On the sidelines of the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, MENA Rights Group co-organised a side event bringing together human rights defenders and civil society representatives to discuss the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and highlight how its use amounts to torture and arbitrary execution, eroding international standards.
On June 18, 2026, MENA Rights Group, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, and ALQST for Human Rights delivered a joint oral statement at the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on summary, extrajudicial and arbitrary executions, highlighting the grave human rights violations and severe suffering that result from the continued and arbitrary use of the death penalty in the Gulf region, Iran, and Iraq.
MENA Rights Group joins 11 other NGOs in condemning Meta's decision to restrict human rights accounts in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at the request of the two governments, and calling on Meta to act in line with its human rights responsibilities.
MENA Rights Group joins 37 other NGOs in a joint statement expressing concern over the significant escalation in the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has surpassed 2,000 executions, marking an acceleration since the accession of King Salman and the rise of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We call for an immediate moratorium on executions, as well as a review of all death penalty cases in line with international obligations.
EuroMed Rights, Human Rights Watch and MENA Rights Group have addressed a letter to Pope XIV ahead of his historic visit to Algeria, scheduled from 13 to 15 April 2026. In the letter, the organisations urge him to raise, both in private with the Algerian authorities and in his public communications, a number of pressing human rights concerns documented in the country. These relate, in particular, to violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief affecting religious minorities, the ongoing crackdown on civic space, and the serious violations perpetrated against refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants.
MENA Rights Group joins 10 other NGOs in an oral statement delivered by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, raising concern over two proposed bills that would expand the scope of the death penalty in Israel.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an Opinion qualifying the detention of Saudi protestors Mohammad Labbad and Mohammad Abdullah al-Faraj as arbitrary and in violation of international human rights standards.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an Opinion finding that the detention and death sentences of three Egyptian nationals by Saudi authorities for drug-related crimes was arbitrary and that their subsequent executions amounted to an arbitrary deprivation of life.
MENA Rights Group joins over 50 NGOs in calling on Saudi Arabia to immediately halt all executions and uphold its commitments to end the death penalty for child defendants and drug offenders following the alarming execution of 300 people in 2025.
MENA Rights Group joins 10 NGOs in calling on the United States of America to address Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses during the Crown Prince's visit to Washington on November 18.
MENA Rights Group joins 19 other Algerian, regional, and international organisations in calling for the immediate release of poet and activist Mohamed Tadjadit and the dropping of all charges against him.
MENA Rights Group joins 35 NGOs in condemning Saudi Arabia's record-breaking execution rate and calling on the authorities to implement an immediate moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
