Repression of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly intensified. Among those harassed, arbitrarily detained, prosecuted and/or jailed were government critics, women’s rights activists, human rights defenders, relatives of activists, journalists, members of the Shi’a minority...

On 25 January 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, resentenced Salma al- Shehab, a Leeds University PhD student and mother of two, to 27 years in prison, followed by a 27-year travel ban after the Supreme Court returned her case to the SCC’s appeals chamber...

On 12 March, Saudi Arabian authorities executed Hussein Abo al-Kheir, a Jordanian man and father of eight, who was sentenced to death in 2015 for drug-related offences following a grossly unfair trial. During his pre-trial detention, Hussein Abo al-Kheir was subjected to an array of human rights...

Hussein Abo al-Kheir is at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia as the authorities resume executions for drug-related offences after a two year moratorium announced by the Saudi Arabian Human Rights Commission in January 2021. Since 10 November 2022, Saudi Arabia has executed 20 people...

Palestinian national Dr. Hani al-Khudari continues to be detained in Saudi Arabia despite the expiry of his sentence on 28 February 2022. During his arrest and detention, Dr. Hani al-Khudari was subjected to a series of gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearance, arbitrary...

The Saudi Arabian authorities have denied human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani contact with, and not disclosed his whereabouts to, his family since 24 October. Mohammed al-Qahtani is the co-founder of the now disbanded Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), formerly one of Saudi...

On 10 October, the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, sentenced 10 Egyptian Nubian men to prison terms ranging between 10 to 18 years following a grossly unfair trial for organizing a peaceful remembrance event. They were charged with establishing an association without a...

On 9 August, the Specialized Criminal Court in the Saudi capital, Riyadh sentenced, after a grossly unfair trial, Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi activist and academic from Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a minority to 34 years in prison followed by a 34-year travel ban. She was accused, among other things, to...

On 4 August 2021, Ali Maziad, a Lebanese national residing in Saudi Arabia, was abducted from his house in the capital, Riyadh by a group of men in civilian clothes. The Lebanese Embassy informed his family three months after his disappearance that he is being detained by State Security. Since...

Abdullah al-Huwaiti, who was arrested when he was 14, is at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia. On 13 June 2022, the Appeals Court upheld his death sentence after a grossly unfair trial. During his time in detention, he was held in solitary confinement, denied access to a lawyer, and forced...

Jaafar Mohammad Sultan and Sadeq Majeed Thamer, two Bahraini Shi’a men, are at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia. The Specialized Criminal Court sentenced them to death in October 2021 following a grossly unfair trial for terrorism-related charges, which includes participating in...

Uyghur woman Buheliqiemu Abula and her 13-year-old daughter were detained near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on 31 March and told by police they faced deportation to China along with two Uyghur men already held. Buheliqiemu Abula is the former wife of Nuermaimaiti Ruze, who with Aimidoula Waili has been...

Uyghur religious scholar Aimidoula Waili and his friend Nuermaimaiti Ruze are at high risk of forcible repatriation to China following their arrest in November 2020. Since this time, they have been held in Jeddah Dhahban Central Prison, Saudi Arabia, without any reason for their arrest or any...