Reports Aug 1, 2023 Arabic Edition of “Human Trafficking in Saudi Arabia” Saudi Arabia has a vast and varied track record of human rights violations. As an absolute monarchy, the Kingdom has established laws and practices that serve to maintain the ruling family’s hold on power.
Announcement Jul 21, 2023 New Arabic Edition of Qatar Human Rights Report Coinciding with the start of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has recently published the Arabic edition of its 2022 report, “Qatar’s Human Rights Record in the World’s Spotlight: White Paper with Policy Recommendations.”
Press Release Jul 10, 2023 UN Calls For Release Of Saudi Women’s Rights Activists Last Friday, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) released a decision on the cases of Salma al-Shehab and Nourah al-Qahtani. It finds their detention to be arbitrary and calls for their immediate release.
Publication Jun 8, 2023 Rattle and Hum – HRF x The Signal After the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody, following her arrest by Iran’s Guidance Patrol—the morality police—for “improperly” wearing her hijab head covering, fierce protests spread across the country.
Blog Post Apr 7, 2023 Like, Tweet, & Torment: Authoritarian Troll Farms “They were attacking him basically every single day, threatening him, trying to silence him. So Jamal felt the whole country was against him – and that was hurting. He said sometimes ‘I feel like I don’t want to talk about anything, I don’t want to expose my opinion.’ “
Blog Post Mar 28, 2023 Women at the Forefront of Democracy: Combatting Oppressive Laws in Saudi Arabia As authoritarianism persists throughout the Middle East and North Africa, it’s crucial to recognize the women’s rights activists who have stood up against these dictators despite severe repercussions. In Saudi Arabia, one of the region’s most repressive regimes, advocating for human rights comes with a high risk.
Blog Post Mar 22, 2023 World Water Day: Water Insecurity in the MENA Region Fresh, clean drinking water — directly or indirectly — impacts every aspect of our lives. It’s undeniably fundamental to our health and wellness and is critical to sustaining all life on Earth, which is why World Water Day serves as a reminder of its importance.
Blog Post Feb 15, 2023 Crises Compounded in a Forgotten Dictatorship The combination of a 12-year conflict caused by a dictator who glorifies and celebrates his atrocities, a global pandemic, and now a natural disaster would surely have the world concerned and anxious to help. But, this has not been the case.
Op-Ed Feb 9, 2023 ‘Women, life, freedom’: Chants of protest in Iran Forty-four years after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Tehran is once again feeling the wrath of its citizenry. Then, it was the Shah and his “modern ideals” the people sought to, and successfully did, overthrow. Now, a different regime — the Islamic Republic — is in power and in the people’s crosshairs.
Blog Post Jan 9, 2023 From Egypt, Sisi’s Long Arm of Repression Targets Americans Too While Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi received star treatment during President Joe Biden’s US-Africa Leaders Summit, an American citizen and vocal critic of the Egyptian regime, Sherif Osman, languished in an Emirati prison for 46 days on spurious charges.
Blog Post Dec 21, 2022 Champion of Freedom: The Fearless Women of Iran & Afghanistan The condition of women and girls is a significant indicator of the democratic status of a country and 2022 proved that, in many places around the globe, the diagnosis isn’t good: The systematic assault on women’s rights under authoritarian regimes was illuminated time and again, especially in the Middle East and South Asia.
Reports Nov 18, 2022 Qatar’s Human Rights Record in the World’s Spotlight Qatar, a country ruled by a monarchic authoritarian government, is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Hosting the top global football tournament is the result of a decade-long project by the government of Qatar to strategically exploit the prestige and popular appeal of sports to grow its global influence, cultivate a favorable image in popular culture, and boost its economy.
Reports Nov 18, 2022 Arabic Edition of Qatar Human Rights Report Qatar, a country ruled by a monarchic authoritarian government, is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Hosting the top global football tournament is the result of a decade-long project by the government of Qatar to strategically exploit the prestige and popular appeal of sports to grow its global influence, cultivate a favorable image in popular culture, and boost its economy.
Press Release Oct 28, 2022 HRF Submits Joint Petition on Saudi Activist Salma Al-Shehab This week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), MENA Rights Group, The Freedom Initiative, and ALQST for Human Rights submitted a joint petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) on behalf of the Ph.D. student and women’s rights activist Salma Al-Shehab.
Press Release Aug 24, 2022 HRF to Saudi Arabia: Let American Mother & Daughter Return Home The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) calls on Saudi Arabia to repeal its oppressive male guardianship laws and to allow women to exercise basic civil rights without the permission of their male guardians.
Press Release Aug 18, 2022 HRF Condemns the Exploitation of War-Torn Syria for Film The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) denounces the use of war-torn Syrian cities as locations for films sponsored by the Assad regime and its authoritarian allies.
Publication Aug 16, 2022 Saudi woman given 34-year prison sentence for using Twitter Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds University student, was charged with following and retweeting dissidents and activists
Press Release Aug 1, 2022 HRF Condemns the Attempted Assassination of Iranian Activist Masih Alinejad The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the apparent assassination attempt against Iranian women’s rights activist and former Oslo Freedom Forum speaker Masih Alinejad.
Announcement Jul 29, 2022 HRF Speaks at the Commonwealth Club Last week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) was invited to speak at the Commonwealth Club in a panel discussion entitled “The Human Rights Foundation and Justice in Syria.”
News Jul 14, 2022 President Biden to Meet with Saudi Dictator Tomorrow Tomorrow, July 15th, United States President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Saudi dictator Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).