Political Prisoners

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Together, we can continue to push for justice, freedom, and dignity for all.

Monitoring & Documentation

Monitoring & Documentation Analysis: Why is Saudi Arabia executing so many people, especially foreign nationals, for drug-related offences?
Saudi Arabia has a long history of strict drug control laws and using the death penalty for drug-related offences. Yet even by historical standards, the current surge in executions is dramatic.
2026-04-21
Monitoring & Documentation Saudi Arabia surpasses 2,000 executions under King Salman
As of early April, the number of executions carried out by Saudi Arabia since King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s accession to the throne on January 23, 2015 has surpassed 2,000.
2026-04-20
Monitoring & Documentation Saudi Arabia executes third child offender in eight months
On 9 April 2026 Saudi Arabia’s authorities executed Ali al-Subaiti, a young man convicted following a grossly unfair trial of “terrorist” crimes allegedly committed when he was a minor.
2026-04-10
Monitoring & Documentation Women face systemic discrimination over executions in Saudi Arabia, new research finds
Saudi Arabia’s escalating use of the death penalty over the past decade has consistently disadvantaged women, particularly migrant domestic workers, ESOHR and ALQST said today.
2026-03-09

Advocacy & Campaigns

Advocacy & Campaigns Collaboration with University of York students amplifies campaign for human rights in Saudi Arabia
ALQST welcomes the collaboration of postgraduate students at the UK’s University of York in advocacy and campaigning on human rights issues in Saudi Arabia.
2026-04-21
Advocacy & Campaigns NGOs call for immediate release of ​Saudi Wikipedian Osama Khalid, whose 14-year sentence was upheld
We, the undersigned organisations, express deep concern over the continued arbitrary detention of the Saudi Wikipedian Osama Khalid, whose 14-year prison sentence was recently upheld.
2026-04-13
Advocacy & Campaigns MEPs write to Bulgarian government expressing concern over Saudi activist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi
Eighteen Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have sent a letter to the Bulgarian government expressing concern over the situation of Saudi human rights defender Abdulrahman AlBakr al-Khalidi.
2026-04-01
Advocacy & Campaigns UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention condemns executions of Egyptian nationals for drug-related crimes in Saudi Arabia
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an Opinion finding that the detention and death sentences of three Egyptian nationals by Saudi authorities for drug-related crimes was arbitrary.
2026-03-23

Reports

Reports Women Facing the Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia: Invisibility and Structural Injustice
This report examines Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty through a gendered and intersectional lens, with particular attention to migrant women.
2026-03-09
Reports Still Not Free: Human Rights in Saudi Arabia in 2025
ALQST’s latest annual report documents the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia in 2025.
2026-02-02
Reports The Saudi Human Rights Commission: 20 years of whitewashing the Kingdom’s human rights record
This report presents new, publicly available, evidence that demonstrate the continuing role of this institution in covering up human rights violations, 20 years on from its establishment. 
2025-09-12
Reports Input submitted to the United Nations Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
This input is submitted by ALQST to the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, following a call for input ahead of the UN Expert’s country visit to Saudi Arabia.
2025-09-05

ALQST In The Media

Deutsche Welle (DW)
Vision 2030
2026-02-02

Saudi Arabia reshapes Vision 2030 around new priorities

Julia Legner, Executive Director of the London-based human rights watchdog ALQST, told DW that "these oversized, top-down initiatives, driven by the P...
Middle East Eye
Death penalty
2025-10-21

‘Cruellest violation’: Saudi Arabia executes second child offender in two months

“From the moment of his arrest over a decade ago to his grossly unfair and secretive trial, Derazi endured a relentless pattern of abuse at the hands...
New Civil Engineer
Neom
2025-10-08

Saudi authorities accused of attempted displacement of community impacted by Neom port

Al-Muwaila is a village in the south of Tabuk province on the Red Sea coast, and Saudi-focused human rights group ALQST has claimed that its residents...
Sports Pro
Sport
2025-10-06

Saudi Arabia sports sponsorship: Fifa, F1 and ICC challenged over Aramco deals

Maryam Aldossari, ALQST board member and senior lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, said: “Saudi Aramco provides a critical source of re...
Middle East Eye
Freedom of expression
2025-09-25

French man held in Saudi Arabia for over a year after Hajj scam

Nadyeen Abdulaziz, Alqst's monitoring and advocacy officer, said: "Abdelfattah’s harsh treatment exposes the stark contrast between Saudi Arabia’s ref...
New Civil Engineer
Neom
2025-07-11

Civils progress update and last indigenous people forcibly evicted

On 23 June 2025, the Saudi Arabia-focused human rights organisation Alqst reported that “the last remaining inhabitants of Al-Khuraiba village have be...
The Guardian
Women's rights
2025-05-28

Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s secretive rehabilitation ‘prisons’ for disobedient women

The human rights group ALQST says Dar al-Reaya facilities are notorious within Saudi Arabia as state tools for enforcing gender norms and “stand in st...
BBC
Sport
2025-02-19

Council pressed to act over Saudi 'sportswashing'

Ms Legner said the council had shown "sympathy and solidarity", but that its representatives declined to have a picture taken and were "not very forth...
BBC
Salma al-Shehab
2025-02-10

Saudi PhD student freed after being jailed over posts, activists say

Shehab's release was first reported by ALQST, a UK-based Saudi rights group, which said she had been subjected to "four years of arbitrary imprisonmen...
Middle East Eye
Digital rights
2024-12-20

Why did online footage of a 'historic' UN panel in Riyadh disappear?

'How can we discuss internet governance if freedom of expression and security are undermined at the very forums meant to uphold them?' Lina Hathloul,...
France 24
Digital rights
2024-12-18

Activist tells Saudi-hosted UN forum of 'silencing' of dissent

"For today, an empty chair will have to represent my voice -- a stark symbol of the silencing faced by so many of us," said Hathloul, head of communic...
Deutsche Welle (DW)
Sportswashing
2024-12-11

World Cup 2034: Saudi Arabia's human rights failures ignored

Lina al-Hathloul, the head of monitoring and advocacy at ALQST, a Saudi human rights organization, says that the world should not be distracted by a m...
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Support ALQST's work defending human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Together, we can continue to push for justice, freedom, and dignity for all.