Human Rights Organizations
The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in the Arabian Peninsula is a Saudi Arabian human rights organization based in Beirut since 1992.
The Human Rights First Society applied unsuccessfully for a governmental licence in 2002, but was allowed to function informally. In 2004, the National Society for Human Rights, associated with the Saudi government, was created. The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia was created in 2007 and is also unlicensed.
The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) was created in 2009. One of its co-founders, Mohammed Saleh al-Bejadi, was arbitrarily arrested by Mabahith, the internal security agency, on 21 March 2011, during the 2011 Saudi Arabian protests. Al-Bejadi was charged in the Specialized Criminal Court in August 2011 for "insurrection against the ruler, instigating demonstrations, and speaking with foreign channels." Another co-founder, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani, was charged for his human rights activities in June 2012.
Sixteen people who tried to create a human rights organisation in 2007 were arrested in February 2007, charged in August 2010, and convicted on 22 November 2011 of "forming a secret, attempting to seize power, incitement against the King, financing terrorism, and money laundering" and sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court to 5–30 years' imprisonment, to be followed by travel bans. They appealed on 22 January 2012.
The Society for Development and Change was created in September 2011 and campaigns for equal human rights for Shia in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The organisation calls for a constitution and elected legislature for Eastern Province.
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In Saudi Arabia
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