A decade of exploitation on the Riyadh Metro project - REPORT - 18/11/2025
Behind the gleaming façade of the newly opened Riyadh Metro lies a decade of labour exploitation. Amnesty International has revealed how workers from Bangladesh, India and Nepal endured excessive recruitment fees, low and discriminatory wages, unsafe conditions in extreme heat, and inadequate housing - all while under the enduring control of the kefala sponsorship system. Read more.
Abdullah al-Derazi executed for alleged crimes as a child - URGENT ACTION UPDATE - 21/10/2025
On 20 October 2025, Saudi Arabian authorities executed Abdullah al-Derazi for crimes allegedly committed when he was under 18 years of age. Abdullah al-Derazi was sentenced to death on 20 February 2018 after a grossly unfair trial that relied on a torture-tainted 'confession'. The Specialised Criminal Court convicted Abdullah al-Derazi of 'terrorism'-related charges following participation in protests against the government's treatment of the Shia minority. Abdullah al-Derazi was 17 at the time of his alleged crime. Read more.
NGOs condemn escalating use of the death penalty - JOINT PUBLIC STATEMENT- 10/10/2025
Amnesty International was among a number of organisations to express horror at the alarming surge in executions in Saudi Arabia. Read more.
Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, executions in Saudi Arabia have reached record-high numbers. Between January 2014 and June 2025, Amnesty International monitored, collated and analysed official information on 1,816 executions. Of the 1,816 people, 597 people were executed for drug related offences. Nearly 75% of those were foreign nationals. The authorities also continued to wield the death penalty against the country's Shi'a minority, including for political dissent. The Shi'a minority accounted for 42% of executions for 'terrorism'-related offences in the past decade. Amnesty calls on the Saudi authorities to establish a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Read more.
Dozens of men on death row in Saudi Arabia for drug-related crimes are terrified for their lives amid a dramatic surge in execution for drug offences in the country over recent months based on information from family members of detainees on death row. Read more.
Women's rights activist resentenced - URGENT ACTION UPDATE - 25/08/2025
On 21 August 2025, the appeal court of Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) resentenced fitness influencer and women's rights activist, Manahel al-Otaibi, to five years' imprisonment followed by a five year travel ban. On 09 January 2024, the SCC sentenced her to 11 years in prison for 'terrorist offences' in a secret trial. She was initially charged with violating the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, then faced additional charges under the counter-terror law due to her tweets in support of women's rights as well as posting photos of herself at the mall without an abaya (a traditional loose-fitting long-sleeved robe) on Snapchat. Saudi authorities have subjected her to torture and other ill-treatment, as well as enforced disappearance. Manahel should be immediately and unconditionally released. Take action.
Amnesty's regional campaigner has written a blog regarding campaigning for Manahel here.
Deplorable execution of juvenile - NEWS - 22/08/2025 - URGENT ACTION UPDATE - 29/08/2025
On 21 August 2025, the Saudi Arabian authorities executed Jalal Labbad for crimes allegedly committed when he was under 18 years of age exposing Saudi Arabia's broken promise to halt the death penalty for juveniles. Read more.
The Urgent Action update can be found here.
Abdulaziz al-Shubaily conditionally released - URGENT ACTION UPDATE - 28/07/2025
On 13 July 2025, Saudi human rights defender and prisoner of conscience Abdulaziz al-Shubaily was conditionally released from prison after serving an eight-year prison sentence. Abdulaziz al-Shubaily was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court on 29 May 2016 following an unfair trial. He was a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA). Before it was disbanded, the ACPRA was one of Saudi Arabia's few independent human rights organisations. Abdulaziz al-Shubaily is subject to an eight-year travel ban and a ban on using social media. Read more.
British national sentenced to eight years in prison - URGENT ACTION UPDATE - 09/07/2025
On 12 May 2025, Saudi Arabia's terrorism court, the Specialised Criminal Court, sentenced British national Ahmed al-Doush to ten years in prison. On 23 June 2025, his sentence was shortened to eight years on appeal. Saudi authorities arrested Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst with Bank of America, on 31 August 2024 at King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, as he was returning to the United Kingdom, where he resides, after visiting Saudi Arabia with his wife and children. In his extensive interrogations, questions revolved around past social media posts and his alleged association with a Saudi critic in exile, with whom he has no relationship beyond knowing his son. Ahmed al-Doush has faced multiple violations of his fair trial rights. Take action.
Stop the execution of Essam Ahmed - URGENT ACTION - 07/07/2025
Essam Ahmed, an Egyptian fisherman, is at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities arrested him in December 2021 from the sea between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Essam Ahmed said he was coerced by a man wielding a gun to transport drugs. In November 2022, the Criminal Court in Tabuk sentenced him to death after a grossly unfair trial for drug-related offences. Essam Ahmed said he was tortured immediately after his arrest and 'confessed' under torture to drug trafficking. He had no lawyer througout his arrest and investigation period. Essam Ahmed's conviction and death sentence must be immediately quashed and a fair retrial established, without resort to the death penalty. Take action.
Fahd Ezzi Mohammed Ramadhan released - GOOD NEWS! - URGENT ACTION UPDATE - 09/07/2025
On 01 June 2025, Dutch-Yemeni national, Fahd Ezzi Mohammed Ramadhan, was released from prison in Saudi Arabia after over 18 months of arbitrary detention. Fahd Ezzi Mohammed Ramadhan was arrested on 20 November 2023, He was never formally charged, but told officials from the Dutch embassy in Riyadh that he believed the reason for his detention was sympathising online with a critic of the Saudi royal family. Interrogators had also asked him to sign a document listing four of his tweets. Read more.
Labour agreement must lead to comprehensive reforms - NEWS - 04/06/2025
On 04 June 2025, the government of Saudi Arabia and the International Labour Organisation announced the third phase of cooperation between the partnership agreement to advance decent work reforms. Read more.
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Updated 18/11/2025
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Country coordinators - Paul Dawson - paul.dawson@amnesty.org.uk