Monitoring & Documentation

While civil society in Saudi Arabia has largely been silenced, and individuals communicating with the outside world are at high risk of reprisals, we maintain an extensive network of sources that enables us to closely monitor human rights violations on the ground and bring them to the attention of the international community.

Monitoring & Documentation Salma al-Shehab released from prison, but must now be granted full freedom
Saudi PhD student Salma al-Shehab was released on 10 February 2025 after more than four years of arbitrary imprisonment on the basis of her peaceful online activism supporting women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
2025-02-11
Monitoring & Documentation NGOs welcome the reduction of Salma al-Shehab’s sentence, but continue to call for her unconditional release
We welcome the recent decision by a Saudi court to reduce the jail sentence of Saudi prisoner of conscience Salma al-Shehab from 27 years to four years, with an additional four years suspended.
2025-01-15
Monitoring & Documentation Human rights defenders Mohammed al-Qahtani and Essa al-Nukheifi conditionally released
Saudi human rights defenders Mohammed al-Qahtani and Essa al-Nukheifi were conditionally released this week, after years of arbitrary imprisonment on the basis of their peaceful activism.
2025-01-10
Monitoring & Documentation Highest execution toll ever recorded in Saudi Arabia: over 300 individuals executed in 2024 so far
Saudi Arabia’s escalating use of the death penalty has reached horrifying levels in 2024, with at least 306 individuals executed as of 6 December, the highest known figure in Saudi history.
2024-12-09
Monitoring & Documentation #FreeAhmedKamel: Saudi Arabia must not extradite peaceful protester to Egypt, where he would face torture
Ahmed Fathi Kamal Kamel should not be deported to Egypt, where he would be at high risk of being subjected to torture and other human rights violations.
2024-12-02
Monitoring & Documentation Saudi cartoonist jailed for 23 years for caricatures and non-existent tweets
After a secret retrial, the Specialised Criminal Appeal Court in Saudi Arabia has resentenced political cartoonist Al Hazzaa – full name Mohammed Ahmad Eid Al Hazzaa al-Ghamdi – to 23 years in prison.
2024-11-01
Monitoring & Documentation Saudi authorities must end misuse of administrative and judicial measures against released human rights defenders including Loujain al-Hathloul
We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Saudi authorities to immediately cease misusing administrative and judicial measures against human rights defenders (HRDs) released from prison.
2024-10-31
Monitoring & Documentation Over 200 executions in nine months: NGOs condemn escalating use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia
The undersigned organisations are horrified by the soaring number of executions in Saudi Arabia. According to data from the Saudi Press Agency, the authorities have executed at least 200 individuals in 2024.
2024-10-10
Monitoring & Documentation Partners of Saudi Arabia should send observers to upcoming trial hearings of Salma al-Shehab and Nourah al-Qahtani
Partners of Saudi Arabia should send observers to the upcoming trial hearings of Salma al-Shehab and Nourah al-Qahtani starting on September 25, human rights groups say.
2024-09-24
Monitoring & Documentation Detention of six men from Jazan Province on Saudi Arabia’s Yemen border highlights opacity of legal processes
ALQST has recently learned of the arrest and ongoing detention of six individuals from Saudi Arabia’s Jazan Province on the kingdom’s southern border with Yemen.
2024-09-18
Monitoring & Documentation NGOs voice fears for dozens of Egyptian prisoners, and hundreds of others, facing execution for drugs-related offenses in Saudi Arabia
30+ NGOs raise concern over the lives of hundreds of prisoners threatened with imminent execution in Saudi Arabia on drugs-related charges.
2024-09-12
Monitoring & Documentation Latest “terrorist” execution in Saudi Arabia illustrates political use of death penalty
The implausible claim that a Shi’a man executed in Saudi Arabia last week had joined a terrorist cell affiliated to Al Qaeda represents a flagrant example of the authorities' political use of the death penalty.
2024-08-22
Monitoring & Documentation ALQST report explores the reasons behind growing number of Saudi asylum-seekers around the world
ALQST today released the findings of a confidential survey of Saudi nationals in exile, "The Saudi Diaspora: A growing community of emigrés and refugees".
2024-08-01
Monitoring & Documentation Saudi authorities stonewall on UN experts' allegation letter about unlawful travel bans
Saudi officials have categorically rejected all of the concerns raised in an allegation letter from UN experts on the travel bans imposed on WHRDs Loujain al-Hathloul and Maryam al-Otaibi.
2024-07-18
Monitoring & Documentation Crackdown on popular Saudi influencers and creators, with harsh sentence for hit producer
The Saudi-American filmmaker Masameer, Abdulaziz al-Muzaini, has called out the Saudi authorities for secretly sentencing him to 13 years in prison to be followed by a 30-year travel ban.
2024-07-09
Monitoring & Documentation As hajj death toll rises to more than 1,300, NGOs call on Saudi authorities for transparency 
The Saudi authorities’ slow, limited and defensive response to the shocking death toll during this year’s hajj pilgrimage is serious cause for alarm.
2024-06-25