On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of its establishment and with the participation of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights held a discussion panel entitled, Civil Society in Saudi Arabia: Ways to Counter Repression
The session was held on September 7, 2023, and moderated by the Senior researcher at the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, Duaa Dhainy, participated in it: Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor, activist and founder of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, Ali Al-Ahmad, and researcher at the Democracy Now Organization for the Arab World, Sevag Keshishian, along with ESOHR’s legal director Taha Alhajji.
Dhainy opened the discussion by noting that the session is taking place on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the organization in August 2023, following the dissolution of human rights associations and organizations inside Saudi Arabia, such as the Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), the Observatory, the Adalah Organization, and the Union, and in light of the holding of successive trials for the defenders. Women advocates and the Public Prosecution requested the death penalty for demonstrators and activists.
Dhainy explained that from 2013 until today, the political and social conditions in Saudi Arabia have changed dramatically, but unfortunately, with the passage of years, the situation of male and female human rights defenders has continued to deteriorate, with an increase in arbitrary arrests, harsh sentences, murders in prisons, and death sentences, and the reality inside has become more painful.
Dhainy pointed out that activists and organizations abroad, including the European-Saudi Organization, tried to continue supporting human rights, through monitoring, communication, raising issues to international mechanisms, and trying to attract international attention to the victims and their issues, and thus they became the pillar of work in defending human rights in Saudi Arabia.
The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawler, participated in the panel with a recorded intervention, in which she expressed her sadness over the situation of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia. She noted that over the past three years, she had written to the government 10 times to express her concerns about the treatment of defenders, especially arbitrary arrest, revenge, incommunicado detention, disappearance, and torture.
Lawlor explained that she followed the cases of defenders such as Dr. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2013. Although his release date has passed, the government continues to detain him incommunicado and deprive him of contact with his family. It also referred to the similar case of Issa Al-Nukhaifi, who should have been released last October. The rapporteur explained that she raised these issues with the Saudi ambassador in Geneva.
The Special Rapporteur considered that the pattern of long-term detentions witnessed by Saudi Arabia is particularly devastating to human rights defenders, and is one of the most severe violations, as the interest shown by non-governmental organizations and the international community fades with time and only the struggle of loved ones and the guest family continues. The rapporteur stressed that the work of the organizations and their determination to move forward ensures that the plight of defenders is not forgotten, considering that the repression they are subjected to is a measure of their effectiveness.
The Special Rapporteur praised the efforts of women defenders such as Loujain Al-Hathloul, which contributed to increasing the freedom of women’s rights in the country, stressing that there is a need to continue to push the international community and countries that say they support human rights defenders to take more stringent measures. She considered that human rights defenders should be viewed as allies, and not troublemakers, subversives, terrorists, political actors, or any other label given to them by states.
The Rapporteur ended her intervention by calling on Saudi Arabia to ensure the release of all human rights defenders and to publicly recognize their right to carry out their legitimate, peaceful work to build equal and just societies without persecution.
Human rights defender and founder of the Institute of Gulf Affairs, Ali Al-Ahmad, congratulated the European-Saudi Organization for 10 years of its effective work in the field of human rights. He stressed that the importance of human rights work ultimately enables clear implementation mechanisms to hold criminals and human rights violators accountable. He considered that human rights defenders who are still trying abroad want to make people's voices heard while there is no possibility at home. Al-Ahmad pointed out that since he began his activity decades ago, he has faced major obstacles, despite his activity being abroad, for many reasons, including the lack of a global political will to expose the violations occurring inside of the country.
Al-Ahmad considered that there is diversity in the backgrounds of the Saudi human rights scene abroad currently, and this is not necessarily negative, but the basis for the possibility of success in seeking to preserve rights is not to be selective and not to ignore issues at the expense of other issues. Although work from abroad is not a substitute for civil society at home, it fills the gap created by escalating repression. Al-Ahmad concluded that there is a long way to go to cover a small part of the cases in Saudi Arabia.
Sevag Keshishian, a researcher at the Democracy Now Organization for the Arab World, considered that the course of violations has changed during the last decade, especially after the events of the Arab Spring. He explained that although the era of former King Abdullah was characterized by some openness to civil society in light of escalating demands, the truth is that that era established the foundations for the current escalating violations, including the establishment of the Specialized Criminal Court, the adoption of the Anti-Terrorism Law, and the dissolution of civil society associations. He pointed out that what is happening today is brutal repression and unprecedented violations, including harsh sentences and death sentences on charges that do not amount to criticism at all, in addition to targeting the families of activists and defenders.
Keshishian pointed out that the escalating official attack on civil society must push human rights organizations to open new relations abroad with each other and with international organizations to repel the attack and also to share concerns about Saudi violations affecting the world, including its environmental violations and its impact on the climate.
Keshishian pointed out that ten years ago, internal repression pushed activists to work abroad, and they accumulated experience and established organizations that have now become a source of information. Despite the lack of sufficient support at the international level and the pressure, these organizations are now providing professional work. Keshishian praised the role of the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights and considered it a professional model that would like to continue and expand, as without its efforts, many violations and stories would have remained secret. He stressed that despite the bad circumstances, there are achievements that directly affect people.
The legal director of ESOHR, Taha Alhajji, confirmed that it is prohibited to establish any human rights organization in Saudi Arabia, noting that the associations that are established are with the approval of the government and that any attempts to register non-governmental organizations have been categorically rejected. He considered that Saudi Arabia uses laws and broad definitions to criminalize defending rights, and because of that, they are either detained, forced to remain silent, or abroad.
Al-Hajji considered that despite all the pressures and obstacles, there are direct effects of the work of the relevant organizations and bodies and the pressure on Saudi Arabia, including the change in the issue of women’s rights, and the issuance of a law prohibiting the killing of minors. Although it was circumvented, it was issued and succeeded in protecting some of those threatened.
Al-Hajji pointed out that the role of organizations currently is to monitor, document, train, and find ways to punish violators. He considered that organizations and activists abroad represent civil society at home and defend human rights. Al-Hajji stressed the importance of continuing this activity despite the obstacles, because it is currently the only way to uncover the facts and defend the victims, in the face of Saudi Arabia, which is a large country with massive violations and has power, money, and a young leadership that practices recklessness.