Human rights in Saudi Arabia

Human rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy. Known for its executions of political protesters and opponents, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been accused of and denounced by various international organizations and governments for violating human rights within the country.^[1] An absolute monarchy under the House of Saud, the government is consistently ranked among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights^[2] and was in 2023 ranked as the world's most authoritarian regime.^[3]

The regime works to whitewash its record of human rights abuses. For example, it has for more than a decade employed the public relations organization Qorvis MSLGroup, a U.S. subsidiary of Publicis Groupe.^[4]^[5]

^ Unattributed (28 February 2005). "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2004". US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
^ Worst of the Worst 2010. The World's Most Repressive Societies Archived 24 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine. freedomhouse.org
^ Coppedge, Michael, John Gerring, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Staffan I. Lindberg, Jan Teorell, Nazifa Alizada, David Altman, Michael Bernhard, Agnes Cornell, M. Steven Fish, Lisa Gastaldi, Haakon Gjerløw, Adam Glynn, Allen Hicken, Garry Hindle, Nina Ilchenko, Joshua Krusell, Anna Lührmann, Seraphine F. Maerz, Kyle L. Marquardt, Kelly McMann, Valeriya Mechkova, Juraj Medzihorsky, Pamela Paxton, Daniel Pemstein, Josefine Pernes, Johannes von Römer, Brigitte Seim, Rachel Sigman, Svend-Erik Skaaning, Jeffrey Staton, Aksel Sundström, Eitan Tzelgov, Yi-ting Wang, Tore Wig, Steven Wilson and Daniel Ziblatt. 2021. "V-Dem [Country–Year/Country–Date] Dataset v11.1" Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. https://doi.org/10.23696/vdemds21.
^ Green, Chris (17 March 2016). "PR firm accused of helping Saudi Arabia 'whitewash' its human rights record". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^ "Supplemental Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938" (PDF). fara.gov. Foreign Agents Registration Act. 5 April 2015. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2016.

[1] Unattributed (28 February 2005). "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2004". US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2008.

[2] Worst of the Worst 2010. The World's Most Repressive Societies Archived 24 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine. freedomhouse.org

[vdem_dataset-3] Coppedge, Michael, John Gerring, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Staffan I. Lindberg, Jan Teorell, Nazifa Alizada, David Altman, Michael Bernhard, Agnes Cornell, M. Steven Fish, Lisa Gastaldi, Haakon Gjerløw, Adam Glynn, Allen Hicken, Garry Hindle, Nina Ilchenko, Joshua Krusell, Anna Lührmann, Seraphine F. Maerz, Kyle L. Marquardt, Kelly McMann, Valeriya Mechkova, Juraj Medzihorsky, Pamela Paxton, Daniel Pemstein, Josefine Pernes, Johannes von Römer, Brigitte Seim, Rachel Sigman, Svend-Erik Skaaning, Jeffrey Staton, Aksel Sundström, Eitan Tzelgov, Yi-ting Wang, Tore Wig, Steven Wilson and Daniel Ziblatt. 2021. "V-Dem [Country–Year/Country–Date] Dataset v11.1" Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. https://doi.org/10.23696/vdemds21.

[4] Green, Chris (17 March 2016). "PR firm accused of helping Saudi Arabia 'whitewash' its human rights record". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.

[5] "Supplemental Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938" (PDF). fara.gov. Foreign Agents Registration Act. 5 April 2015. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2016.

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