Numerous Saudi human rights advocates and defenders are still serving lengthy prison terms for opposing political and human rights reforms or criticizing the government. Saudi authorities are aggressively pursuing non-Saudi and Saudi social media users who engage in peaceful online speech, punishing them with life sentences or even the death penalty.
Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on dissent
Muhammad al-Ghamdi, 54, a retired Saudi teacher, was found guilty of many crimes on July 10, 2023, by the Specialized Criminal Court, Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism tribunal, based only on his peaceful expression on the internet. Using his YouTube activities, retweets, and tweets as evidence, the court condemned him to death. Over 1,000 people have died from this year’s hajj, the majority of them were unregistered pilgrims who underwent the sweltering Saudi Arabian heat for the trip. An Arab diplomat who supplied a breakdown indicating that 630 of the 658 Egyptians who died were unregistered pilgrims, was among the 58 Egyptians among the fresh dead announced on Thursday.
One of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims who have the means to do so must at least once accomplish is the pilgrimage, of which 1,081 deaths have been documented from 10 different nations. This year, the hajj took place in the middle of Saudi Arabia’s scorching heat, according to the lunar Islamic calendar. This week, the Grand Mosque in Mecca recorded a maximum temperature of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit), according to the national meteorological center. According to Saudi research released last month, the region’s temperatures are increasing by 0.4 degrees Celsius every ten years. Tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to participate in the hajj through unofficial routes every year because they are unable to pay the very expensive official visas.
Women’s rights under attack
Women’s rights activists Loujain al-Hathloul, Nassimah al-Sadah, and Samar Badawi are among those who continue to be prohibited from traveling and have suspended prison terms, which gives the government the power to send them back to jail for any alleged criminal behavior. Charges pertaining to peaceful expression or action kept human rights advocate Mohammed al-Rabea, humanitarian worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, and human rights attorney Waleed Abu al-Khair incarcerated. Between March 2022 and June 2023, at least hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers were slain by Saudi border guards trying to enter the Yemen-Saudi border. Human Rights Watch discovered that in a widespread and organized pattern of attacks, Saudi border guards shot migrants at close range, including several women and children, and used explosive devices to kill them. Saudi border officers have occasionally shot refugees at close range after asking which limb they should kill. These killings, which seem to be ongoing, would be crimes against humanity if they were carried out in accordance with a Saudi official strategy to kill migrants.
Migrant workers exploited and abused
Although hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims were reportedly cleared from Mecca this month, according to Saudi officials, many appear to have continued to partake in the major rituals, which got underway last Friday. This group was particularly vulnerable as they were unable to enter the air-conditioned areas meant to keep the 1.8 million authorized pilgrims cool in the absence of formal permissions. “After being pursued by security personnel prior to Arafat Day, many were worn out. “They were fatigued,” one Arab diplomat said on Thursday following the culmination of the hajj on Saturday, which consisted of all-day outdoor prayers. The economy of Saudi Arabia is largely dependent on migrant labor. Saudi Arabia is home to around 13.4 million migrants, or 41.6 percent of the country’s total population, according to its 2022 census. Despite recent revisions, the authorities persist in enforcing one of the most stringent and exploitative kafala (visa sponsorship) schemes in the area. Employers have considerable control over migrant workers’ movements and legal status inside the nation thanks to the kafala system, which also makes them vulnerable to other abuses, such as delayed wages and passport seizure, which can amount to forced labor. In addition, migrant domestic workers experience physical, verbal, and sexual abuse.
Minorities face discrimination and persecution
The ambassador said that heat-related problems, such as high blood pressure, were the primary cause of mortality among Egyptian pilgrims. According to a statement released by the foreign ministry on Thursday, Egyptian officials were visiting hospitals to gather information and assist Egyptian pilgrims in receiving medical care. “However, there are large numbers of Egyptian citizens who are not registered in hajj databases, which requires double the effort and a longer time to search for missing persons and find their relatives,” said the report. Undocumented migrant laborers are routinely arrested and deported by Saudi Arabia, with significant arrest campaigns taking place in November 2013 and August 2017. Many employees unintentionally lose their documentation due to false reports from their bosses that they are “absconding,” even when they are escaping mistreatment. The right to challenge their imprisonment and deportation is denied to migrants.