Joey Shea

Migrant workers are the backbone of Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy projects.

But our new research shows they are being exploited and dehumanised in the very industry that should symbolise a sustainable future.

Read the full report ➡️ www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/b...

’s Werelds beroemdste comedians reizen af naar Riyadh. Maar zullen ze álles zeggen? De komende twee weken komen tientallen wereldberoemde comedians naar Saudi-Arabië voor het Riyadh Comedy Festival. Human Rights Watch roept ze op geen blad voor de mond te nemen.

"Terwijl internationale comedians worden uitgenodigd die zich regelmatig uitspreken over het belang van vrijheid van meningsuiting, lopen Saudiërs die hetzelfde doen het risico gevangengezet of geëxecuteerd te worden, zegt HRW."

Tim Dillon was scheduled to perform but said he was fired after he joked on his podcast about Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record.

“I am doing this because they are paying me a large sum of money,” Dillon said. “They are paying me enough money to look the other way.”

Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Comedy Festival Whitewashes Abuses The Saudi government is using the Riyadh Comedy Festival 2025 from September 26 to October 9 to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.

🚩Saudi govt is using the Riyadh Comedy Fest to deflect attention from its brutal repression

The festival takes place on the 7th anniversary of Khashoggi's murder

Lineup includes: Jimmy Carr, Pete Davidson and others

@mazjobrani.bsky.social

@sammorril.bsky.social

www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Saudi authorities had executed at least 241 people in 2025 as of August 5, with 22 executions in the last week alone, according to Reprieve. Reprieve reported that the number of executions in 2025 would exceed all prior records if executions continue at the same rate.

Rampant due process violations and systemic abuses against defendants in Saudi Arabia’s courts and criminal justice system make it highly unlikely that any of those executed in 2025 received a fair trial.

Saudi Arabia: Executions Surge in 2025 Saudi authorities have been carrying out an unprecedented surge in executions in 2025 without apparent due process.

Saudi authorities executed 241 ppl in 2025: an unprecedented surge without due process

The execution of Turki al-Jasser, a journalist who exposed corruption, raises concerns the Saudi govt is using the death penalty to crush peaceful dissent
@aalodah.bsky.social @hrw.org
www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

Gulf States: Protect Workers from Extreme Heat Gulf Cooperation Council countries are exposing migrant workers to yet another deadly summer of extreme heat conditions without adequate protection.

GCC countries are exposing migrant workers to yet another deadly summer of extreme heat conditions without adequate protection.

Migrant workers are unnecessarily dying, experiencing kidney failure, and suffering from other chronic illnesses.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...

Saudi authorities, FIFA, and other employers should ensure that all migrant worker deaths, regardless of perceived cause, time, and place are properly investigated and families of deceased workers are treated with dignity, and receive fair and timely compensation.

Saudi authorities have failed to adequately protect workers from preventable deaths, investigate workplace safety incidents, and ensure timely and adequate compensation for families, including through mandatory life insurance policies and survivors’ benefits.

Saudi Arabia: Migrant Workers Electrocuted, Decapitated, and Falling to Death at Workplaces Scores of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia die in gruesome yet avoidable workplace-related accidents, including falling from buildings, electrocution, and even decapitation

🚩NEW: @hrw.org finds scores of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia died in gruesome yet avoidable workplace accidents like falling from buildings, electrocution& decapitation

Deaths are erroneously classified as “natural”&are neither investigated nor compensated

www.hrw.org/news/2025/05...

“The UAE government rejects the existence of political opposition or any opinion that contradicts its policies, so it seeks to silence all voices,” said one individual.

The move represents an escalation of the UAE's transnational repression, targeting not only dissidents but also their family members.

HRW searched for the individuals & companies on global terror and financial sanctions lists, inclg the UN Global Sanctions list, the European Union Sanctions list & the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK.

None of them are included in these lists.

HRW found that all 8 companies are solely registered in the UK & are owned or previously owned by exiled Emirati dissidents/their relatives

The authorities did not inform them prior to the designation, nor was there any opportunity to respond or contest the allegations.

Only 2 of the 11 have been convicted or accused of a terrorist offense though both under questionable circumstances: One was convicted in absentia as part of the grossly unfair UAE94 mass trial of dissidents in 2013. The other was accused in a separate case related the UAE94 case

UAE: Dissidents, Relatives Designated ‘Terrorists’ Emirati authorities have designated as “terrorist” 11 political dissidents and their relatives as well as 8 companies they own, reflecting the country’s indiscriminate use of overbroad counterterroris...

🚩NEW: UAE authorities have designated as “terrorist” 11 political dissidents & relatives as well as 8 companies they own, reflecting the UAE’s indiscriminate use of overbroad counterterrorism laws and contempt for due process.

See our new report here:

www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

Bulgaria: Saudi Activist at Risk of Deportation Bulgarian authorities should suspend any plans to deport Saudi human rights defender Abdulrahman al-Khalidi to Saudi Arabia, and should allow his resettlement to a third country.

20 human rights groups, including @hrw.org , call on Bulgarian authorities to suspend plans to deport Saudi HRD Abdulrahman al-Khalidi to Saudi Arabia.

Bulgarian authorities would violate the Bulgarian, European& international law obligation of nonrefoulement.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

Europe’s Democratic Future Depends on Human Rights It’s been a deeply sobering and troubling few weeks for people who care about the future of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe.

With talk in Europe now of rearmament and the need for new security structures, it's vital European leaders and institutions keep human rights at the centre of their efforts. Democracy depends on it. My new piece for @hrw.org

www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

UAE: Ahmed Mansoor’s 15-Year Sentence Upheld An Emirati court upheld an abusive 15-year sentence on March 4, 2025, against the prominent Emirati human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, who was convicted following a fundamentally unfair trial.

Earlier this week an Emirati court upheld an abusive 15-year sentence against prominent Emirati human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor.

The UAE continues to target a man who courageously stood up to his abusive govt even when very few would dare.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

None of the detainees were present, and only one of the defendants’ lawyers was able to attend the session.

Little is known about the conditions for the 53 defendants because most are denied visits and calls from family member

Given that the charges are based solely on defendants’ peaceful practice of their human rights and that the convictions were based on a fundamentally unfair trial, Emirati authorities should immediately overturn the convictions and release all defendants

UAE: Unfair Mass Trial Convictions Upheld An Emirati court on March 4, 2025, rejected all appeals by people convicted in the United Arab Emirates’ second largest unfair mass trial, upholding the unfair convictions and abusive sentences of 53 ...

🚩NEW: Yesterday a UAE court rejected all appeals by those convicted in the UAE84 unfair mass trial, upholding the unfair convictions & abusive sentences of 53 HRDs & political dissidents.

The decision reveals the travesty of the UAE’s justice system.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

With the #Omnibus published, the Commission sides with giant corporations rather than victims of corporate abuse.

Under the pretense of ‘simplification’, the Commission’s guts its own achievements on corporate accountability & abdicates principled leadership in advancing a #sustainable economy.

Saudi Arabia: Public Investment Fund Meeting Whitewashes Abuses Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is sponsoring an investment conference in Miami and further whitewashing the country’s egregious human rights record.

🚩Trump delivered a keynote address at the Saudi PIF-backed investment summit in Miami, an investment conference used to whitewash Saudi's rights record.

PIF investments are a tool of KSA’s influence& help to build uncritical support for MBS’ agenda.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/02...

The UN should be working to defend freedom of expression at its conferences.... not participating in abuses by host governments.

The UN also threatened to de-badge me on the basis of the below video where I cite the case of retired teached Muhammad al-Ghamdi, who was originally sentenced to death based on his peaceful social media posts:

x.com/hrw/status/1...

Our workshop included case studies from Saudi Arabia and countries in Latin America, but the IGF only censored references to Saudi Arabia.

A small example of @linaalhathloul.bsky.social's speech censored by the UN:

“In Saudi Arabia, laws such as the counter-terrorism law and the anti-cybercrime law define criminal offenses in dangerously vague terms.These laws are routinely used to target peaceful activism and free speech.”

UN Censors Criticism of Saudi Arabia at Internet Conference United Nations officials removed criticisms of the Saudi government from the official record of a UN-organized internet governance conference in Riyadh in December 2024, and retaliated against civil s...

🚩NEW: At the IGF in Riyadh, the UN censored criticism of Saudi Arabia by @linaalhathloul.bsky.social, threatened to revoke my badge & confiscated materials highlighting cases of human rights defenders ⬇️

www.hrw.org/news/2025/02...