possibly drawing the U.S. into the subsequent region’s violence. Moreover, assisting Saudi Arabia in developing civilian nuclear power could initiate a nuclear arms race in the Persian Gulf by increasing Iran’s threat perception and supplying Saudi Arabia with essential components for nuclear weapons construction.

    In regard to keeping China’s influence in the Middle East under control, it should be noted that the already existing Saudi-Chinese relations are rooted in both strong economic interests and interests of other nature. For example, China has been, for years, the largest export and import partner of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, it does not seem that this agreement will prevent both partners from actively engaging with one another in the future. In any case, when dealing with China in the pursuit of its national interests, the Saudis will continue to be attracted by the Asian country’s disregard for human rights deficiencies in partner countries.

    As for the third objective of the agreement, truth be told, although the U.S. will try to take advantage of the Israeli desire to pursue the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia to force the country to moderate its calamitous offensive in Gaza or move toward a two-state solution, Israel’s opposition to both of these aims will render any Israeli-Saudi normalization remote. Even more so knowing that Riyadh has defended the need for Israel’s support of a Palestinian state as a key component of any Saudi recognition of Israel. As the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft asserts, if the Biden administration wants to really exert pressure on Israel, “the voluminous U.S. aid and diplomatic cover that the United States gives to Israel represent much larger and more direct sources of leverage than any indirect maneuver involving Saudi Arabia”. Biden would do well to keep this in mind, as the current U.S.’s stance in the war in Gaza risks losing his re-election.

    However, the U.S.-Saudi Pact not only does not suit US strategic interests but also jeopardizes the numerous efforts to end human rights abuses in the country. It should not be forgotten that  Saudi citizens do not enjoy political rights and their civil liberties are severely restricted and continuously repressed. Also, abroad, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has assassinated and forced the disappearance of ideological opponents. In view of these facts, finalizing an agreement of any nature that contemplates no provisions whatsoever about the promotion and protection of human rights with such kind of a regime, is beyond reprehensible for the U.S. part. Not only that, but the double standards of U.S. foreign policy, with its uneven support for self-determination and human rights in the Middle East, but its full support for Ukraine, explain why so many people, in particular in the global south, “are reticent to join the U.S. in just causes such as aiding Ukraine”.

    Additionally, this pact’s desirability is more difficult to understand if taking into account the fact that backing Riyadh is a losing topic in U.S. politics. In this respect, according to Foreign Policy, a majority of Americans have held an unfavorable view of Saudi Arabia for more than two decades. Biden’s support of a U.S.-Saudi deal could thus raise significant opposition from Americans hostile toward Saudi Arabia for different reasons: the Yemen War, oil prices, human rights, and allegations surrounding the 9/11 terror attacks. Furthermore, Biden could lose the support of Arab, Muslim, left-leaning, and young American voters, who constitute an important part of Democrat voters, if the deal passes and it appears to benefit Israel at the expense of Palestinians. This assertion is not to be taken lightly, as in 2020, Biden won nearly 60 percent of the Arab American vote in the US presidential election against Trump.

    The only clear winner of this pact is the authoritarian regime of Saudi Arabia. As the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft argues, the value the country places in this pact lies in the anomaly of having “an absolute hereditary monarchy ruling over a supposedly modernizing state in the twenty-first century” and realizing the inherent instability of such a combination. As a consequence, the U.S.-Saudi agreement, representing a diplomatic hug from a superpower, can be understood as a way to help Saudi Arabia extend this anomaly, along with the negative repercussions this may have on the struggle for human rights.

    Rewarding the Saudi monarchy’s authoritarianism and militarism is not the right path to follow.  As several US congressional representatives stated in a 2022 letter to President Biden, even though the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been an important U.S. partner, it cannot be ignored that its leadership has repeatedly acted in ways at odds with U.S. policy and values.

    The post Advanced arms and technology for a monarchy with an appalling human rights record: the US-Saudi Arabia Security Pact appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • More Than 1,000 Perish During Hajj, With Most Deaths Attributed to Extreme Heat

    More than 1,000 people participating in the Hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, have died as of Thursday as temperatures in the holy city reached 125°F at the Grand Mosque. The tragedy serves as an example of how the climate crisis is making mass gatherings more dangerous, especially in warmer parts of the world. Saudi Arabia is heating 50% faster than the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, and by 2050…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Ron Wyden Is Investigating Saudi Support for Jared Kushner’s Private Equity Firm

    Based on his prior experience and demonstrated abilities, Jared Kushner never should have landed a job in the White House. Before joining the Trump administration, Kushner was best known as his father’s son — a real estate mogul and disbarred attorney who gifted his child control over the family’s portfolio after being convicted of multiple felonies — whose greatest accomplishment was purchasing a…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Incomprehensible ideas to address climate change: a futuristic ski resort in the middle of the Saudi desert

    Snow-covered mountains, people skiing, and luxury accommodations are some of the images Saudi Arabia wants to imprint in people’s minds about Trojena, one of four major parts, alongside The Line, Oxagon, and Sindalah, of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s brainchild: “NEOM”, a $550 billion “giga-project” that aims to show the world Saudi Arabia’s grand ambitions in matters of sustainability.

    Although some people might find the idea absurd, the truth is that Saudi Arabia plans to build a ski resort in a mountainous dry area, with little precipitation, where natural snow is rare, though possible in minimal quantities. The fact that the area is 10 degrees cooler on average than the rest of the GCC region explains why this place has been chosen. Nevertheless, most of the snow will still have to be man-made, and that is where the main problem lies: covering 36km of ski slopes with snow requires water, and in an arid country such as Saudi Arabia, this usually entails the utilization of desalination plants, which are powered by fossil fuels. The same can be argued for the man-made freshwater lake, which represents another of the highlights of Trojena. However, Saudi Arabia asserts that the entire Neom’s desalination process will be fueled by renewable energy. The sole inconvenience is that using renewable energy with desalination plants has never been successful. In this scenario, it is clear that the technology to make the eccentric Neom project happen might not exist, but Saudi Arabia will keep relying on a techno-optimistic ideological trend that proclaims that, perhaps someday, technology will resolve humanity’s ecological problems. Until that happens, it is business as usual.

    Moreover, bizarre solutions to the climate emergency like Neom, are senseless and not realistic. The challenges climate change poses to the human race require responsible energy solutions, whose complexity simply cannot be overlooked. The negative aspects of Neom also highlight the necessary expansive impact analysis that should accompany every proposed climate change solution, or at least the need for “energy democracy”, in other words, the community’s involvement in decision-making to build systems that focus on local needs and concerns. Contrary to this spirit, the megacity project has already cleared two towns and forcibly displaced an estimated 20,000 members of the Huwaitat tribe from their ancestral homeland. Abdulrahim al-Huwaiti, the face of the tribes’ criticism of the kingdom’s actions, was shot and killed by security forces in 2020, an event that stresses the tension between the tribe and the country’s development plans. As an outspoken activist and member of the tribe said: “For the Huwaitat tribe, Neom is being built on our blood, on our bones”. If the project is not planned with local actors’ interests in mind, who is it created for then? The activist is clear about that: “It’s definitely not for the people already living there! It’s for tourists, people with money”. For the Huwaitat tribe, as well as some Saudis, the project, which is thought to have a parallel legal system reporting to the king directly, represents an attempt to shut them out of the elite version of the Saudi society that Neom would exemplify. As a member of the ALQST Organization for Supporting Human Rights states: “is (…) a vanity project targeting the domestic elite and an international audience in terms of a new Saudi, one that’s open and economically or socially liberal”.

    The eco-region is also part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a strategy designed to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil. The genuine intention behind this objective, however, can be questioned. To this day, Saudi Arabia remains the world’s second-largest oil producer, and its emissions are projected to rise significantly by 2030. Additionally, Saudi’s national oil company, Aramco, plans to increase oil production in the coming years. Moreover, the kingdom’s government is vigorously seeking to undermine global efforts to phase out fossil fuels by promoting false solutions -such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies- and obstructing international climate negotiations. As an example of the latter, during COP 27, Saudi Arabia strongly opposed the use of language related to the phase-out of fossil fuels. Also, concerning the recent COP 28, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister claimed that the resulting agreement to transition away from fossil fuels was just one of several choices a country could make of an “a la carte menu”.

    As a matter of fact, despite the kingdom’s repeated announcements of ambitious renewable energy targets, little progress has been made in the last decade to meet them. For instance, a recent target established that the country should generate 50% of its electricity with renewable energy by 2030. Notwithstanding that, in 2022, just 1% of electricity was generated with clean energy. This perfectly explains why the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) defines Saudi Arabia’s overall climate action as “Critically Insufficient” and why the “Mountains of NEOM” and the megacity as a whole, stand as another example of greenwashing, this one straight out of a science-fiction movie. Not only that, but Trojena’s selection as the hosting place of the Asian Winter Games 2029, is in line with the country’s common practice of using sports to divert attention away from its poor human rights record, otherwise called sportswashing.

    No matter how hard it tries to show otherwise, Saudi Arabia is on the wrong track on both climate change and human rights issues. A lot more pressure and political will is needed to change this fact.

    The post Incomprehensible ideas to address climate change: a futuristic ski resort in the middle of the Saudi desert appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Incomprehensible ideas to address climate change: a futuristic ski resort in the middle of the Saudi desert

    Snow-covered mountains, people skiing, and luxury accommodations are some of the images Saudi Arabia wants to imprint in people’s minds about Trojena, one of four major parts, alongside The Line, Oxagon, and Sindalah, of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s brainchild: “NEOM”, a $550 billion “giga-project” that aims to show the world Saudi Arabia’s grand ambitions in matters of sustainability.

    Although some people might find the idea absurd, the truth is that Saudi Arabia plans to build a ski resort in a mountainous dry area, with little precipitation, where natural snow is rare, though possible in minimal quantities. The fact that the area is 10 degrees cooler on average than the rest of the GCC region explains why this place has been chosen. Nevertheless, most of the snow will still have to be man-made, and that is where the main problem lies: covering 36km of ski slopes with snow requires water, and in an arid country such as Saudi Arabia, this usually entails the utilization of desalination plants, which are powered by fossil fuels. The same can be argued for the man-made freshwater lake, which represents another of the highlights of Trojena. However, Saudi Arabia asserts that the entire Neom’s desalination process will be fueled by renewable energy. The sole inconvenience is that using renewable energy with desalination plants has never been successful. In this scenario, it is clear that the technology to make the eccentric Neom project happen might not exist, but Saudi Arabia will keep relying on a techno-optimistic ideological trend that proclaims that, perhaps someday, technology will resolve humanity’s ecological problems. Until that happens, it is business as usual.

    Moreover, bizarre solutions to the climate emergency like Neom, are senseless and not realistic. The challenges climate change poses to the human race require responsible energy solutions, whose complexity simply cannot be overlooked. The negative aspects of Neom also highlight the necessary expansive impact analysis that should accompany every proposed climate change solution, or at least the need for “energy democracy”, in other words, the community’s involvement in decision-making to build systems that focus on local needs and concerns. Contrary to this spirit, the megacity project has already cleared two towns and forcibly displaced an estimated 20,000 members of the Huwaitat tribe from their ancestral homeland. Abdulrahim al-Huwaiti, the face of the tribes’ criticism of the kingdom’s actions, was shot and killed by security forces in 2020, an event that stresses the tension between the tribe and the country’s development plans. As an outspoken activist and member of the tribe said: “For the Huwaitat tribe, Neom is being built on our blood, on our bones”. If the project is not planned with local actors’ interests in mind, who is it created for then? The activist is clear about that: “It’s definitely not for the people already living there! It’s for tourists, people with money”. For the Huwaitat tribe, as well as some Saudis, the project, which is thought to have a parallel legal system reporting to the king directly, represents an attempt to shut them out of the elite version of the Saudi society that Neom would exemplify. As a member of the ALQST Organization for Supporting Human Rights states: “is (…) a vanity project targeting the domestic elite and an international audience in terms of a new Saudi, one that’s open and economically or socially liberal”.

    The eco-region is also part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a strategy designed to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil. The genuine intention behind this objective, however, can be questioned. To this day, Saudi Arabia remains the world’s second-largest oil producer, and its emissions are projected to rise significantly by 2030. Additionally, Saudi’s national oil company, Aramco, plans to increase oil production in the coming years. Moreover, the kingdom’s government is vigorously seeking to undermine global efforts to phase out fossil fuels by promoting false solutions -such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies- and obstructing international climate negotiations. As an example of the latter, during COP 27, Saudi Arabia strongly opposed the use of language related to the phase-out of fossil fuels. Also, concerning the recent COP 28, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister claimed that the resulting agreement to transition away from fossil fuels was just one of several choices a country could make of an “a la carte menu”.

    As a matter of fact, despite the kingdom’s repeated announcements of ambitious renewable energy targets, little progress has been made in the last decade to meet them. For instance, a recent target established that the country should generate 50% of its electricity with renewable energy by 2030. Notwithstanding that, in 2022, just 1% of electricity was generated with clean energy. This perfectly explains why the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) defines Saudi Arabia’s overall climate action as “Critically Insufficient” and why the “Mountains of NEOM” and the megacity as a whole, stand as another example of greenwashing, this one straight out of a science-fiction movie. Not only that, but Trojena’s selection as the hosting place of the Asian Winter Games 2029, is in line with the country’s common practice of using sports to divert attention away from its poor human rights record, otherwise called sportswashing.

    No matter how hard it tries to show otherwise, Saudi Arabia is on the wrong track on both climate change and human rights issues. A lot more pressure and political will is needed to change this fact.

    The post Incomprehensible ideas to address climate change: a futuristic ski resort in the middle of the Saudi desert appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • FIFA must secure binding human rights safeguards from 2030 and 2034 World Cup hosts

    In a new report of 6 June 2024, the Amnesty International insists the world governing body “must terminate any agreement to host the tournament if human rights are jeopardised or violated“.

    Last year Fifa confirmed Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be co-hosts in 2030, with the opening three matches taking place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. Saudi Arabia is the sole bidder for the 2034 tournament. Amnesty says the Gulf kingdom has an “appalling human rights record and its bid carries a broad range of very serious risks”.

    But it also warns the 2030 tournament “carries human rights risks primarily related to labour rights, discrimination, freedom of expression and assembly, policing, privacy and housing”. It adds that greenhouse gas emissions generated by travel related to the expanded 48-team tournament across three continents “are likely to be significant, despite Fifa’s stated commitment on climate change to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and be ‘net-zero’ by 2040”.

    Amnesty claims Fifa has not responded to its requests to speak to consultants involved in human rights-based assessments of the bids.

    Fifa has been approached for comment. It is set to formally confirm the hosts of the two tournaments later this year at a meeting of its congress. When unveiling its choices for hosting the World Cups, it said it was “fully committed” to ensuring the competitions were held to “sustainable event management standards and practices, safeguarding principles for the protection of children and adults at risk and to respecting internationally-recognised human rights in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”.

    It has also said it will “conduct a targeted dialogue with bidders, to ensure complete, comprehensive bids are received and evaluated against the minimum hosting requirements….[It] will focus on the defined priority areas of the event vision and key metrics, infrastructure, services, commercial, and sustainability and human rights.”

    Steve Cockburn, Amnesty’s Head of Labour Rights and Sports, said: “With only a single bid to host each tournament and major human rights concerns surrounding both, there are huge questions about Fifa’s willingness to stand by the pledges and reforms it has made in recent years, including exercising its right to reject any bid which does not meet its stated human rights requirements.

    “History shows that the World Cup can be a source of dignity or exploitation, inclusion or discrimination, freedom or repression, making Fifa’s award of the hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments among the most consequential decisions ever taken by a sporting organisation.”

    Assessing the human rights risks related to the respective bids, Amnesty claims that in Spain, Morocco and Portugal “migrant workers are at risk of exploitation”, “excessive use of police forces is a proven risk” and “racial discrimination is an issue in all three countries”. It says an independent Fifa evaluation of Morocco’s previous bid – to host the 2026 World Cup – “noted its criminalisation of same-sex acts was particularly problematic” and that the country “restricts freedom of expression”.

    Amnesty says Saudi Arabia has invested in sport “to distract from its abysmal track record of abuses”, and that the building programme required for the 2034 tournament is “heightening risks surrounding forced evictions [and] serious risk of labour abuses”. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/01/10/sports-washing-autocracies-can-afford-more-big-events/]

    It adds that “discrimination is deeply embedded in legislation and practices, and could impact fans, workers, players and journalists… women fans face the risk of unfair and disproportionate prosecution… and there have been sweeping arrests and imprisonment of journalists, human rights defenders, political activists.” Amnesty says reforms to prevent human rights violations related to the World Cup in Saudi Arabia would need “sweeping changes to labour laws to protect workers, and the release of activists and human rights defenders who’ve been unjustly imprisoned”.

    Last year the Saudi Sports Minister rejected claims of ‘sportswashing’ and defended the country’s right to host the 2034 tournament, telling the BBC: “We’ve hosted more than 85 global events and we’ve delivered on the highest level. We want to attract the world through sports. Hopefully, by 2034, people will have an extraordinary World Cup.”

    https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/fifa-must-secure-binding-human-rights-safeguards-2030-and-2034-world-cup-hosts-new

    https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/ckrrylej30zo

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • The Great Arizona Water Grab

    For years, a Saudi-owned hay farm has been using massive amounts of water in the middle of the Arizona desert and exporting the hay back to Saudi Arabia. 

    The farm’s water use has attracted national attention and criticism since Reveal’s Nate Halverson and Ike Sriskandarajah first broke this story more than eight years ago.

    Since then, the water crisis in the American West has only worsened as megafarms have taken hold there. And it’s not just foreign companies fueling the problem: Halverson uncovers that pension fund managers in Arizona knowingly invested in a local land deal that resulted in draining down the groundwater of nearby communities. So even as local and state politicians have fought to stop these deals, their retirement fund has been fueling them.

    Since we first aired this story in July, our reporting has spurred Arizona’s governor and attorney general into action. 

    On this week’s Reveal, learn about water use in the West, who’s profiting and who’s getting left behind.

    For more of Halverson’s reporting into a global scramble for food and water, watch “The Grab.” By Center for Investigative Reporting Studios and director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the film will be in theaters and available to stream starting June 14.

    This is an update of an episode that originally aired in July 2023.

    This post was originally published on Reveal.

  • Profile in Persecution: Jalal Labbad

    Currently, Jalal Labbad is sentenced to death for crimes committed when he was a juvenile.  Jalal is a young man who represents critical issues concerning human rights, legal fairness and the treatment of religious minorities in Saudi Arabia. His case embodies the harsh and unjust application of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

     

    Jalal Labbad, born in 1995, is a Saudi national who actively participated in demonstrations between 2011 and 2012, at the age of seventeen, protesting the treatment of the Shia minority in Al-Qatif. These protests were part of a broader movement against the oppressive actions of the Saudi government. Labbad, who was still a minor during these protests, was subsequently targeted by authorities for his involvement. On February 23, 2017, Labbad was arrested at his family home by security forces. The arrest was carried out without a warrant. This marked the beginning of a legal journey, characterised by severe torture and prolonged periods of solitary confinement.

    From the moment of arrest, Labbad was subjected to horrific conditions.  He was isolated from the outside world and deprived of his right to legal counsel. He reports being held in solitary confinement for over nine months. He was tortured for confessions and, through beatings, the use of electric shocks, suffocation and other psychological torture mechanisms, they attempted to manipulate and undermine his morale. This prolonged torture has had a detrimental effect on Labbad’s condition. The torture led him to be hospitalized on multiple occasions and has left after-effects such as a weak heartbeat, and frequent fainting… causing chronic conditions, loss of concentration, and persistent forgetfulness.

    Despite clear indicators of the use of torture in his imprisonment, this was ignored in a judicial process that can only be defined as flawed, wrongful, and unfair. On January 24, 2019, the prosecution requested the hudud penalty for hirabah against him on various charges, some of which date back to when he was a minor. These charges included participating in demonstrations, attending funerals of victims killed by government forces, helping wanted persons, and being involved in the case of the abduction and murder of Sheikh Mohammed al-Jirani, despite the lack of concrete evidence of his involvement. In July 2019, Labbad appeared before the Specialized Criminal Court, accused, among other charges, of participating in demonstrations at the age of 15. On July 31, 2022, the Court sentenced Labbad to death. Finally, on October 13, 2023, the Saudi Arabian Supreme Court secretly confirmed Labbad’s death sentence without notifying his family or legal representatives. This places Labbad at imminent risk of execution.

    Jalal Labbad’s case represents a flaw in Saudi Arabia’s justice system. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that it does not apply the death penalty to minors; abolishing in 2020 the death penalty for accused minors through a Royal Decree, limiting the maximum sentence to ten years in a juvenile detention center. Despite these statements, children and individuals who committed crimes as minors continue to face executions.

    An important factor allowing for the continued execution of juveniles is the distinction between Ta’zir, Qisas and Hudud offences in Islamic Sharia law. Offences categorized as hudud or visas can still be punishable by the death penalty, which the Royal Decree sought to abolish for juveniles. By reclassifying certain offences from Ta’zir to Hudud, the Saudi government has overpowered the decree, maintaining the death penalty.

    Jalal’s warrantless arrest, torture, enforced disappearance, solitary confinement, and unfair trial are violations of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which Saudi Arabia is a party. Additionally, these violations, committed against him as a minor, contravene the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Saudi Arabia is also a party.

    As such, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) highlights the imminent risk that Jalal and other detainees will be executed for crimes allegedly committed when they were minors. ADHRB calls on the international community to take immediate action and pressure the Saudi government to cancel the death sentences imposed on all minors in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, ADHRB urges the Saudi authorities to immediately release Jalal due to the absence of a fair trial associated with the lack of appropriate legal actions. ADHRB also calls for an investigation into the allegations of torture, enforced disappearance, solitary confinement and ill-treatment, to hold perpetrators accountable. Finally, ADHRB calls on Saudi Arabia to provide Jalal with compensation for the violations he has suffered, or at the very least, a fair retrial leading to his release.

    The post Profile in Persecution: Jalal Labbad appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Saudi Arabia’s violent crackdown, unjust accountability

    Saudi Arabia has recently cracked down on migrants in the Kingdom, resulting in the arrest of 19,662 individuals, all in a matter of a few days; 15,200 of which were foreigners to Saudi soil. From April 24th to May 1st, 12,436 arrests were for residency violations, 4,464 for border security breaches, and 2,762 for labour law infringements.

    This crackdown particularly targeted Ethiopian nationals, resulting in the detention and deportation of tens of thousands of migrants under dire conditions. Detainees have reported severe overcrowding, lack of medical care, and inadequate food and water in detention centres. These conditions have led to numerous human rights abuses, including instances of torture and deaths within the facilities.

    The situation is compounded by the ongoing conflict and instability in Ethiopia, particularly in regions like Tigray, which has driven many to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia despite the risks involved. Many migrants face exploitation and abuse during their journey through Yemen, often falling victim to human traffickers and smugglers who take advantage of their desperate circumstances.

    Here lies a major problem of unequal accountability, in which the migrants predominantly face the brunt of the law, the inhumane detention and abuse endured in Saudi detention centres. The legal loophole of the Kafala system- Saudi’s labour law- allows employers to hire undocumented workers without facing stringent penalties, thus perpetuating the cycle of exploitation​.

    Furthermore, by deporting these migrants, Saudi Arabia exposes them to even more potential human rights abuses, with severe issues of reintegration upon their return to Ethiopia, such as isolation and unemployment.

    The Saudi government has been conducting these operations as part of a broader initiative that began years ago to manage the large population of undocumented workers in the country. However, the recent crackdown has drawn significant criticism from human rights organisations, which have highlighted the inhumane treatment of detainees and called for urgent reforms.

    Not to mention the tragic mass killings of hundreds of Ethiopians at the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023, considered by NGOs as crimes against humanity.

    Saudi Arabia’s recent crackdown on migrants underscores a grave issue of unjust accountability and human rights abuses: urgent international attention and action are needed to address these systemic issues and protect the rights and dignity of migrant workers.

    The post Saudi Arabia’s violent crackdown, unjust accountability appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Universal Periodic Review on Saudi Arabia, May 2024

    Saudi Arabia’s human rights record continues to be deeply concerning. This report includes the four most alarming points at present in Saudi Arabia;  including the killing of migrants, repression of dissidents and systemic discrimination against women. The following sectors covered by this report violate international Human Rights standards and demand urgent attention.

    • Criminal Justice, Arbitrary Arrests and Repression of Dissidents

    Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system lacks transparency and fairness, which has a detrimental effect on the safeguarding of human rights. The country’s criminal justice system is ruled by ambiguity1, lacking written laws and granting a degree of autonomy to judges.

    The misuse of vague provisions of the law also impacts cybercrime, allowing online activities to be deemed contrary to public order or other lax terminology, and being criminalised.

    Trials in Saudi Arabia often fail to meet international standards of fairness. Convictions are reportedly handed down based on coerced confessions and evidence obtained through torture. Particularly prevalent in cases of political dissent, freedom of expression or association. Saudi authorities have detained peaceful dissidents, intellectuals and activists and sentenced them to decade-long terms or death2, for their posts on social media. Furthermore, the abuse of “catch-all” charges violates human rights. “Catch-all” sentences, such as the terrorism penalty3, allow for the criminalisation of peaceful opposition and the defence of human rights.

    Extraditions to Saudi Arabia often result in arbitrary detention and unfair trials, with a high risk of torture for the detainees. The mistreatment of detainees, from solitary confinement to incommunicado detention, further violates their right to a fair trial and their human dignity. Such practices highlight the urgent need for reforms to ensure that the criminal justice system complies with international human rights standards and safeguards the rights of all individuals.

    • Death Penalty

    In 2024, Saudi Arabia continues to impose and carry out death sentences. They can be handed down for different crimes, including non-violent ones, which contradicts international standards that reserve the death penalty for the most severe cases.

    Hussein Abu al-Khair4 was executed in March 2023. He received the sentence for a drug offence, and after a trial in which he denounced the use of torture to obtain a coerced confession. His execution highlights the continued use of capital punishment despite international protests.

    The death penalty is also applied to individuals who were minors when they committed the alleged crimes, even when the Saudi Human Rights Commission5 has assured that the death penalty would have no repercussions on minors. Cases such as Jalal Labbad6 are still at risk of imminent execution right now, after Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court secretly upheld his sentence.

    Execution sentenced by the Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system is also at risk of having been handed down in irregular trials. These practices reflect a broader pattern of human rights abuses, in which defendants are denied fair processes and could be victims of torture and harsh sentences for non-violent crimes.

    This penalty, not reserved for the most severe crimes, is also handed down in freedom of expression related crimes. In July of 2023, Muhammad al-Ghamdi7, a retired professor, was sentenced to death for his peaceful activity on the Internet. Convicted under Saudi Arabia’s anti-terrorism law, this case exemplifies the extreme measures taken to repress dissent.

    In spite of  international pressure, Saudi Arabia continues applying capital punishment for a wide range of crimes, including activities preserved by international human rights standards. The continued executions of individuals following unfair trials call for urgent international scrutiny and action to uphold human rights in Saudi Arabia.

    • Migrants and Detention Centres

    Saudi Arabia’s treatment of migrants is a human rights concern. The crackdown by the Saudi authorities on individuals accused of violating residency, border or labor regulations has resulted in many arbitrary arrests and deportations.

    There have been reports of Saudi border guards using explosive weapons and shooting migrants at close range. Attacks directed against the migrant population attempting to enter the country. These actions, reported over the past year, have resulted in hundreds of deaths and serious human rights violations. Human Rights Watch 8has noted that these attacks may appear to be systematic and deliberate, raising the alarm of human rights violations. According to reports9, there were risks for migrants and asylum seekers attempting to reach the country through Yemen. Saudi artillery and sniper fire on the Yemeni border resulted in at least 794 deaths and 1,703 injuries in 2022.

    On the other hand, Saudi Arabia’s migrant detention centers also become a point of interest when assessing the quality of human rights. Harsh conditions characterize these centers10. Migrants and asylum seekers often suffer prolonged and arbitrary detention without access to legal recourse. Detention conditions are appalling; inadequate food, poor water quality and lack of hygiene encourage the spread of disease. There are reports of abuses and deaths at the hands of detention center officials, which is a blatant violation of human rights.

    In addition, the kafala system in place in Saudi Arabia also encourages the exploitation of migrant workers. Despite recent reforms, the system remains one of the strictest11, giving employers excessive control over the mobility and legal status of their migrant workers. This imbalance of power leads to situations of abuse, such as passport confiscation, wage delays and forced labor.

    • Women’s Rights and Guardianship System

    Saudi women are violated and suffer significant discrimination, both in law and in practice

    Despite the introduction of the Personal Status Law in 202212, Saudi women continue to suffer significant discrimination, both in law and in practice.  This law has codified male guardianship, formalizing a tradition that undermines women’s rights and perpetuates systemic inequalities across Saudi society.

    Under the Personal Status Law, fathers are appointed guardians of their children by default. Mothers are still granted custody in the case of separation, but the child’s legal guardian is always the father’s role.  This law does not safeguard the interests of the child, and usually disregards them, limiting the mother’s role when it comes to making binding decisions in her children’s lives. Limiting the mother’s influence on their children’s social and economic well-being, disregarding her and her child’s rights.

    The Law perpetuates gender discrimination13 when it comes to divorce. It limits a woman’s freedom to divorce, requiring must prove harm that makes continuation of the marriage impossible. This law is also ambiguous and does not specify what constitutes “harm” or what evidence is admissible, leaving the law up to the judge’s discretion.

    Women’s rights activism in Saudi Arabia is being targeted by local authorities14. Saudi Arabian campaigners for women’s rights are subjected to harsh persecution, and harsher sentences of charges that include peaceful activism as a form of terrorism. Women’s rights and freedoms are still severely restricted by Saudi Arabia’s overall legislative structure, even with minor advances like permitting women to drive and expanding employment prospects. Protecting the rights of all women in the kingdom and ensuring gender equality requires comprehensive reforms that tackle these fundamental issues.

    •  Recommendations
    1. The immediate release of all persons detained for exercising their right of expression. And the establishment of a transparent legal code that adheres to international Human Rights standards.
    2. The reservation of this penalty for the most severe crimes. And the suspension of the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when they were minors.
    3. To immediately revoke any policy to deliberately use lethal force on migrants and asylum seekers. To improve the conditions in migrant detention centers.
    4. To update the Personal Status Law to ensure the end of  discrimination against women

    Endnotes

    1. World Report 2024: Saudi Arabia. (2024). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/saudi-arabia?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
    2. Amnesty International. (2023). Human Rights in Saudi Arabia 2023. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
    3. Ibid.
    4. Amnesty International. (2023). Human Rights in Saudi Arabia 2023. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
    5. Amnesty International. (2024). Saudi Arabia: Two young men at imminent risk of execution: Abdullah al-Derazi, Jalal Labbad – Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/7363/2023/en/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
    6. Ibid.
    7. Amnesty International. (2023). Human Rights in Saudi Arabia 2023. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
    8. Hardman, N. (2023). “They Fired on Us Like Rain”. En Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/08/21/they-fired-us-rain/saudi-arabian-mass-killings-ethiopian-migrants-yemen-saudi?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
    9. 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Saudi Arabia. (2024, abril). United States Department Of State.
    10. Ibid.
    11. World Report 2024: Saudi Arabia. (2024). Human Rights Watch.  https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/saudi-arabia?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
    12. Ibid.
    13. Ibid.
    14. Amnesty International UK. (2023). Saudi Arabia: dramatic escalation in jailings for online dissent in past year. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/saudi-arabia-dramatic-escalation-jailings-online-dissent-past-year?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

    The post Universal Periodic Review on Saudi Arabia, May 2024 appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Saudi’s digital hypocrisy

    Saudi Arabia is set to host the United Nations’ Internet Governance Forum in Riyadh at the end of this year, from the 15th to the 19th of December. The United Nations’ division was created as a multistakeholder platform facilitating the discussion of public policy issues pertaining to the internet, in December, the program will be shaped along four main themes:

    • Harnessing innovation and balancing risks in the digital space
    • Enhancing the digital contribution to peace, development, and sustainability
    • Advancing human rights and inclusion in the digital age
    • Improving digital governance for the Internet We Want

    However, there is an underlying hypocrisy in the hosting of this event by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the country is notorious for its lack of respect for basic international human rights, scoring 8 out of 100 in the 2023 Freedom House report – classified as “not free”. Indeed, its absolute monarchy restricts almost all political rights and civil liberties. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision aims to increase the country’s sustainability and green initiatives, along with increasing the government’s non-oil revenue, amongst many other goals. These initiatives have been heavily criticized, projects such as NEOM have been under scrutiny for greenwashing, but also as seen as “delusional”.  Therefore, at least two out of four of the main themes of the Internet Governance Forum go against Saudi Arabia’s reality, being a country that is not advancing human rights and inclusion, neither contributing to peace and sustainability; presenting a true example of whitewashing by hosting the Forum.

    Focusing more on digital rights, there is concrete evidence that the country uses social media platforms to police political discourse, attack dissidents, and suppress influential voices. Authorities maintain extensive censorship and surveillance systems, supporting online networks of bots and accounts that spread pro-government messages and target perceived dissenters, particularly the infiltration of X, formerly known as Twitter, spreading propaganda in support of Saudi Arabia. The goal of these domestic manipulation operations is to fabricate an appearance of widespread support for the state and its leaders while silencing dissenting voices, thereby eroding the right to information and democratic principles. In fact, Saudi Arabia is the second country after China with the highest number of removed accounts by Twitter. Activists, journalists, government employees, and other professionals report a climate of fear, compelling many to self-censor or participate in pro-government discourse online. Those perceived to voice dissent online, including critics and activists, face severe repercussions such as harassment and arrest.

    The overall lack of digital rights makes the kingdom an unsuitable host for the Internet Governance Forum, which relies on open dialogue and freedom of expression to address global internet governance issues effectively.

    To add fuel to the fire, Saudi Arabia’s investments in technological projects only increase its opportunity to abuse even more of censorship and data surveillance. Indeed, the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia raises significant concerns about digital rights and privacy abuse due to its extensive surveillance infrastructure, which involves ubiquitous monitoring through cameras, sensors, and biometric data collection, leading to constant tracking of residents and visitors without their consent. The project aims to collect vast amounts of personal, financial, and health data, yet lacks robust data protection laws and clear regulations on data management, posing risks of misuse and unauthorized access.

    Adding on to this, Tech Giant Google has installed a new Cloud Region in the Kingdom, Google Cloud services facilitate small to medium-sized businesses’ operations, so they don’t have to own their own data centers and servers. This project is a joint venture with Aramco, a Saudi state-owned oil company, which causes concern as it allows the state to access even more mass quantities of personal data: the collaboration between powerful tech companies and autocratic regimes such as Saudi Arabia facilitates the opportunity for further national digital repression.

    The hosting of the Internet Governance Forum is a true example of whitewashing, illustrating the pure hypocrisy of the country’s blatant disregard for digital rights, let alone basic human rights, along with its deluded façade of protection of human and digital rights and peace promotion.

    The post Saudi’s digital hypocrisy appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Transnational repression: a tool that extends authoritarian government’s capacity for repression

    Perhaps not-so-well-known, transnational repression constitutes a threat to human rights that has been going on for decades. The phenomenon, which entails governments reaching beyond their borders to silence or deter dissent by committing human rights abuses against their nationals or former nationals, has been extensively documented by Human Rights Watch. The 2018 murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia brought this issue to popular awareness.

    Alongside killings, the methods of transnational repression include unlawful removals (expulsions, extraditions, and deportations), abductions and forced disappearances, targeting of relatives, abuse of consular services, and digital transnational repression. Government critics, dissidents, human rights defenders, civil society activists, journalists, opposition party members, and their families and friends are the main victims of this type of repression. In addition, women as a group are specially targeted when attempting to flee their families or their government´s restrictive laws. Several cases reported in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain exemplify this burdensome reality.

    In January 2022, after the Bahraini authorities issued a Red Notice through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Ahmed Jaffer Muhammad, a Bahraini critic of the government, was extradited from Serbia, the country he had previously fled after suffering torture and ill-treatment when detained in Bahrain. Serbia did so while ignoring an order from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) pending more information on the risks of mistreatment. Now, the critic is serving life in prison in Bahrain following allegations that he was tortured while in custody.

    Saudi women are among those who have tried to flee their families to escape the rules of a strict male guardianship system that denies them the autonomy to make decisions about their own lives. Families of these women, supported by Saudi authorities, had tried to bring them back, sometimes successfully. In April 2017, Dina Ali Lasloom aimed to flee their family by flying to Australia, but when transiting in Manila, she was prevented from boarding the plane to her final destination. Apparently, two airline security officials and two men -later confirmed as Lasloom’s uncles- were seen carrying her with duct tape on her mouth, feet, and hands. According to Bloomberg, after being sent back to Saudi Arabia, Lasloom was held without charge under protective custody in a detention facility for women under 30 years until the authorities could resolve the case. In January 2019, Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun also attempted to flee her family by traveling to Australia. During a connection in Thailand, however, she was stopped by the Thai authorities, who planned to put her on a flight back home. Global pressure on the Asian country was essential to allow her to travel to Canada, where she finally received asylum.

    It is also worth emphasizing the government’s punishment of the families of individuals who abandon the country following persecution. In this sense, there are instances where relatives have been harassed, threatened, arbitrarily arrested, banned from traveling abroad, and even killed. In Bahrain, authorities have targeted the wife, son, and brother and mother-in-law of the founder of the Bahrain Institute for Human Rights and Democracy –Sayed al-Wadaei-, in exile in the UK. The families of Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi dissident based in Canada, and of Saad Al-Jabri, a former top Saudi intelligence official, suffered similar repression in Saudi Arabia.

    Although mostly understood as referring to authoritarian governments, cases of transnational repression have also been assisted by democratic administrations, as seen in Serbia’s involvement in the extradition of a Bahraini dissident. Furthermore, this case also highlights governments’ misuse of Interpol’s red notices to target human rights activists abroad. Red notices, formal requests of the National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in the organization, are issued to locate wanted individuals for detention, arrest, or restriction of movement. When put to the wrong use, these notices represent a major concern, especially in countries with authoritarian regimes. In the Arab Gulf region, for example, this has become a political strategy used by governments to suppress dissent and target political opponents. With this, a need for increased vigilance and reform within Interpol’s operational framework has emerged.

    Sometimes downplayed, the phenomenon of transnational repression should be as disturbing as the efforts of some governments to silence dissent or target human rights defenders at home. Also, this practice demands putting pressure on compliant democratic countries, which should be easier to hold accountable. However, more scrutiny must be exerted around this reality to accomplish this endeavor.

    The post Transnational repression: a tool that extends authoritarian government’s capacity for repression appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Saudi Arabia’s Continued Use of the Death Penalty on Minors: Unveiling Legal Loopholes and Human Rights Violations

    In April 2024, the Court of Appeal in Saudi Arabia approved two death sentences for Yousif Al-Manasif and Ali Al-Mubaiouq, both Saudi nationals, who were accused of protest-related crimes allegedly committed as children. The two men were arrested between April 2017 and January 2018 for protesting against the government and ‘betraying the homeland’, a time in which they were between the ages of 14 and 16. Saudi Arabia has denied allegations of torture against the defendants and refuted claims that they were minors at the time of the charges, despite the Public Prosecutor’s examination confirming that they were.

    The two death sentences are the consequence of a much bigger issue: Saudi Arabia’s continued neglect of the right to life, particularly concerning minors. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly claimed that it does not apply the death penalty to children or in respect of crimes allegedly committed by children. In 2016, a statement by the Saudi Arabian delegation to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reaffirmed this stance, stating that ‘there is no application of the death penalty on children’. Furthermore, in 2020, Saudi Arabia officially abolished the death penalty for child defendants through a Royal Decree, replacing it with a prison sentence of a maximum of 10 years in a juvenile detention facility. The decree was expected to spare the lives of at least six men who were on death row for participating in anti-government protests during the Arab Spring uprisings when they were under the age of 18. However, despite these official declarations, there remains a stark reality: children and individuals who have committed crimes as minors continue to face executions, with many currently at imminent risk.

    According to ESOHR, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 1,562 executions since 2010, with 58 executions occurring in 2024 alone. Among these cases, 15 individuals have been executed for crimes committed when they were under 18. Notably, 11 of these executions took place after 2015, when King Salman assumed the throne, and 7 occurred after 2017, following the appointment of the Crown Prince. In 2019 alone, there were 6 executions of child defendants. The Crown Prince has blamed ‘bad laws’ and rogue judges for the continued executions. However, no execution can proceed without his approval. This raises significant questions: How do executions of minors persist despite the abolition of the death penalty for child defendants by royal decree? What are the mechanisms by which these executions are carried out, and what loopholes enable the continued application of the death penalty on minors?

    The answer is two-fold. First, the distinction between Ta’zir, Qisas, and Hudud crimes has justified persisting with the death penalty on minors despite the Royal Decree. Islamic Sharia law classifies offenses and their respective punishments into three categories. Hudud crimes, such as defamation, adultery, robbery, and drinking alcohol, entail punishments fixed in the Quran, ranging from public lashing to public stoning to death. Qisas follows the Islamic principle of ‘an eye for an eye’ for crimes against an individual or family, with punishment being equal retaliation outlined in the Quran. Ta’zir crimes encompass crimes not falling under Hudud or Qisas, with punishments at the discretion of the state, a judge, or a ruler, for actions deemed sinful or disruptive to public order. Saudi authorities initially stated that the Royal Decree abolishing the death penalty for children would apply to all three crime categories. However, they later backtracked, asserting that the decree applies solely to Ta’zir crimes. Exploiting this, the government reclassified various offenses from Ta’zir to Hudud crimes, thereby justifying and maximizing the use of the death penalty for juvenile defendants. This legal loophole significantly contributes to the ongoing imposition of death sentences and executions despite the decree’s implementation.

    Second, Saudi authorities have combined this legal loophole with the use of torture to coerce minors into confessing to crimes they did not commit. For instance, Abdullah al-Howaiti, apprehended at 14 years old, claimed his innocence for months until he was tortured into confessing to leading the robbery of a jewelry store and murdering a police officer. These offenses are classified as Hudud crimes and led to Abdullah’s death sentence, illustrating the authorities’ methods of coercing minors to admit to Hudud crimes so they can use the legal loophole to impose the death sentence.

    The continued imposition of the death penalty on children by the Saudi authorities and how it is justified or made possible is a clear violation of the international legal prohibition on execution for childhood offenses under Art. 37(a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Saudi Arabia has agreed to be bound. Saudi Arabia has also breached the prohibition against the use of torture under Article 2 of the Convention against Torture and the prohibition under Article 13A of the Arab Charter by torturing child defendants. Governments that have an influence on Saudi Arabia such as the US must use their leverage to pressure Saudi Arabia to comply with international law and abolish the death penalty for child defendants for all crimes. The Saudi authorities must review individuals on death row to identify all persons who may have been under 18 at the time of the alleged offense and release those individuals. Moreover, there must be investigations and prosecutions made on all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of child-defendants. The unlawful execution and torture of children cannot continue.

    The post Saudi Arabia’s Continued Use of the Death Penalty on Minors: Unveiling Legal Loopholes and Human Rights Violations appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • The number of women migrant workers in the Gulf region is to increase, and so is the potential for human rights abuses

    Indian women migrant workers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to reach 6 million in 2-3 years. Due to the loosening of labour restrictions regarding women in the region, for example, the removal of restrictions on work during night hours, there has already been a 23% growth in demand for women migrant workers in the “hospitality and construction industries” in 2023, compared to the previous year.

    However, it is important to note that 70% of the women migrant labour force in the MENA region is comprised of domestic workers, many of whom have reported human rights abuses.

    More specifically, many female migrant domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have suffered various forms of abuse, including passport confiscation, physical and sexual abuse, excessive working hours without breaks or days off, denial of wages, inadequate living conditions, and restriction of movement and communication. These abuses infringe upon several laws and human rights standards, including prohibitions against forced labour, restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, rights to fair working conditions, protection against discrimination, and access to justice and remedies.

    The kafala law (labour law) allows these abuses, the UAE’s visa sponsorship ties workers to individual employers, granting employers significant power over employees often leading to exploitation. Additionally, domestic workers lack legal protections under UAE labour law, especially due to their status of working in private homes, they are excluded from labour protection laws.

    Despite reforms to some aspects of the kafala system, domestic workers continue to face challenges in accessing justice and protection. The UAE government’s failure to address these abuses violates international human rights and labour laws, including the International Labour Organization’s conventions on domestic workers and forced labour. Urgent action is needed to ratify key international treaties, reform labour laws, and provide effective protection for domestic workers in the UAE.

    Due to the loosening of labour laws for women, the expected increase in demand for women migrant workers is around 71% for the next 2-3 years. Therefore, without necessary reforms of respective MENA region countries’ labour systems, the expected increase in demand for women migrant workers increases the potential for further exploitation, raising grave human rights concerns, and urging immediate action to protect them.

    The post The number of women migrant workers in the Gulf region is to increase, and so is the potential for human rights abuses appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • ‘Art-washing’? Unease as British cultural institutions lend lustre to Saudi trade push

    Campaigners say move to use the arts to reinforce economic ties with Riyadh may help to launder Gulf state’s human rights record

    It was an unusual gig for YolanDa Brown, the saxophonist and composer who this week performed high above the clouds for a UK delegation on a private British Airways plane bound for Saudi Arabia.

    The flight was part of a trade offensive for British businesses and institutions in Riyadh, with Brown’s performance part of a new focus for Saudi-UK relations – international arts.

    Continue reading…

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

  • Assessing Saudi Arabia’s New Law on Domestic Workers

    Saudi Arabia faces complexities of informal domestic work, a sector marked by vulnerabilities and abuses. Despite some efforts towards regulation, the issue of domestic workers in the kingdom remains a pressing concern. While Decision No. 310/1434 of 2013 extended certain protections to this marginalized workforce, significant gaps persisted, leaving workers exposed to exploitation. Under the previous framework, domestic workers, including household staff of both genders, faced long work shifts   without compensation for overtime. Reports of passport confiscation, forced confinement along with  physical, mental, and sexual abuse underscored the urgent need for comprehensive reform. The concerning revelation of domestic workers being ‘sold’ online only reinforced the urgency of the situation.

    25-year-old Joy Simiyu is one Kenyan domestic worker who decided to seek employment in Saudi Arabia. With unemployment on the rise in Kenya, Joy was hopeful that she would be able to financially support herself as a domestic worker in the Gulf. Instead, Joy endured abuse and exploitation, forcing her to return home after a few months. During her time in Saudi Arabia, Joy recounted how she was deprived of food and rest, and her wages were not paid. Now, she warns others about the realities of working in Saudi Arabia and counts herself lucky to have made it back home.

    Reports of abuse and exploitation, exemplified by Joy’s experience, points out the urgency for comprehensive reform. While Saudi Arabia introduced a new law in October 2023, set to take effect in September 2024, its effectiveness hinges on implementation and enforcement. Past regulations often languished unenforced, rendering them ineffectual. The new law must be accompanied by robust monitoring mechanisms and accessible avenues for complaints to ensure compliance.

    Although this legislation represents a step forward, explicitly banning passport confiscation, establishing maximum working hours, and introducing occupational safety and health regulations, it did not have a real impact on the lives of informal workers. The effectiveness of these measures hinges on their implementation. The new law must be accompanied by robust monitoring mechanisms and accessible avenues for complaints to ensure compliance. Without these safeguards, the potential benefits of the legislation may remain elusive.

    Crucially, the new law fails to address the issue of minimum wage for domestic workers, highlighting an omission in labor protections. Moreover, the persistence of the Kafala system perpetuates an unequal power dynamic between employers and workers, impeding meaningful progress towards fair treatment. To truly uplift domestic workers, they must be afforded the same rights and protections as any other sector. Integration into the broader labor law framework is imperative, ensuring equitable treatment and recourse for grievances. Reforms to the Kafala system are equally vital, dismantling barriers to autonomy and empowering workers to assert their rights.

    The new legislation represents a significant stride towards safeguarding the rights of domestic workers, yet challenges persist. Meaningful change requires not only the enactment of laws but a commitment to their enforcement and the dismantling of systemic barriers. Only through concerted efforts can Saudi Arabia realize its vision of a fair and inclusive society for all its inhabitants.

    The post Assessing Saudi Arabia’s New Law on Domestic Workers appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Saudi Aramco-FIFA Sponsorship Deal : Another Case of Blatant Sportwashing

    Aramco, a leading energy and chemicals Saudi public company, has signed a four-year global partnership with the International Association Football Federation (FIFA). The company will become FIFA’s Major Worldwide Partner exclusive in the energy category, with sponsorship rights for multiple events including the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup 26 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.

    The agreement, which runs until the end of 2027, fits Saudi Arabia’s strategy of sportwashing to hide human rights abuses. Indeed, the policy, initiated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since his accession to power in 2017, is primarily designed to “sportswash” Saudi Arabia’s reputation, hosting major sporting events that attract widespread positive media attention to divert it away from the hosts’ abuses. By providing the worldwide population extensive possibilities of distractions, it becomes easier to forget reiterated human rights violations in the country. In this way, the world can be made to neglect the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the fierce repression of Saudi independent journalists, the poor women’s rights in the kingdom and ignore the mass killings of migrants along the Saudi border with Yemen.

    Having already secured sponsorship rights for the 2026 Men’s World Cup and the Women’s World Cup the following year, the Saudi government may soon secure the rights to host the 2034 men’s football World Cup and – gallingly, considering the country’s treatment of women – as it is bidding for the 2035 women’s World Cup too. Recently, Manahel al-Otaibi, a 29-year-old fitness instructor and women’s rights activist, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison by Saudi’s authorities because of her choice of clothing and support for women’s rights.

    One of most worrying consequences is probably the fact that giving a positive image to governments with abysmal human rights records obscures the struggle of those whose rights are being violated and of the activists and NGOs that are trying to raise awareness about what is going on in these countries.

    In April 2016, FIFA adopted the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and revised its own Statutes to include its responsibility to respect human rights in article 3 of the FIFA governing Statutes (non-discrimination was already long enshrined in article 4). Even if, in June 2017, FIFA adopted and published its Human Rights Policy stating that human rights commitments are binding on all FIFA bodies and officials, the Federation seems to ignore its commitments. In particular, FIFA is obliged to integrate human rights requirements into bidding processes for competitions and as a factor in the subsequent selection of the hosts.

    For this reason, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) urges Saudi Arabia to enact human rights reforms and to comply with the international standards setted by international treaties. Also we require the FIFA to apply clear, objective human rights criteria to all states for hosting sports competitions. Although FIFA has not contributed to adverse human rights impacts, the action of the Saudi government is effective because the sports federations allow it : the FIFA disregards Saudi Arabia’s atrocious human rights record, attracted by the billions of dollars that Saudi Arabia invests to cover it.

    The post Saudi Aramco-FIFA Sponsorship Deal : Another Case of Blatant Sportwashing appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Democracy in Saudi Arabia?: No progress in sight

    Last week, the EU announced a relaxation of Schengen visa rules for the citizens of Saudi Arabia. No human rights compromises were made in exchange. Since democracy constitutes the best umbrella under which human rights can thrive, the next question follows: What is the current state of democracy in Saudi Arabia?

    In its new report on Freedom in the World 2024, Freedom House (FH) confirms, one more year, that Saudi Arabia´s low performance in each dimension accounts for a fair score of 8 out of 100. In the same vein, the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) multidimensional approach continues to define Saudi Arabia as a “closed autocracy” in its Democracy Report 2024, indicating that the country does not hold multiparty elections for the chief executive or the legislature. Saudi Arabia´s reality, along with that of countries such as Libya, helps explain why the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains “the most autocratic region in the world, with 98% of its population residing in autocracies”.

    Apart from the lack of free and fair elections and the restriction of all political rights and pluralism, Saudi Arabia´s absolute monarchy is characterized by several deficiencies in terms of civil liberties that the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) has largely documented.

    Referring to one of the cornerstones of democracy, the individual’s ability to express freely their personal views on political or other sensitive topics has deteriorated deeply since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and the arrests of many prominent writers and activists, making self-censorship a pervasive practice in the country. Citizens of Saudi Arabia and Saudis living and traveling abroad are also both subjected to surveillance and spying, the latter in what could be considered a case of transnational repression. On top of that, as reported by ECDHR, the kingdom continues to engage in the forceful disappearance of activists who exercise their right to freedom of expression. Moreover, freedom of belief is severely curtailed, with the public observance of any religion other than Islam prohibited and the Shiite and Sufi Muslims´ religious practices restricted. The recent case of the 12 football fans imprisoned for peaceful Shia chants represents a clear example not just of the lack of freedom of expression and belief, but also of the recurrent use of the abusive and vaguely worded Anti-Cybercrime Law to crackdown on those liberties. According to FH, the government also heavily controls and influences the media and hampers academic freedom.

    Regarding associational and organizational rights, the situation is equally dire. The government does not respect freedom of assembly – imposing at times the death penalty on those who lead or participate in public protests – discourages independent work on human rights and governance issues by denying licenses that the nongovernmental organizations need to operate, and does not guarantee freedom to form independent labor unions or engage in strikes.

    The rule of law in the country is deficient, too. The judiciary is not independent and due process is flawed: defendants’ rights are not sufficiently protected by law; detainees often see their access to legal counsel denied during interrogation; and lengthy pretrial detention and detention without charge or trial are frequent. Especially preoccupying is that due process is particularly deficient in death penalty cases, despite the severity of the charges. Moreover, capital punishment is still commonly applied to a wide range of crimes that go beyond murder to include drug and protest-related offenses. Overall, in 2023 the kingdom executed 170 people. Corporal punishment, mostly flogging, is also common in criminal sentencing. On the other hand, allegations of torture and other forms of ill-treatment by police and prison officials have been recurrently expressed, being quite alarming the reliance on torture-tainted confessions as the primary basis for convictions.

    Lastly, as for personal autonomy and individual rights, it is worth noting the restrictions on freedom of movement imposed on activists and critics as a way of punishment, as well as women’s suffering of burdensome constraints in the context of the male guardianship system. In addition, foreign workers – more than half of the active labor force – are subjected to economic exploitation through the abusive kafala system.

    Notwithstanding all the highlighted abuses, civil society’s push for democratic change is very much alive, as the People’s Vision for Reform in Saudi Arabia, endorsed by 21 international organizations, demonstrates. However, Saudi Arabia´s significant power over world oil prices as the largest oil producer in OPEC, allowed it to strengthen its repressive system by shielding the regime from critique.

    The European Union, as a supposed defender of human rights around the world, should link any tie to the kingdom to this endeavor.

    The post Democracy in Saudi Arabia?: No progress in sight appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Escalating concerns over the lives of minors threatened with death in Saudi Arabia

    The undersigned organizations express their grave concern for the lives of minor defendants particularly the two young men, Yousif Al-Manasif and Ali Al-Mubaiouq, who are at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia following confirmed information that the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal (SCCA) has upheld their death sentences. Their cases were therefore referred to the Supreme Court which will render a final judgment. Approximately a year ago, the Supreme Court upheld final death sentences against Ali al-Subaiti. In addition, final death sentences had been approved by the Supreme Court about a year ago for both Abdullah Al-Derazi and Jalal Al-Labad. The Supreme Court is considered the final judicial stage before execution, which occurs after the king’s signature.

    Considering Saudi Arabia’s past practices, it is difficult to predict the exact time frame between case referral to the Supreme Court, its approval, and execution. Previous cases indicate that the lives of the minors sentenced by “discretionary punishment” (taazir), are at imminent risk of execution.

    As it is expected that there will be cases of minors that have not been identified, with the latest developments, the situation of minors who have been monitored by organizations to have received death sentences:

    • Jalal Al-Labad and Abdullah Al-Derazi: The sentence has been approved by the Supreme Court and execution can occur at any moment after the king’s signature.
    • Yousif Al-Manasif and Ali Al-Mubaiouq, Ali Al-Subaiti: The sentence is currently before the Supreme Court.
    • Jawad  Qureiris: The sentence is before the specialized criminal appellate court.
    • Mahdi Al-Mohsen: A preliminary sentence from the specialized criminal court.

    The Saudi Arabia authorities subjected the young men to human rights violations while in detention, including enforced disappearance, solitary confinement for months, and various forms of torture. The risk of execution is exacerbated by the fact that the judiciary in Saudi Arabia is not independent and is thereby unable to protect individuals against arbitrary death sentences. Individuals who are charged for acts related to their peaceful activism, are usually sentenced on the basis of the Counterterrorism law and torture-trainted confessions are used as sole evidence for their conviction.

    The undersigned organizations point out that the approval of new death sentences against individuals who are sentenced for acts committed as minors, contradicts Saudi Arabia’s narrative that it has halted juvenile death sentences. For instance, in  a statement announcing the promulgation of Royal Decree No. 46274, the Saudi Human Rights Commission mentioned that the death penalty against such individuals and against minors would be annulled.  Saudi Arabia has reiterated this announcement on multiple occasions before the Human Rights Council and in other international human rights foras.This potential executions would entail a flagrant violation of Saudi Arabia’sinternational obligations, given that Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which clearly prohibits the death penalty against minors.

    Despite this announcement, Saudi Arabia executed the minor Mustafa Al-Darwish in June 2021 and continued issuing and approving similar death sentences. Instead of halting executions, the government has resorted to cryptic and unsubstantiated responses to communications from UN special rapporteurs regarding their cases.

    Since the beginning of 2024, Saudi Arabia has executed 47 individuals. 12 of these sentences were issued by the Specialized Criminal Court. The Ministry of Interior did not specify the nature of the sentences issued against them, but they are likely taazir sentences.

    The undersigned organizations believe that the approval of new death sentences against minors exposes the reality of Saudi Arabia’s successive promises regarding the death penalty in general and the death penalty against minors in particular. It is impossible to envisage reforms or changes without immediately halting arbitrary death sentences, especially against minors on charges that are not considered the most serious, and after unfair trials.

    Undersigned organizations;

    1. ACAT-Belgium (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture)
    2. ACAT-France (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture)
    3. ACAT-Germany (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture)
    4. ACAT-Liberia
    5. Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)
    6. Arab Council Foundation
    7. ALQST
    8. Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
    9. Capital Punishment Justice Project (Australia)
    10. Children Education Society (CHESO)-Tanzania
    11. Death Penalty Focus
    12. ECPM (Together against the death penalty)
    13. European Saudi Organization for Human Rights
    14. Federal Association of Vietnamese Refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany
    15. German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (GCADP)
    16. International Harm Reduction Organization (HRI)
    17. Judicial Reform Foundation
    18. Human Rights Watch
    19. Legal Awareness Watch Pakistan (LAW)
    20. Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)
    21. MENA Rights Group
    22. Mwatana for Human Rights
    23. NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing
    24. Organization Abolition Death Penalty of Iraq
    25. Paris Bar Association (barreau de Paris).
    26. Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR)
    27. The Advocates for Human Rights
    28. The Transitional Justice Working Group – TJWG (South Korea)
    29. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
    30. World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

    The post Escalating concerns over the lives of minors threatened with death in Saudi Arabia appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.