ISHR and other organisations have released a joint statement calling on Saudi Arabia to release human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani and other arbitrarily detained ACPRA members.
On 22 and 23 March 2023, the Human Rights Council held a general debate on human rights situations requiring the Council’s attention. States and NGOs spoke, and the High Commissioner spoke on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. They drew the Council’s attention to a number of country situations of concern. ISHR delivered a statement, highlighting the human rights situation in four countries: Burkina Faso, Colombia, El Salvador, and Saudi Arabia.
Formula 1 should stop sportswashing human rights abuses in host countries such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and instead use its considerable leverage to push for the release of arbitrarily detained human rights defenders and an end to the repression of civic freedoms, says ISHR and a coalition of over 20 NGOs.
Together with leading human rights organisations, ISHR stands in solidarity with all victims of Saudi authorities’ deepening repression of political dissidents and human rights defenders.
ISHR joins NGOs calling on the international community to intensify efforts to press the Saudi Arabian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those who are unjustly and arbitrarily detained in the kingdom for peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms.
Joint statement calling for the release of Salma al-Shehab
ISHR, ALQST for Human Rights and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights urge the HRC to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
Human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia continue to face an increasing crackdown including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and medical and administrative neglect. The UN Human Rights Council must take action by establishing a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
The Martin Ennals Foundation has granted Yu Wensheng, a leading Chinese human rights lawyer, the 2021 Martin Ennals Award. Lawyer Yu was among the three finalists to the Award selected by a jury of ten global human rights organisations - among which ISHR -, along with Loujain AlHathloul from Saudi Arabia and Soltan Achilova from Turkmenistan.
In order for the international human rights system to function to its fullest potential, human rights defenders must be able to share crucial information and perspectives, safely and unhindered. However, many defenders still face unacceptable risks and are unable to cooperate safely with the UN.
