Political Prisoners

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Together, we can continue to push for justice, freedom, and dignity for all.

Monitoring & Documentation

Monitoring & Documentation Fears for Islamic scholar Abdulaziz al-Tarifi, on news of Saudi Public Prosecution calling for death penalty
ALQST is concerned to learn that Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution has called for Islamic scholar Abdulaziz al-Tarifi, currently being held in solitary confinement in Al-Ha’ir Prison, to be sentenced to death.
2026-08-26
Monitoring & Documentation Colombian engineers detained in Yemen and held incommunicado in Saudi Arabia
Three Colombian engineers have been detained and held incommunicado in Saudi Arabia since early 2026, raising serious concerns for their health and wellbeing.
2026-07-16
Monitoring & Documentation Saudi Arabia: Visitors to Saudi Arabia imprisoned for social media posts
Visitors to Saudi Arabia risk being detained, subjected to grossly unfair trials, and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for their social media activity, Amnesty International and ALQST said today.
2026-06-29
Monitoring & Documentation Testimony of a European national subjected to cruel treatment during detention in Saudi Arabia
Testimony of a European national subjected to cruel treatment during detention in Saudi Arabia.
2026-04-29

Advocacy & Campaigns

Advocacy & Campaigns ALQST issues travel advisory for potential visitors to Saudi Arabia, highlighting human rights concerns and risks
As Saudi Arabia steps up its “Visit Saudi” campaign, marketing itself as an emerging tourist destination, ALQST today issued a new travel advisory with essential background information for potential visitors.
2026-09-03
Advocacy & Campaigns Saudi Arabia hosts tech jamboree while human rights accounts are geoblocked and digital rights activist Osama Khalid remains jailed
ALQST notes the stark contrast between the event’s stated aim of “shaping conversations around the world” and the kingdom’s relentless clampdown on free speech for its own population.
2026-09-01
Advocacy & Campaigns X joins list of platforms geo-blocking human rights accounts at Saudi authorities’ behest
X has become the latest social media platform to comply with requests from Saudi Arabia’s authorities to block scores of human rights and political accounts from reaching audiences inside the country.
2026-08-04
Advocacy & Campaigns ALQST and Gulf Centre for Human Rights deliver oral statement at UN Human Rights Council
During the 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council, ALQST and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights delivered a joint oral statement highlighting urgent human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia and the region.
2026-07-10

Reports

Reports Saudi Arabia travel advisory
As Saudi Arabia steps up its “Visit Saudi” campaign, marketing itself as an emerging tourist destination, ALQST today issued a new travel advisory with essential background information for potential visitors.
2026-09-03
Reports Women Facing the Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia: Invisibility and Structural Injustice
This report examines Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty through a gendered and intersectional lens, with particular attention to migrant women.
2026-03-09
Reports Still Not Free: Human Rights in Saudi Arabia in 2025
ALQST’s latest annual report documents the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia in 2025.
2026-02-02
Reports The Saudi Human Rights Commission: 20 years of whitewashing the Kingdom’s human rights record
This report presents new, publicly available, evidence that demonstrate the continuing role of this institution in covering up human rights violations, 20 years on from its establishment. 
2025-09-12

ALQST In The Media

Guardian
Digital rights
2026-08-04

Elon Musk’s X latest to block Saudi dissident accounts inside kingdom

However, since mid-July more than 60 accounts on the platform have been made unavailable in Saudi Arabia through geoblocking, which prevents users ins...
Middle East Eye
Freedom of expression
2026-07-01

Pilgrims and tourists detained in Saudi Arabia over online posts

Amnesty International and Alqst published a report this week looking into the cases of at least nine people, mostly from Middle East and Global South...
The Guardian
Digital rights
2026-05-22

Meta and Snapchat blocking Saudi dissidents’ accounts

“These [account holders] are not dangerous actors; they are people documenting abuses, challenging state propaganda and giving voice to Saudis inside...
Deutsche Welle (DW)
Vision 2030
2026-02-02

Saudi Arabia reshapes Vision 2030 around new priorities

Julia Legner, Executive Director of the London-based human rights watchdog ALQST, told DW that "these oversized, top-down initiatives, driven by the P...
Middle East Eye
Death penalty
2025-10-21

‘Cruellest violation’: Saudi Arabia executes second child offender in two months

“From the moment of his arrest over a decade ago to his grossly unfair and secretive trial, Derazi endured a relentless pattern of abuse at the hands...
New Civil Engineer
Neom
2025-10-08

Saudi authorities accused of attempted displacement of community impacted by Neom port

Al-Muwaila is a village in the south of Tabuk province on the Red Sea coast, and Saudi-focused human rights group ALQST has claimed that its residents...
Sports Pro
Sport
2025-10-06

Saudi Arabia sports sponsorship: Fifa, F1 and ICC challenged over Aramco deals

Maryam Aldossari, ALQST board member and senior lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, said: “Saudi Aramco provides a critical source of re...
Middle East Eye
Freedom of expression
2025-09-25

French man held in Saudi Arabia for over a year after Hajj scam

Nadyeen Abdulaziz, Alqst's monitoring and advocacy officer, said: "Abdelfattah’s harsh treatment exposes the stark contrast between Saudi Arabia’s ref...
New Civil Engineer
Neom
2025-07-11

Civils progress update and last indigenous people forcibly evicted

On 23 June 2025, the Saudi Arabia-focused human rights organisation Alqst reported that “the last remaining inhabitants of Al-Khuraiba village have be...
The Guardian
Women's rights
2025-05-28

Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s secretive rehabilitation ‘prisons’ for disobedient women

The human rights group ALQST says Dar al-Reaya facilities are notorious within Saudi Arabia as state tools for enforcing gender norms and “stand in st...
BBC
Sport
2025-02-19

Council pressed to act over Saudi 'sportswashing'

Ms Legner said the council had shown "sympathy and solidarity", but that its representatives declined to have a picture taken and were "not very forth...
BBC
Salma al-Shehab
2025-02-10

Saudi PhD student freed after being jailed over posts, activists say

Shehab's release was first reported by ALQST, a UK-based Saudi rights group, which said she had been subjected to "four years of arbitrary imprisonmen...
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Support ALQST's work defending human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Together, we can continue to push for justice, freedom, and dignity for all.