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URGENT: Human Rights First Society Issues Two Statements:
Hunger Strike at Al-Ha’ir Prison for Lack of Water July 1, 2009 According to an SMS message sent to HRFS a hunger strike started today July 1, 2009 in Wards 12 and 13 of the Al-Ha’ir Prison which houses 196 prisoners. More…
Releasing the Bulk of Prisoners From Awamia, but What about Kamel Alahmad? July 1, 2009 The plan to release the bulk of Shiite prisoners in Awamia and the Qatif area has realized 18 releases at the time of this statement. Although HRFS welcomes this way over due step we loudly condemn the continued incarceration of Mr. Kamel Abbas Alahmad, Mr. Hussein Hassan Alrabie, Hassan Alzaher from Awamiah and Mr. Yassir Ali Alfaraj. More…
Human Rights First Society (HRFS) serves a very important function working as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Saudi Arabia to monitor reported human rights abuses and advocate for the victims. HRFS uses all peaceful means to advocate that the Saudi government respects and defends all human rights. More…
Human Rights First Society (HRFS) has two Websites Arabic Site: http://www.anhri.net/saudi/spdhr/ English site: http://hrfssaudiarabia.org/
HRFS Official Arabic Website http://www.anhri.net/saudi/spdhr/ Blocked in Saudi Arabia. HRFS statements, positions on different HR issues and events in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere our part of this website. This web page, which is hosted by our colleagues ANHRI in Cairo, has been blocked in Saudi Arabia since 2003.
Mr. AlMuhanna was released June 30, 2009 from the general prison in Alkhobar. Mr. Abdullah Salih AlMuhanna from the Shiite religious minority was arrested on Monday May, 25th 2009 for holding group prayers(Jama’ah) in his own home. He was held in custody in Alkhobar police station. On June 19, 2009 Mr. Abdullah Salih AlMuhanna was transferred from Alkhobar police station custody to Alkhobar general prison. He was held in prison without seeing a judge. The Saudi penal code stipulates that no one should be held in custody for more than five days without seeing a judge.
Saudi Arabia: Drop ‘Cross-Dressing’ Charges: June 24, 2009 Human Rights Watch (HRW) Calls on Saudi authorities to drop charges against 67 men who were arrested in Riyadh on June 13, 2009, reportedly for wearing women’s clothing, violate basic human rights to privacy and freedom of expression. More…
Amnesty International URGENT ACTION REQUEST. Death Penalty/Alleged juvenile offenders. June 18, 2009 SAUDI ARABIA Four Iraqi nationals are at risk of imminent execution for alleged offences reported to have been committed while they were below the age of 18. They were convicted and sentenced to death after unfair trials. All four were not given legal assistance or representation and they were sentenced after secret and summary trials. Theyall claim that they are innocent. They are held in Rafha prison, near the border with Iraq. More. . .
Dr Saud al-Hashimi has been on a hunger strike at Dhahban prison in western Saudi Arabia since 1 June 2009. On 5 and 6 June he is reported to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated for refusing to consume food; he was stripped of all his clothes, except his underwear, shackled and dragged from his cell and placed in a severely cold cell for about five hours. He is now reported to be in need of medical treatment. Amnesty International calls for appeals to His Majesty King ‘Abdullah Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud, The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior are requested. More. . .
Human Rights First Society Responds To UPR The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Saudi Arabia was adopted on June 10, 2009 by the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations (UN). Human Rights First Society (HRFS) commends the HRC of the United Nations for carrying out this important review. HRFS calls upon the government of Saudi Arabia to match its rhetoric for human rights’ changes with open and transparent discussion! More. . . HRFS STATEMENTS
Human rights defenders write open letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council. 11 June, 2009. Human Rights First Society joined other NGOs in warning that recent “extraordinary attacks” by states on United Nations human rights experts at the Human Rights Council was “severely eroding the Council’s legitimacy and credibility.”
Excellencies, We are civil society organizations from throughout the world that have contributed to the Human Rights Council and its work since its establishment. We have observed with increasing concern developments in the Council, including at the current 11^th Session, that are undermining the work of the Council’s Special Procedures. This session has seen extraordinary personal attacks by some States on the integrity of mandate holders and specific threats to their independence. Read the entire letter.
Condemnation of Secret Tribunals On May 13, 2009 seventy-seven Saudi Human Rights Activists, including the President of Human Rights First Society, sent a petition to King Abdullah and 20 other decision makers condemning secret tribunals and demanding judicial and political reforms. More… in Arabic, in English.
Saudi business woman and women’s rights activist joins Human Rights First Society (HRFS) May 30, 2009 Kholood Salih Alfahad, a Saudi business woman and woman activist who is coordinating and working on a new petition for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia which will be submitted in person to His Majesty the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al saud, has joined Human Rights First Society as an active declared member.
Human Rights Council Adopts Outcomes of Universal Periodic Review on Saudi Arbia 10 June 2009. More. . .
Human Rights Watch welcomes the UPR report (June 2009) on Saudi Arabia, which records Saudi Arabia’s acknowledgment that human rights violations occur and its commitment to ending them. . .
We (HRW) support the report’s recommendations that Saudi Arabia promulgate a law regulating nongovernmental organizations in compliance with international standards, and that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly be fully respected, especially for human rights defenders. More…
Human Rights Watch News: UN: Saudi Arabia Pledges End of Men’s Control Over Women. Commitments Also Made to UN on Juvenile Death Penalty, Domestic Workers June 10, 2009 Geneva - Saudi Arabia made important commitments on women’s rights, on ending the juvenile death penalty and on other human rights issues during its review by the UN Human Rights Council on June 10, 2009 and should now work to carry out these reforms rapidly, Human Rights Watch said today. More. . .
Morals police takes aim at newspapers in Saudi Arabia By Souhail Karam, Reuters. May 25, 2009. RIYADH - Saudi Arabia’s religious police said on Monday they would sue newspapers for defamation after a series of press reports alleging abuses by their members.
Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, head of the independent Human Rights First Society, condemned the plans to sue journalists. “Does the commission want the media to turn a blind eye to violations?”
It’s the commission’s action that portrays itself not what is reported about it. Some people think the commission’s existence imposes an undesired control over society,” he said. More…
Amnesty International 2009 Report - Saudi Arabia Thousands of people continued to be detained without trial as terrorism suspects and hundreds more were arrested. In October, the government announced that more than 900 would be brought to trial. Human rights activists and peaceful critics of the government were detained or remained in prison, including prisoners of conscience. Freedom of expression, religion, association and assembly remained tightly restricted. Women continued to face severe discrimination in law and practice. Migrant workers suffered exploitation and abuse with little possibility of redress. Refugees and asylum-seekers were not adequately protected. The administration of justice remained shrouded in secrecy and was summary in nature. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees were widespread and systematic, and carried out with impunity. Flogging was used widely as a main and additional punishment. The death penalty continued to be used extensively and in a discriminatory manner against migrant workers from developing countries, women and poor people. At least 102 people were executed. More…
