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By Mehmet Rakipoglu | ( Middle East Monitor ) – International human rights law and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia do not sit together easily. A head of state acting as the “custodian” of the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah has not stopped the Saudi authorities from acting against universal human rights, even […]

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Exiled Turkish journalist Can Dündar sentenced to 27.5 years in prison for Reporting on Ankara’s aid to Syrian Fundamentalist Rebels

Committee to Protect Journalists

( Committee to Protect Journalists) | – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a Turkish court’s conviction and sentencing of exiled journalist Can Dündar. On December 23, the 14th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes announced that Dündar, who lives in Germany, had been sentenced to 18 years and nine months in prison for an espionage […]

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Saudi: Terrorism Court Rushes Activist’s Unfair Trial; Charges Relate Solely to Peaceful Women’s Rights Activism

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch) – (Beirut) – Saudi authorities are rushing through the closed trial of the prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, Human Rights Watch said today. Prosecutors originally charged al-Hathloul, 31, in March 2019 with offenses related solely to her human rights advocacy, but the authorities informally suspended her trial at the regular […]

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Israel’s growing strategic threat to our freedom of speech

Asa Winstanley

( Middle East Monitor ) – There is an old saying that you should not put the fox in charge of the hen house. It makes perfect sense, and yet that’s exactly what Western governments are increasingly starting to do when it comes to their freedom of speech policies. All bluster about “cancel culture” aside, […]

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G20: Hold Saudi Arabia Accountable for Abuses

Human Rights Watch

Demand Release of Detained Activists, Dissidents

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Pompeo’s touting of “Second Trump Administration” craters State Department’s Credibility on Democracy Promotion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nicole Gaouette, Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood at CNN report that secretary of state Mike Pompeo insisted there would be a smooth transition to a second Trump term. The statement, which appears to have been sardonic rather than in earnest, disgusted a lot of people, especially ambassadors. If it was […]

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Khashoggi’s Ghost: World Resoundingly rejects Saudi membership on UN Human Rights Council

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sulayman Hajj Ibrahim writes in the London pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-`Arabi [Arab Jerusalem] that Saudi Arabia’s bid to join the 47-member Human Rights Council of the United Nations was rejected resoundingly by the General Assembly. Human Rights Watch waged a campaign against allowing China and Saudi Arabia onto the council. […]

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Saudi Arabia: ‘Image Laundering’ Conceals Abuses

Human Rights Watch

(Human Rights Watch) – (Beirut) – The Saudi government has spent billions of dollars hosting major entertainment, cultural, and sporting events as a deliberate strategy to deflect from the country’s image as a pervasive human rights violator, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 2, 2020, Human Rights Watch launched a global campaign to counter […]

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Rethinking Saudi Arabia: A Biden administration could ensure that Khashoggi’s death was not in vain

Middle East Monitor

By Abderrahmane Amor | – Breaking News The Biden-Harris campaign releases a statement on the two-year anniversary of Khashoggi's murder stating that his death "will not be in vain." https://t.co/ZYEmx5kMem pic.twitter.com/rsl7pOWZEP — Abderrahmane Amor/عمور (@TheAmorTimes) October 2, 2020 ( Middle East Monitor) – In an interview a few days after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi […]