AMNESTY  October 19, 2012 Saudi Arabia urged to allow prisoner of conscience to visit ill mother. The Saudi Arabian authorities should urgently allow imprisoned human rights activist Dr Saud al-Hashimi to visit his seriously ill mother in hospital, Amnesty International said today. Saud al-Hashimi’s family have requested that he be allowed to see his mother, but the Saudi Arabian authorities have reportedly so far refused to grant him permission.  More…

Dr Abdullah bin Hamid bin Ali al-Hamid

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL September 5, 2012  HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP CO-FOUNDERS ON TRIAL Two co-founders of a Saudi Arabian human rights organization are on trial on charges related to their human rights activities and criticism of the Saudi Arabian authorities. If imprisoned, Amnesty International will consider them to be prisoners of conscience.  Dr Abdullah bin Hamid bin Ali al-Hamid, 65 years old, and Mohammad bin Fahad bin Muflih al-Qahtani, 46years old, both co-founders of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), a human rights NGO, hada trial session on 1 September where they both responded to the charges against them.  More…

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL  September 5, 2012   SAUDI “DAY OF RAGE” PROTESTER RELEASED Khaled al-Johani, the only man to reach the site of the demonstration to protest on the  “Day of Rage” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 11 March 2011, was released on 8 August.  More …

A Saudi Arabian cleric and outspoken critic of the Saudi government held in detention for more than a month must be either charged with a recognizably criminal offence or released, Amnesty International has said. (August 9, 2012)
Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, 51, who has frequently criticised the Saudi Arabian government over discrimination faced by members of the Shi’a community in the country, has been held without charge since his arrest by Saudi Arabian security forces on 8 July in al-Awwamiya  in the Eastern Province. “It has been a month since his arrest and Amnesty International is not aware of any charges being brought against him. Amnesty calls on the Saudi Arabian authorities to either charge him with a recognisably criminal offence or release him,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International. “The Saudi Arabian authorities must also end what amounts to pervasive human rights violations against members of the Shi’a community in the Eastern Province exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.” More…  in Arabic in English

Saudi Arabia: Reversal on Women Olympians Broken Pledge to Send Women to London Games Should Trigger Ban – HRW   July 11, 2012    (London) – Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it would not send any female athletes to compete in the London Olympics despite its recent pledge to do so highlights the need to overturn the fundamental barriers to women playing sports in the kingdom, Human Rights Watch said today. The International Olympic Committee should bar Saudi Arabia from participating in the 2012 Games because of its clear violation of the Olympic Charter.  Read more

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011  Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor May 25, 2012  Secretary Clinton and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner have released the 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. “The most important human rights problems reported included citizens’ lack of the right and legal means to change their government; pervasive restrictions on universal rights such as freedom of expression, including on the Internet, and freedom of assembly, association, movement, and religion; and a lack of equal rights for women and children, as well as for workers. Other human rights problems reported included torture and other abuses, poor prison and detention center conditions, holding political prisoners and detainees, denial of due process and arbitrary arrest and detention, and arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence. Violence against women, trafficking in persons, and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, sect, race, and ethnicity were common. Lack of governmental transparency and access made it difficult to assess the magnitude of many reported human rights problems. The government prosecuted and punished a limited number of officials who committed abuses, particularly those engaged in or complicit with corruption. There were reports that some members of the security forces and other senior officials, including those linked to the royal family, committed abuses with impunity.”  Read more…

Saudi Arabia ramps up clampdown on human rights activists 18 June 2012  Amnesty International A prominent Saudi Arabian human rights defender was brought before a Riyadh court on Monday on 11 activism-related charges in the latest example of what Amnesty International called a “troubling string of court cases” aimed at silencing human rights campaigners. The charges against 46-year-old Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani relate to his human rights activism. They include setting up an unlicensed organization, understood to be the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) of which he is a founding member, “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, accusing the judiciary of allowing torture and accepting confessions made under duress, describing the Saudi Arabian authorities as a police state, inciting public opinion by accusing authorities of human rights violations, and turning international organizations against the Kingdom. His appearance in Riyadh’s Criminal Court is part of a series of recent trials aimed at silencing human rights activists in the Kingdom. “Through trials based on spurious charges and arbitrary restrictive measures like travel bans, Saudi Arabian authorities are engaged in a campaign to cow human rights defenders into submission.” (Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.)  Read more…  in Arabic in English

One year on, Saudi Arabian women still driving their way to greater freedom 15 June 2012  Amnesty International   A year after scores of women began risking arrest and punishment by taking to Saudi Arabian roads in defiance of a long-standing ban on them driving, people around the world continue to spur them on in their struggle.   Ahead of a fresh wave of driving protests expected for this 17 June, Amnesty International has written to King Abdullah, urging him to overturn the ban.  Read more…

The Cairo Institute publishes its fourth annual report under the title “Fractured Walls… New Horizons”  June 6, 2012 The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies published its fourth annual report on the state of human rights in the Arab world.  Through its research and analysis, this report addresses the repercussions of the revolutionary winds of change which swept across the region and succeeded in toppling the figures of tyranny, autocracy, and corruption in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. The report is divided into two sections, the first of which addresses the problem of human rights and democracy in seven Arab countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain). The second section, entitled “Countries under Occupation and Armed Conflict,” focuses on the occupied Palestinian territories, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, and Lebanon.  Read report in Arabic in English

Cairo in May 7, 2012
Urgent – Bahrain
Re- Trial of Al-Khawaja and the Arrest of Nabil Rajab

Nabil Rajab

The Bahraini authorities arrested yesterday the human rights activist Mr. Nabil Rajab, President of the Bahraini Center for Human Rights, who was arrested at the airport in Bahrain during his return from Lebanon. Although the Bahraini authorities did not disclose reasons of arrest, they noted that the arrest was based on a judicial order from the Public Prosecution.
The Arab Program for Human Rights Activists expresses its deep concern at the continuing deterioration of human rights conditions in Bahrain and the continued targeting of human rights defenders and the security and judiciary prosecution on the backdrop of their peaceful activities in the defense of rights and freedoms, and the exposure of the systematic and continued violations of Bahraini authorities against citizens since the Pearl Square events in the past February and March.
The Program confirms that the arrest of Rajab is a clear and flagrant violation of the provisions of Article 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly the right to free movement as well as the provisions of Article 9 of the same Covenant which prohibits arbitrary detention. In the meantime, the detention without informing the charge against him is contrary to the provisions of Article 14 of the same Covenant which forces the authorities to inform the arrested or detained on the charges against him and to enable him to contact his family and his lawyer. The Program sees as if the Bahraini authorities seek to convey a letter to human rights activists that the retrial of Al Khawaja is not a new approach in the treatment of human rights activists within the Kingdom, however, it is just fake response to go with outside pressure. The Bahraini authorities continue to adopt the same repressive policy through the arrest of Nabil Rajab to intimidate activists and to silent their voices, in violation to terms and provisions of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights Defenders.
The Arab Program for Human Rights Activists claims the Bahraini authorities to immediately release the human rights activist Nabil Rajab, without limitation or conditions. Meanwhile, the Program shoulders the Bahraini authorities the full responsibility for his physical and mental health.
Beside, the Program calls on all human rights activists and institutions to stand in solidarity with our colleague Nabil Rajab and address the Bahraini authorities to release him and to hold those responsible for such behavior into accountability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja

Furthermore, the Program emphasizes the necessity to pressure on the Bahraini authorities to accept the Arab observers to attend the trial proceedings and sessions of human rights activist Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja.
Together to rescue Bahraini activists and to activate terms and provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Defenders. Signed:  The Arab Program For Human Rights Activists English Website Arabic Website

From Congo and Kenya to Burma and Colombia, rape is used as a weapon to humiliate people and tear apart communities.

 

 

Join us as the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict launches May 6 with a Week of Action. The Nobel Women’s Initiative is a proud founding member of the Campaign which is the first ever global collaboration between Nobel Peace Laureates, international advocacy organizations, and groups working at the regional and community levels in conflict areas. The Campaign unites the organizat ions and individuals that have worked tirelessly at the frontlines to stop rape into a powerful and coordinated effort for change! We will demand urgent and bold political leadership to prevent rape in conflict, to protect civilians and rape survivors, and call for justice for all-including effective prosecution of those responsible. Click here to TAKE THE PLEDGE and join the Campaign now!

 

Saudi Arabia’s ‘Day of Rage’: One year on AMNESTY  One year on from a planned “Day of Rage” demonstration in the capital, Riyadh, on 11 March 2011, the Saudi Arabian authorities continue to detain at least six individuals arrested on or in the lead-up to that date. The continuing detention of these individuals arrested a year ago in Riyadh comes in a context in which hundreds of others have been arrested in recent months for protesting or voicing their opposition to government policies, many in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where most of the country’s Shi’a minority lives. Most have been released without charge; others remain in detention without charge or trial; and others still have been charged with vague security-related and other offences. Others who protested or attempted to protest in Saudi Arabia in previous year also remain in detention. More…

 

HRW WORLD REPORT 2012 This 22nd annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide in 2011. It reflects extensive investigative work that Human Rights Watch staff has undertaken during the year, often in close partnership with domestic human rights activists. Saudi Arabia:  Events of 2011 Saudi Arabia responded with unflinching repression to demands by citizens for greater democracy in the wake of the pro-democracy Arab Spring movements. King Abdullah bin Abd al-‘Aziz Al Saud announced economic benefits worth over US$130 billion, but authorities continued to jail Saudis for peaceful dissent. New laws introduced or proposed in 2011 criminalize the exercise of basic human rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, and association. Authorities continue to suppress or fail to protect the rights of 9 million Saudi women and girls, 8 million foreign workers, and some 2 million Shia citizens. Each year thousands of people receive unfair trials or are subject to arbitrary detention. World Report 2012: Saudi Arabia

 

Saudi Arabia: Man might face death penalty for tweets: Hamza Kashgari AMNESTY  13 February 2012  Saudi Arabian national Hamza Kashgari risks being charged of apostasy, punishable by death, for remarks he posted on Twitter. He was forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia on 12 February from Malaysia, after he had left the country amid death threats for the posts. He is now in detention in Saudi Arabia.  More…

Three Saudi Arabian nationals may be at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia for drugs offences. They have exhausted all their appeals and could be executed in the coming days. Amnesty  2/9/2012  All three appeared not to have had access to a lawyer in pre-trial detention and during their trial, and some reportedly made “confessions” under duress. In 2007 the Supreme Judicial Council upheld the death sentences in all three cases and referred them to the King, who is believed to have ratified the sentences. Their executions could take place at any time.  More  … in English

Reform activists in Saudi Arabia must receive fair appeal hearings AMNESTY  January 25, 2012 Sixteen men who were given lengthy prison sentences after they tried to set up a human rights organization in Saudi Arabia should all receive fair appeal hearings, Amnesty International said today as they wait for their cases to be heard. The group including several prominent reform activists, who were sentenced from five to 30 years in November 2011, submitted their appeals to the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh on Monday. All were convicted of breaking allegiance with the King. Most were also convicted of money laundering among other charges.

Launch of Amnesty Report January 9, 2012  Amnesty has issued its 80-page Year of Rebellion: State of Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa report, the organization describes how governments across the region were willing in 2011 to deploy extreme violence in an attempt to resist unprecedented calls for fundamental reform.   “The Saudi Arabian government announced major spending packages in 2011, in what seemed to be an attempt to prevent protests spreading to the Kingdom. Despite that – and the drafting of a repressive anti-terror law – protests continued at the end of the year, in particular in the country’s eastern region.”  Read entire report … in Arabic …in English.

Saudi Men Sentenced to Amputation AMNESTY  Six men have been sentenced by the General Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to amputation of their right hands and left feet for “highway robbery”. Their sentence was reportedly upheld by a court of appeal in October and is due to be approved at any moment by the Supreme Court, placing them at risk of amputation.

CALL FOR APPEALS BEFORE 26 JANUARY 2012 More... Human Rights Watch urges Dr. Bandar al-‘Iban, Chairman of the Human Right’s Commission to intervene in the case of ‘Amir ‘Iyada. HRW December 16, 2011 On March 29, 2011, Riyadh’s General Court sentenced ‘Iyada and five other defendants to have their right hand and left leg amputated for participating in the crime that Sharia legal scholars call hiraba, or armed (highway) robbery. The court found that on the morning of October 9, 2010, the defendants cornered three employees of the Tamimi supermarket on Riyadh’s King Fahd Road as they were transporting the week’s proceeds of SAR4 million (about US$1.07 million) in the boot of their car, that they threatened the employees with a gun, and that they took the money from them. No one was physically harmed. Human Rights Watch urges Dr. Bandar al-‘Iban, Chairman of the Human Right’s Commission to intervene in the case of ‘Amir ‘Iyada, and five other co-defendants, sentenced to have their right hands and left feet cut off.  Such a sentence should not be carried out in any circumstances, since it constitutes torture, in violation of the kingdom’s international human rights obligations. Moreover, in this case, allegedly grave violations of the defendant’s right to a fair trial cast serious doubt on whether the man sentenced to undergo this punishment is guilty as charged.  More…

URGENT ACTION:   SAUDI MEN SENTENCED TO AMPUTATION Amnesty   15 December 2011   Six men have been sentenced by the General Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to amputation of their right hands and left feet for “highway robbery”. Their sentence was reportedly upheld by a court of appeal in October and is due to be approved at any moment by the Supreme Court, placing them at risk of amputation.  More…

Amnesty reports:    Saudi Arabia: Beheading for ‘sorcery’ shocking 12 December 2011  The beheading of a woman convicted of “witchcraft and sorcery” is deeply shocking and highlights the urgent need for a halt in executions in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International said today.   The number of executions in Saudi Arabia has almost tripled this year. So far at least 79 people – including five women – have been executed there, compared to at least 27 in 2010.  More…   in Arabic in English

Amnesty International has released a new report Saudi Arabia: Repression in the name of Security. The report covers the crackdown on protests since early 2011, including those demanding political reforms and those calling for the release of their relatives detained without charge or trial for years in the context of the “war on terror.” It also includes detailed analysis of its concerns about the leaked secret draft anti-terror law that Amnesty International published in July 2011. This report also follows up on the issues covered in Amnesty International’s 2009 publication,Saudi Arabia: Assaulting human rights in the name of counter-terrorism, updating cases and trials covered in that report, and including information on new cases that have emerged since2009. Report … in Arabic … in English

 

SAUDI ARABIA – From the 2011 Report

In 2010-2011, no human rights NGO managed to obtain legal status. Furthermore,human rights activities continued to be controlled by a vague and draconian legal framework, making human rights defenders vulnerable to arbitrary detention and unfair trials. In addition, peaceful assemblies were banned de facto by the authorities and repressed by the security forces. Finally, the Interior Ministry banned several human rights defenders from leaving the country.

An extremely restrictive legislative framework that prevents all human rights activities
In Saudi Arabia, human rights activities continued to be subj ected to an extremely restrictive framework. Article 39 of the Saudi 1992 Basic Law of Government stipulates that “all acts that foster sedition or division or harm the state’s security and its public relations, shall be prohibited”. This vague definition permits criminalisation of the most basic rights such as the right to freedoms of expression, association or peaceful assembly. Furthermore, the absence of any written criminal code in Saudi Arabia strengthens the climate of insecurity in which human rights defenders are carrying out their work, insofar as there is no formal definition of what constitutes a crime, and no fixed punishment for a specific crime. In addition, Article 112 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows the Minister of Interior to decide which offences and crimes are punishable by a prison sentence, without specifying its length. The executive power is therefore unlimited to punish any human rights activity.
In this context, no human rights NGO was registered. For example, the NGO Human Rights First Society, Saudi Arabia (HRFS) could never obtain a licence since its setting up in 2002. Similarly, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), set up in 2009, could neither obtain a licence.  More…

 

*****URGENT ***** NEWS*****

URGENT:  Immediate Freedom for the Writer and Intellectual Alsaeed Natheer Almajid On Sunday, April 17, 2011  Saudi security forces arrested Alsaeed Natheer Almajid from his workplace.   Human Rights First Society strongly condemns this aggression by the Saudi security apparatus.  More…

Saudi Arabia arrests Shi’ite writer after protests DUBAI | Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:41pm (Reuters) – Saudi authorities have arrested a Shi’ite Muslim intellectual in the oil-producing eastern province where minority Shi’ites have staged protests in the strict Sunni kingdom, human rights activists said on Tuesday. Security forces arrested al-Saeed al-Majid, a Shi’ite writer, on Sunday at his workplace in Khobar on the Gulf coast, the independent Human Rights First Society said in a statement. Shi’ite website Rasid.com confirmed the arrest.  Saudi authorities were not immediately available for comment.  More…

 

HRFS strongly condemns excluding women from voting and running in the upcoming Municipality Elections HRFS was stunned by the announcement of the Saudi government about the upcoming Municipality Elections on April 23, 2011 where no amendment to the existing laws prohibiting wome n from voting and running in these elections was presented. More…

Saudi Arabia: Let Women Vote, Run for Office   No Excuse for Exclusion From Upcoming Municipal Elections (Beirut) – The Saudi government’s refusal to let women vote in municipal elections in September 2011 unlawfully deprives women of their rights to full and equal status under the law, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the election committee to allow women to vote and to run for seats on the municipal councils.   More…

HRFS STATEMENT     HRFS strongly condemns the illegal arrest of Dr. Mubbarak bin Zuair on March 20, 2011 Om Allaith, wife of Dr. Mubbarak bin Zu air, told HRFS that her husband had a good meeting with His Royal Highness and that Dr. Mubbarak was suppose to break the good news, to the demonstrators in front of MOI who were protesting the extended illegal detention of their loved ones, that some of the detainees would be released.  At 10:30 AM on March 20,on his way to MOI where the standoff was taking place, Dr. Mubbarak was stopped and arrested by the secret police.  More…

 

 

Saudi Arabia: Arrests for Peaceful Protest on the Rise   More Than 160 Protesters, Critics Held Without Charge March 27, 2011  HRW (New York) – Saudi Arabia should immediately release protesters and critics arrested and detained without charge over the past weeks, Human Rights Watch said today. More than 100 people have been arrested in the Qatif district, and about 45 in the al-Ahsa’ district, both Shia population centers in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. A smaller number of people have been arrested in Riyadh and Qasim governorates.  More…

ACPRA demands that the MOI release the relatives of recent detainees, who were, on March 20, 2011, asking for information about a loved one.  Statement in Arabic.

URGENT HRFS STATEMENT:  HRFS calls for the immediate release of Mr. Mohammad Albjadi

On Monday, March 21, 2011 Saudi security arrested Mr. Mohammad Salih Albjadi, a 30 year old business man who lives in Buraidah, Qassim.  Mr. Albjadi is married with one young daughter.  His arrest took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

HRFS was informed of the arrest by Dr. Abdullah Alhamid who said that Mr. Albjadi was arrested as a result of his participation in the protest with the families who were calling for the release of their illegally detained relatives on March 20.

Human Rights First Society condemns this action taken against Mr. Albjadi by the secret police (Almabahith Alamah) in Saudi Arabia. We call on the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz to intervene for the immediate, unconditional release of Mr. Albjadi and also to protect peaceful activists of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA.) Read More Details…

Human Rights Activist Detained After Protest Amnesty International   March 25, 3022  Mohammad Salih al-Bajadi, a 30-year-old businessman who co-founded a human rights organization in Saudi Arabia, was arrested on 21 March after attending a protest the day before. He has been held incommunicado since, placing him at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.   More…

ACPRA Condemns The Arbitrary Detention of Its Co-Founder: Mohammed Salih Al-Bjady, and Demands His Immediate Unconditional Release Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Thursday, March 24, 2011  A large group of armed special forces surrounded Mr. Al-Bjady’s home, blockaded all roads that lead to Al-Bjady’s house, he was then taken by the authority in handcuffs and manacles. Mr. Al-Bjady then was taken to his office in downtown Buraydah where agents searched his business office thoroughly for several hours while he was accompanying them in shackles, this is clearly an attempt to humiliate him and tarnish his reputations. This arbitrary detention of a well-known human rights activist flagrantly violates the Saudi Basic Law of Governance and the Law of the Criminal Procedures. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and DGI’s agents have become outlaw by arresting individuals without legal due process of the law. It is ironic that ordinary Saudis demand rule of law, while MOI and DGI violate the law. More… in Arabic …in English

URGENT HRFS STATEMENT:   Immediate Freedom for the Syrian publisher Dr. Alaaeddin Alrashi

Dr. Alaaeddin Alrashi, a book publisher from Syria, who was invited by the Saudi Ministry of Information to participate in the Riyadh International Book Fair, was kidnapped at 8:00 pm, March 21, 2011, in front of his residence where he was trying to stop a taxi to go with his wife to do some errands. When his wife came down from their flat she did not find her husband; she felt abandoned, afraid and did not know what to do.  Dr. Alaaeddin is 31 with 4 children.

Human Rights First Society deplores and condemns the illegal kidnapping of Dr. Alaaeddin Alrashi, without notifying his wife, a guest from Syria who feels like a stranger in Saudi Arabia. Read More Details…

URGENT HRFS STATEMENT:  Saudi Government should release 100 Shea protesters in the Eastern Province

During the peaceful protests last week in the Eastern Province, in the Shea populated areas of Safwa, Qatif and its villages and Alhassa 100 protesters were arrested.  The peaceful demonstrators were calling for the release of the Nine Forgotten Shea prisoners from the mid 1990s and were protesting the Gulf forces intervention in Bahrain as well as the crackdown on the demonstrators in Manama and other Bahrain villages.

Human Rights First Society is appalled by the reports that some of these 100 detainees were subjected to physical and psychological torture particularly in Alhassa. Read More Details…

HRFS STATEMENT:  Full Condemnation for the Outrageous Suppression of the Demonstration in Qatif – March 10

HRFS followed closely what happened last night in King Abdulaziz  Street in Qatif where police forces used deplorable force to suppress the  peaceful demonstration and where several demonstrators were injured.

HRFS condemns, with the loudest and clearest words, the use of all kinds of force to disperse demonstrators particularly when live ammunition was used last night against the demonstrators in Qatif. More…  Statement in English

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