Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Amnesty International Condemns Flogging Sentence for Saudi Woman Who Drove a Car
A flogging sentence against a Saudi Arabian woman who defied the ban on driving by women demonstrates the cruel scale of gender discrimination in the Kingdom, Amnesty International said today.
September 27, 2011
Press Release
Granting Women the Right to Vote in Saudi Arabia is Only a Tiny Step Toward Equality, Says Amnesty International
Granting women in Saudi Arabia the right to vote is a welcome step, Amnesty International said today, but authorities must take the much larger step toward dismantling the entire system in place to repress and discriminate against women.
September 26, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Website ‘Blocked in Saudi Arabia’
Contact: AIUSA media relations office, 202-509-8194 Access to Amnesty International's website has been blocked in Saudi Arabia today following the organization's criticism of a draft anti-terror law that would stifle peaceful protest in the kingdom. Amnesty International published its analysis of a leaked copy of the draft law on Friday. The organization condemned the proposed law's treatment of peaceful dissent as "terrorist crimes," as well as the wide-ranging powers the Minister of Interior would hold, free from judicial authorization or oversight. Several journalists and human rights activists based in Saudi Arabia independently confirmed that they were unable to access the…
July 25, 2011
Press Release
Proposed Saudi Arabia “Anti-Terror” Law Would Crush Peaceful Dissent and Protest, Says Amnesty International
Amnesty International has obtained copies of a secret draft Saudi Arabian anti-terrorism law that would allow the authorities to prosecute peaceful dissent with harsh penalties as "terrorist crime."
July 22, 2011
Press Release
SAUDI ARABIA DETAINS WOMEN PROTESTORS, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Contact: Wende Gozan Brown at 212-633-4247, [email protected]. (London) -- Two women remain in detention after being arrested in Riyadh on Sunday during a protest to demand fair trials for their relatives, sources told Amnesty International. Some 15 women and five children were arrested yesterday outside the Ministry of Interior. They had been calling for fair trials for their male relatives, who are being detained without charge - in some cases for up to 10 years. All but two women were released after they were believed to have signed pledges not to protest again. "If these women were arrested solely for…
July 5, 2011
Report
Annual Report: Saudi Arabia 2011
Head of state and government: King Abdullah bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud Death penalty: retentionist Population: 26.2 million Life expectancy: 73.3 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 26/17 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 85.5 per cent Over 100 suspects in security-related offences were detained in 2010. The legal status and conditions of imprisonment of thousands of security detainees arrested in previous years, including prisoners of conscience, remained shrouded in secrecy. At least two detainees died in custody, possibly as a result of torture, and new information came to light about methods of torture and other ill-treatment used against security detainees. Cruel, inhuman and…
June 20, 2011
Press Release
Women activists prepare to defy Saudi Arabian driving ban
Saudi Arabian authorities must stop treating women as second-class citizens and open the Kingdom’s roads to women drivers, Amnesty International said today, as a group of Saudi Arabian women prepared to defy a decades-old ban on women driving.
June 16, 2011
Press Release
As Saudi Women Prepare to Challenge Defy Driving Ban, Amnesty International Says Lifting the Prohibition is Long Overdue Calls Ban “Immense Barrier” to Work and Family Life and Treats Women as Second Class Citizens
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] (New York) – Amnesty International said today Saudi Arabian must stop treating women as second-class citizens and open the Kingdom’s roads to women drivers, as a group of Saudi women activists prepared to defy a decades-old ban on women driving. An online campaign has called on women who hold international driving licenses to start driving on Saudi Arabian roads on Friday. The "Women2Drive" campaign has used Facebook and Twitter to encourage women to drive as part of their normal daily activities. "Not allowing women behind the wheel in Saudi Arabia is an immense barrier to…
June 16, 2011
Press Release
Saudi Arabia: Surge in executions in recent weeks
The Saudi Arabian authorities must halt the use of the death penalty, Amnesty International said today, following a significant increase in executions in the country in the last six weeks
June 10, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Saudi Arabia to Free Woman Supporter of “Woman 2 Drive” Campaign, Jailed After Driving in Kingdom’s Eastern Province
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] Ban on Women Drivers Violates Freedom of Movement, Says Amnesty (New York) – Amnesty International urged the Saudi Arabian authorities today to free a woman detained for defying the ban on women driving in the Kingdom, Amnesty International said today. The human rights organization said it considered Manal al Sharif, who was stopped by police while driving with her brother, a “prisoner of conscience.” “Women face severe discrimination on account of their gender in Saudi Arabia and the ban on driving is one aspect of this that perpetuates the restrictions on their freedom of…
May 24, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Saudi Arabia to Free Woman Supporter of “Woman 2 Drive” Campaign, Jailed After Driving in Kingdom’s Eastern Province
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] Ban on Women Drivers Violates Freedom of Movement, Says Amnesty (New York) – Amnesty International urged the Saudi Arabian authorities today to free a woman detained for defying the ban on women driving in the Kingdom, Amnesty International said today. The human rights organization said it considered Manal al Sharif, who was stopped by police while driving with her brother, a “prisoner of conscience.” “Women face severe discrimination on account of their gender in Saudi Arabia and the ban on driving is one aspect of this that perpetuates the restrictions on their freedom of…
May 24, 2011
Press Release
U.S.: Five Countries Defy Sea Change In Global Execution Practices, According to New Amnesty International Report
A total of 31 countries abolished the death penalty in law or in practice during the last 10 years, but China, Iran, Saudi...
April 14, 2011