Government Should Immediately Abolish Sponsorship System
Saudi Arabia should immediately implement its proposed reform to the sponsorship system and extend labor protections to domestic workers, Human Rights Watch said today. Responding to the Saudi government’s reaction to a recent report, “‘As If I Am Not Human’: Abuses Against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia,” author [...]

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Key Reforms Stalled, Few Remedies for Slavery-Like Conditions
Saudi Arabia should implement labor, immigration, and criminal justice reforms to protect domestic workers from serious human rights abuses that in some cases amount to slavery, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Employers often face no punishment for committing abuses including months or years [...]

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Interior Ministry Protects Officers Implicated in Inhumane Act
The Saudi government should investigate Khamis Mushayit police officers who allegedly set fire to the hiding place of Yemeni migrants, 18 of whom suffered serious burn injuries, Human Rights Watch said today. Victim accounts of the incident contradict Ministry of Interior and Civil Defense denials that the fire [...]

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Charges Violate Precepts of Law, Freedom of Expression
Courts in Jeddah should dismiss cases against a Saudi web critic and a Turkish barber charged with “insulting” Islam, an unequivocal violation of freedom of expression protected under international law, Human Rights Watch said today.
Link to hrw.org

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Secretly filmed footage of a man being beheaded in Saudi Arabia has been received by Amnesty International. The organization strongly condemns the execution and calls for the Saudi Arabian government to adhere to the UN moratorium on executions around the world.
The horrific footage shows the condemned man’s public execution. He kneels on a mat while [...]

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Sex Segregation Keeps Women Out of Public Life
Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship of women and policies of sex segregation stop women from enjoying their basic rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Saudi women often must obtain permission from a guardian (a father, husband, or even a son) to work, travel, study, marry, [...]

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At least 1,200 people were executed in 2007 and many more were killed by the state, in secret, in countries including China, Mongolia and Viet Nam.
The figures come from Amnesty International’s yearly statistics, Death Sentences and Executions in 2007, issued on Tuesday, which say that at least 1,252 people were executed in 24 countries and [...]

Tags: China, Death Penalty, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA

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