Middle East Democracy Center

11/14/2025

تخفي السلطات السورية الناشط الإماراتي منذ اعتقاله في 6 نوفمبر، مما يثير مخاوف من أن يكون الاعتقال تحت ضغط #الإمارات في إطار سياسات القمع العابر للحدود ضد مواطنيها المعارضين في الخارج.

نطالب بإطلاق سراحه فوراً.

11/12/2025

As MBS visits the U.S., 75-year-old American Saad Almadi remains trapped in Arabia

punished for tweets posted in the U.S. Released from prison,

but still barred by returning home to the U.S.

11/03/2025

Joint statement:

The undersigned human rights organizations are deeply concerned over the severe deterioration in the health of lawyer and human rights defender Hoda Abdel-Moneim, 66 years old, who has been in pretrial detention since 1st of November 2018. Abdel-Moneim‘s life is imminently at risk.

Read full statement

The undersigned human rights organizations are deeply concerned over the severe deterioration in the health of lawyer and human rights defender Hoda Abdel-Moneim, 66 years old, who has been in pretrial detention since 1st of November 2018. Abdel-Moneim‘s life is imminently at risk.

11/03/2025

🚨The recent appointment of hardliner Saleh al-Fawzan as Saudi Arabia’s new Grand M***i exposes the false promise of MBS’s “moderate” Islam.

Read why in MEDC’s new commentary by Abdullah Alaoudh

When Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) became Saudi Arabia’s crown prince in 2017, he pledged that the kingdom would no longer “waste another 30 years of our lives dealing with extremist ideas.” He vowed to move Saudi Arabia toward a more “moderate” Islam that would empower women, modernize societ...

10/28/2025

🚨 Breaking: Imprisoned human rights defender Mohammed al-Bejadi was sentenced to 25 years yesterday after already being held for more than two years past his previous sentence's completion.

🚨عاجل : السلطات السعودية تُعيد محاكمة الناشط في قضية جديدة، وتحكم عليه أمس بالسجن 25 عامًا، بعد أن أنهى محكوميته الأولى التي أبقته السلطات في السجن بعدها سنتين إضافيتين

10/27/2025

NEW: Arabia is on track to break its own ex*****on record in 2025, with an alarming increase in ex*****ons for non-lethal offenses, MEDC and Reprieve find in a new fact sheet.

Link for the Full Factsheet in bio

10/27/2025

NEW MEDC FACT SHEET: Saudi Arabia’s Ex*****on Campaign Intensifies

Saudi Arabia is on pace to surpass its own ex*****on record in 2025— with shocking numbers of ex*****ons for non-lethal offenses, according to MEDC and Reprieve.
Alarmingly, the kingdom executed Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser in June 2025,a dangerous escalation in the repression of journalists, analysts, and others who express dissent.

Our new fact sheet also highlights the recent ex*****on of two child defendants :
Jalal al-Labbad
Abdullah al-Derazi
Shia community members, both were prosecuted for alleged offenses linked to attending protests when they were children — a clear violation of international human rights law.

Read the full fact sheet to understand the scale of the crisis.

Despite promises by Saudi authorities to reduce the use of the death penalty and reserve it for only the most serious crimes, ex*****ons in the country have surged in 2025. Saudi Arabia has significantly increased ex*****ons for non-lethal offenses, particularly drug-related offenses committed by fo...

09/22/2025

We welcome the news that Egyptian President Abdelfattah el-Sisi has pardoned British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah. While his release from unjust detention is long overdue, we are relieved that he will finally be free and able to reunite with his family.

Alaa, a prominent figure in Egypt’s 2011 revolution, has spent the majority of the past decade unjustly behind bars in the country solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. In 2014, he was arrested for peacefully protesting and sentenced to 15 years in prison, a sentence that was later reduced to five years. Just six months after his conditional release, he was rearrested and sentenced to another five years in prison on bogus “spreading false news” charges over tweets. Despite completing five years in prison in September 2024, authorities refused to release him.

While in prison, Alaa has been subjected to ill-treatment and torture, been held in dire conditions, and was routinely denied access to fresh air and sunlight. Alaa launched several lengthy hunger strikes over the course of his imprisonment, including during the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in 2022.

Over the past decade, Alaa’s son Khaled – who was born while Alaa was previously detained in 2012 for his peaceful activism – has grown up without his father. In 2014, Alaa also missed the death of his father while in jail. Throughout his imprisonment, his family has campaigned tirelessly for his release. Over the past year, his mother, prominent activist Laila Soueif, was hospitalized after launching a hunger strike in protest of Alaa’s ongoing imprisonment.

“Freeing Alaa Abd El-Fattah is not justice. It is simply the end of an injustice that should have never happened. We welcome his long overdue release, nearly a year after he completed his sentence,” said Sara Mohamed, unjust detention manager at the Middle East Democracy Center. ”Egyptian authorities must now take the next step and release all those unjustly detained. The same power that freed Alaa can and must be used to return freedom and dignity to countless others behind.”

Photo: PersonalDemocracy/Flickr

09/10/2025

🚨Since October 7, 2023, the United States has provided Israel with $21.7 billion worth of arms that has allowed Israel’s military to sustain its genocide in Gaza and attacks around the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and the West Bank.

Here’s what Americans are paying for and what privileges Congress is extending to Israel - above and beyond anything any other partner receives.

09/03/2025

🚨 Egyptian authorities are entrapping children playing video games, forcibly disappearing them, denying them due process, and some have reportedly been victims of torture.

to read our joint statement with 14 human rights organizations to learn more.