We, the undersigned rights organizations, express our alarm over the growing number of detainee deaths in Egyptian prisons, amid consistent indications that many of these deaths were a result of torture and ill-treatment in detention facilities. We further condemn the Egyptian government’s entrenchment of impunity through its policies and practices, which collectively lack any credible…
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement condemns the ruling issued on May 24, 2025, by the Specialized Criminal Court under the Houthi group against journalist Mohammed Dabwan Al-Mayahi, considering it a serious violation of fundamental rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression, and a further intensification of the use of the judiciary as…
The premise of this essay was inspired by a live experience I facilitated, in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Bashar Al-Assad regime, through an initiative entitled “The Salon“. The initiative was open to interested parties, a humble attempt to explore the intersections of arts, culture and public space, and the potential role of…
The Rt Hon Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer KC 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AB 30 May 2025 Dear Prime Minister, We are writing as a coalition of 21 organisations deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of British-Egyptian writer and prisoner of conscience Alaa Abd el-Fattah, and the rapidly deteriorating health of his mother Laila…
As of today, six months have passed since the announcement of a ceasefire that was intended to put an end to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. Yet military actions and occupation of territory continue, with near-daily airstrikes, shelling, and airspace violations continuing to impact communities across Lebanon. The impact of Israel’s ongoing military offensive in…
23 May 2025 On 14 May 2025, the Jordanian Media Commission issued an order for ISPs to block at least 12 news websites, most of which are independent media outlets. The decision lacked an official detailed announcement, including the legal basis for the blocking. Instead, authorities provided vague justifications through media channels, invoking broad and…
The undersigned organizations unequivocally condemn the verdict issued in absentia on 14 May 2025 by the Cairo Economic Misdemeanor Court, sentencing prominent publisher and political dissident Hisham Kassem to six months in prison with labor and ordering him to pay a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds. The sentence stems from charges of defamation, slander, and…
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement expresses its deep concern and strong condemnation of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior’s decision to ban all forms of peaceful protest in Baghdad from 11 to 20 May 2025, coinciding with the Arab League Summit. This decision, which has already been implemented and was accompanied by explicit threats…
Civil society in North African countries faces challenges and risks, occasionally under authoritarian regimes. Over the recent years, some North African states have been piling more constraints on the freedom of civil work by either imposing parliamentary constraints on funding and operating or by adapting security tightening practices on human rights activists in general, and…
The Honorable President Donald J. Trump President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 The Honorable Marco Rubio Secretary of State U.S. State Department 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20037 May 13, 2025 Dear President Trump and Secretary Rubio, We, the undersigned organizations, write to urge you to take advantage…
For more than half a decade, perhaps for even longer, Syrians have been deprived of “ownership” of their country by various means. From the food they ate, to the streets they walked, they were always reminded that Syria does not belong to them, and they did not have any agency in it. They could not…
As global attention turns to U.S. President Donald Trump’s first international visit to Saudi Arabia on May 13, many journalists inside the kingdom will be unable to cover the event as they are behind bars, banned from writing, or silenced by fear of censorship. We, the undersigned organizations, call on the Saudi authorities to release…
Re: Upcoming 59th Session of the Human Rights Council and Eid al-Adha Ahead of the 59th session of the Human Rights Council (June 16 – 11 July 11, 2025), we are writing to you and your delegation regarding the continued detention of leading human rights defenders, bloggers, journalists, opposition and religious activists, and death row…
We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are extremely concerned that Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani has been held in solitary confinement in Saudi Arabia since February 2025, precipitating a rapid deterioration of her health, according to ALQST. We call on the Saudi authorities to release her at once and immediately provide her adequate medical care. Al-Qahtani,…
