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Saudi Arabia
Gulf · Arabian Peninsula
Documenting cases of arbitrary detention, transnational repression, and supporting Saudi defenders, lawyers, and journalists at risk.
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Our position on Saudi Arabia
We call for the immediate release of women human rights defenders, lawyers, scholars, and dissidents arbitrarily detained in Saudi Arabia, accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and an end to transnational repression targeting Saudis abroad.
— HuMENA
The Region, Connected
No country in MENA stands alone.
This country sits at the centre of the threads HuMENA follows — across borders where defenders flee, refugees move, and accountability converges.
Signature
Where our work concentrates here.
Five strategic areas — Civic Space, Defenders, Digital Rights, Governance, Diaspora. Bar height shows the depth of HuMENA's coverage in that area for this country.
Civic Space
Defending freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.
Defenders
Protection support and case advocacy for defenders at risk.
Digital Rights
Surveillance accountability and digital safety for civil society.
Governance
Fair-trial monitoring, judicial independence, and inclusive governance.
Diaspora
Cross-border protection and amplification of exiled voices.
Chronicle
A working record of our interventions.
Statements, reports, advocacy moments, defender cases. Chronological. Growing.
Sep 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
Aug 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
Aug 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
May 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
May 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
May 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
Feb 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
Jan 2025
JOINT STATEMENTS
Dec 2024
JOINT STATEMENTS
Mar 2024
JOINT STATEMENTS
Feb 2024
PRESS RELEASES
Nov 2023
JOINT STATEMENTS
Jul 2023
PRESS RELEASES
Jun 2023
JOINT STATEMENTS
May 2023
JOINT STATEMENTS
Apr 2023
JOINT STATEMENTS
Feb 2023
JOINT STATEMENTS
Feb 2023
JOINT STATEMENTS
Dec 2022
JOINT STATEMENTS
May 2020
JOINT STATEMENTS
May 2020
JOINT STATEMENTS
At the international level
Where this work meets the institutions.
HuMENA carries documentation into the mechanisms with the most leverage — UN bodies, EU institutions, and joint civil-society coalitions.
UN HRC
Joint statements on detained defenders
UN Special Procedures
Communications on multiple cases
Universal Jurisdiction
Support to ongoing accountability efforts
Defenders
The people behind the work.
HuMENA stands with human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and activists. Where their identities can be public, we credit them. Where they cannot, we protect them.
Imprisoned
Abdulaziz Al-Shubaili
Lawyer; founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA); defender of civil and political rights.
Abdulaziz Al-Shubaili is a lawyer and founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association who defended fellow activists in court…
ImprisonedAA
Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan
Humanitarian aid worker (Saudi Red Crescent); satirical anonymous Twitter user
Saudi Red Crescent aid worker forcibly disappeared in March 2018 over an anonymous satirical Twitter account. Sentenced to 20 years in prison…
SentencedAA
Ahmed al-Doush
Senior business analyst at Bank of America.
Ahmed al-Doush, a British-Saudi business analyst, was arrested at Riyadh airport in 2024 while returning home with his family. He is serving…
Under TNRGA
Ghanem Al-Masarir
Saudi political YouTuber and activist documenting human rights abuses and government corruption from exile in London.
Ghanem Al-Masarir, a Saudi dissident YouTuber living in London, was targeted with Pegasus spyware and physically assaulted by Saudi agents. In 2026…
Released (conditional)Loujain al-Hathloul
Saudi women's rights defender; campaigner against male guardianship and the driving ban.
Saudi women's rights defender held in detention from May 2018 to February 2021 and now under an indefinite travel ban.
ImprisonedMA
Mohammed Al-Ghamdi
Teacher; posted online about corruption and human rights violations; expressed support for detained religious scholars.
Mohammed Nasser Al-Ghamdi is a teacher from Abha, Saudi Arabia, whose brother is a dissident scholar in UK exile. Arrested in 2022…
Publications
Reports, statements, and analyses.
Saudi Arabia Surpasses 2,000 Executions Under King Salman
The Saudi Human Rights Commission: 20 years of whitewashing the Kingdom’s human rights record
Saudi Arabia | NGOs call for immediate release of Saudi human rights defender Mohammed al-Bejadi, still held two years after his sentence ended
200 Days of Abdulrahman Yusuf’s Enforced Disappearance: Reveal His Whereabouts. Ensure His Safety. Release Him Now.
Joint Letter: President Trump Has a Unique Opportunity to End the War in Sudan
As Trump visits Saudi Arabia, groups call for the kingdom to end repression of journalists
Saudi Arabia | NGOs call for immediate release of Nourah Al-Qahtani, in solitary confinement and deteriorating health
Bulgaria: Saudi activist at risk of deportation
Joint Statement: Urgent Demand to Stop Executions and Investigate Human Rights Abuses in Saudi Arabia
The AIMC must end its role in transnational repression, say NGOs
Joint Letter to Secretary Rubio Urgently Calls on United States to Help Secure Release of Ahmed Kamel
#FreeAhmedKamel: Saudi Arabia must NOT extradite peaceful protester to Egypt, where he would face torture
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