Advocacy / Saudi Arabia
CSOs express concern about continued arbitrary detention in Saudi Arabia
On September 17, 2025, MENA Rights Group, the Gulf Center for Human Rights and ALQST for Human Rights delivered a joint oral statement at the 60th session of the Human Rights Council, during the interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, highlighting the continued use of arbitrary detention by Saudi Arabia and the lack of implementation of all Opinions addressed to the Kingdom since 2016.
Saudi Arabia must free all arbitrarily detained individuals and be held accountable by UN Working Group
MENA Rights Group and ALQST for Human Rights submit information about the status of 49 individuals subject of Opinions issued by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and urge the group of expert to initiate a follow up procedure with the government of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Human Rights Commission: 20 years of whitewashing the Kingdom’s human rights record
MENA Rights Group and nine organisations raise alarm about the Saudi Human Rights Commission and its use as a whitewashing tool of the Kingdom.
NGOs voice fears for hundreds of foreign nationals at risk of imminent execution in Saudi Arabia
We, the undersigned organisations, are gravely fearful for the lives of hundreds of prisoners threatened with imminent execution in Saudi Arabia for non-lethal drug-related offences, including scores of Egyptian, Ethiopian and Somali nationals. These men are living in a state of terror amid a dramatic surge in executions for such offences in recent months. According to data from the Saudi Press Agency, 98 men have already been executed for drug-related offences in 2025.
NGOs call for immediate release of Nourah al-Qahtani, in solitary confinement and deteriorating health
MENA Rights Group, with different civil society organisations, call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani, after being detained for peacefully expressing her opinion on social media.
Bulgaria: Saudi activist at risk of deportation
MENA Rights Group and 19 organisations call on Bulgarian authorities to immediately grant asylum to Saudi human rights defender Abdulrahman al-Khalidi.
Joint statement: urgent demand to stop executions and investigate human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia
MENA Rights Group joins 13 other NGOs in calling on Saudi authorities to refrain from carrying out the death sentence of dozens of prisoners, most Egyptian nationals, held in Tabuk prison.
Saudi Arabia: Public Investment Fund Meeting Whitewashes Abuses
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is sponsoring an investment conference in Miami and further whitewashing the country’s egregious human rights record, five human rights groups including MENA Rights Group said today. The PIF’s Future Investment Initiative Institute (FII Institute) Priority Summit is to be held in Miami from February 19 to 21, 2025.
Open letter to INTERPOL on the agreement for a new Regional Bureau for the Middle East and North Africa in Saudi Arabia
After the announcement of a new agreement between Saudi Arabia and INTERPOL to open a Regional Bureau for the Middle East and North Africa in Riyadh, MENA Rights Group and ALQST for Human Rights address an open letter to INTERPOL inviting the organisation to reconsider their decision.