In recent years, Saudi Arabia has severely curtailed the work of human rights defenders, subjecting them to arbitrary detention, medical neglect, harsh sentences, and enforced disappearances, leading to the complete cessation of any internal activism.
في نوفمبر 2015، وعلى وقع المحاكمات والانتهاكات بحق النشطاء، روجت السعودية لما سمته إصدار نظام الجمعيات والمؤسسات الأهلية، وقالت أنه يهدف إلى: تنظيم العمل الأهلي وتطويره وحمايته، وتعزيز مساهمة المواطنين في إدارة المجتمع، وتفعيل ثقافة العمل التطوعي وتحقيق التكافل الاجتماعي. الواقع أكد شكلانية هذا النظام وعدم قدرته على حماية أي نشاط حقوقي ومدني، حيث لم تمنح السعودية أي ترخيص لمنظمات حقوقية مستقلة واكتفت بمنح التراخيص لجمعيات ومنظمات تعمل تحت ظل الحكومة، بل جرّمت ذلك وحاكمت المدافعين والمدافعات الذي قدموا طلبات. ومع تعاقب السنوات، دفع تجريم النشاط الحقوقي المستقل إلى انعدامه.
Additionally, under the new law, responsibility for oversight shifted from the Ministry of Social Affairs to the National Center for Non-Profit Sector Development. However, Article 5 of the law stipulates that approval for establishing any association must come from the relevant authority under whose jurisdiction the association's activities fall, along with supervision and monitoring. In practice, the authority overseeing human rights work, beyond the security agencies, is the Human Rights Commission, which is responsible for preventing the establishment and licensing of human rights organizations. Despite the restrictions imposed by law, all responsible entities, including the ministry, the national center, and the commission, have not granted licenses to any groups or individuals engaged in human rights work in any form.
Despite this, the Saudi government promotes the existence of independent organizations defending human rights within the country, citing the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), which it claims is financially and administratively independent and not affiliated with any government body. However, a closer look at the publications and activities of the NSHR reveals that it does not operate independently in defending human rights, nor does it have practical mechanisms to reach victims and defend them. Additionally, the organization has played no role in documenting violations.
Since 2015, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) has observed the Saudi government's efforts to promote the official Human Rights Commission (HRC), established in 2005, as the primary face of human rights work in the country. This has been reflected in the HRC's increased responses to letters from UN special rapporteurs and reports from the Human Rights Council, as well as the interaction of the Saudi delegation during council sessions.
According to its stated mission, the role of the HRC is to protect and promote human rights within the Kingdom. It is tasked with handling complaints, participating in legislative work, and monitoring detention centers. The HRC also claims to be an independent entity capable of holding the government accountable for human rights violations. However, a detailed report by ESOHR, along with ALQST and MENA Rights Group, showed that the HRC has played a central role in providing a misleading portrayal of the dire human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, and its role has been largely limited to functioning as a whitewashing tool. تقريرا مفصلا للمنظمة الأوروبية السعودية وكل من القسط ومينا، بين أنها لعبت دوراً مركزياً في تقديم تصور غير دقيق للوضع السحيق في السعودية في كافة ملفات حقوق الإنسان، وأن دورها اقتصر على كونها أداة غسيل.
In contrast to the role played by the Human Rights Commission, which promotes the notion that there is an active and protected civil society, violations have expanded over the years, creating a formidable and alarming barrier against any human rights activism:
Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA):
In 2009, a group of Saudi human rights activists announced the establishment of the Civil and Political Rights Association, known as " ACPRA " for short. The association filed numerous lawsuits against the Saudi Ministry of Interior and reported human rights violations to the Human Rights Council and the UN Special Procedures. It also published statements calling for a constitutional monarchy, an elected parliament, an independent judiciary, and the protection of the right to a fair trial.
In 2013, a court ruling was issued to dissolve the association, followed by trials of its founders and members on various charges, including participating in the establishment of an unlicensed organization, attempting to undermine state policies, providing false information about Saudi Arabia to UN human rights mechanisms, and inciting international organizations against Saudi Arabia.
The founders of ACPRA were subjected to severe violations of their rights, including arbitrary detention and unfair trials, as well as deliberate medical neglect that led to the death of Abdullah Al-Hamid in prison in April 2020.
To this day, despite the expiration of some of their sentences, violations against them continue. Saudi Arabia still detains the following individuals: Mohammed Al-Bajadi (8 years), Abdulaziz Al-Shubaili (8 years), Omar Al-Saeed (7 years), Issa Al-Hamid (7 years), and Fouzan Al-Harbi (10 years). Meanwhile, Suleiman Al-Rashudi (15 years), Saleh Al-Ashwan (6 years), Abdulkarim Al-Khader (10 years), and Abdulrahman Al-Hamid (9 years) have been released but still face travel bans. Additionally, since October 2022, Saudi Arabia has forcibly disappeared Mohammed Al-Qahtani, despite the completion of his 10-year sentence.
The Union for Human Rights:
On January 25, 2018, the Saudi Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Mohammed Al-Otaibi to 14 years in prison and Abdullah Al-Attawi to 7 years. The charges against them included participating in the establishment of an unlicensed association, breaching a previous agreement made with authorities, participating in the drafting and signing of several statements, interfering in judicial rulings without legal standing, and going on a hunger strike.
The trial of Al-Otaibi and Al-Attawi began in 2016, two years after the investigation into their case was closed. This case was related to the founding of the Union for Human Rights in 2013, for which they submitted an initial request to the Ministry of Social Affairs for official licensing in March 2013. However, the ministry rejected their request.
Human Rights Monitor:
In 2008, lawyer Waleed Abu Al-Khair founded the Human Rights Monitor in Saudi Arabia. The government refused to register the organization, and the Ministry of Justice denied him a license to practice law. Nevertheless, he defended many clients in Saudi courts. After the authorities failed to respond to his request to establish the organization, he created a website for it, which was subsequently blocked by the authorities. He then set up a Facebook page that attracted thousands of followers.
On July 6, 2014, the court sentenced Abu Al-Khair to 15 years in prison and imposed a travel ban, following his conviction on vague and broad charges solely stemming from his peaceful activism, including statements to the media and tweets on Twitter.
The Justice Center:
In 2012, Saudi activists, including Fadel Al-Manasif, Taha Al-Hajji, Nassima Al-Sadah, and others, announced the founding of the Justice Center for Human Rights, which aimed to promote and raise awareness of human rights in the country. In July 2013, an appeal against the Ministry of Social Affairs' decision to deny the Center's license was unsuccessful.
The founders of the center faced severe violations. Fadel Al-Manasif was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison and a travel ban on charges including disobedience to the ruler, communicating with foreign media outlets that sought to inflate news and tarnish the government's image, and communicating with human rights organizations.
In addition, security agencies summoned lawyer Taha Al-Hajji, prompting him to leave the country and seek asylum abroad, fearing further violations, detention, and arbitrary punishment.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) has also documented several attempts by activists to license organizations, including human rights defender Nassima Al-Sadah, who, in 2017, attempted to establish a women's rights organization called Noon but received no response.
ESOHR believes that, in recent years, Saudi Arabia has employed every possible method to silence civil society and stifle human rights defenders. This has resulted in arrests, travel bans, and deaths due to deliberate medical neglect, as part of Saudi efforts to prevent the truth about violations from reaching the world and to deny individuals within Saudi Arabia the right to defend themselves and claim their rights.
ESOHR emphasizes that the treatment of human rights defenders over these years reflects the reality of violations and the poor state of human rights, despite efforts to conceal these facts and the use of official bodies, including the Human Rights Commission, to whitewash the official image.