It is now four years since the takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and since then North East Bylines has been regularly reviewing what life is like in that Middle Eastern kingdom and what has happened there since that takeover in October 2021. There are some who would claim that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a place where human rights are not respected and that the regime is a murderous one, starting illegal wars and being responsible for numerous human rights abuses. But is all that really true? Let’s see what has been happening and look at the hard evidence. How has Saudi Arabia been reported in recent weeks?
Parts I-24 of this survey have covered the period from 7 October 2021 to the end of August this year. So, what has been happening regarding Saudi Arabia in September 2025?
The imprisonment of Admed al-Doush
On 3 September, the Independent reported that the family of Ahmed al-Doush – a British man reportedly jailed because of seven year-old tweet whilst on holiday in Saudi Arabia – were saying that he is “trapped in a living hell”, as they appealed to the British government to take urgent action. Mr al-Doush’s wife, Amaher Nour, as “described the anguish her family have endured since his arrest” and “fears for her husband’s health as he contemplates going on hunger strike”.
Though his initial sentence was ten years in prison, Amnesty International have since reported that Ahmed al-Doush’s sentence has since been reduced to eight years.
Saudi Arabia’s mistreatment of migrant workers
On 10 September, the Human Rights Watch reported that hundreds of migrant workers employed in Saudi Arabia did not receive their salaries for up to eight months. These workers were from the manufacturing and supply company Sendan International, as well as the state-owned oil company Aramco.
It was noted that migrant workers were forced into undocumented status, were often stranded without pay for months or left with no choice but to return home at their own expense, abandoning outstanding benefits and wages. It was also stated that, “these abuses have occurred as Saudi Arabia is undergoing a massive construction boom, including building 11 new and refurbished stadiums ahead of FIFA’s 2034 World Cup. Aramco is a “major worldwide partner” of FIFA and sponsors other global sports bodies”.
Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch commented:
“The failure of Sendan International, Aramco, and Saudi authorities to ensure migrant workers receive their wages is only one recent example of the impunity for Saudi businesses that enables them to mistreat workers. The lack of effective protections for migrant workers in Saudi Arabia is a stark warning to FIFA and other companies that their operations in Saudi Arabia will be stained with widespread labour abuses unless they demand genuine labour protections.”
The whitewashing of human rights abuses
On 12 September, ALQST issued a report claiming that the Saudi Human Rights Commission had done nothing but whitewash Saudi Arabia’s human rights record over the last twenty years. ALQST noted that in recent years, the government of Saudi Arabia, through its Saudi Human Rights Commission (SHRC), has consistently upheld a progressive stance on the advancement of human rights in the country, regularly emphasising reforms undertaken to protect and promote human rights. However, ALQST has also noted that, although Saudi Arabia had indeed sought to bring changes to important laws governing women’s rights and to release some long-held political prisoners, a somewhat different reality had been witnessed by international organisations and civil society organisations.
ALQST states that “contrary to the government’s narrative, human rights organisations have documented a continued crackdown on Saudi women calling for institutional reforms and basic rights; an all-time rise in executions of individuals held for minor drug-related offences or for exercising their right to freedom of expression; and dire conditions of detention, including the practice of torture.”
ALQST also notes that, “the SHRC refers to itself as an independent organisation with full autonomy that reports to the king and holds the government to account. On paper, the SHRC has been mandated with promoting and protecting human rights and is tasked with various responsibilities which include addressing human rights complaints, engaging in legislative work, and monitoring detention facilities”.
Moreover, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are usually encouraged to seek accreditation from the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), an organisation that assesses the true independence and effectiveness of NHRIs according to the Paris Principles, international standards adopted by the UN General Assembly. However, ALQST points out, “the SHRC has never sought accreditation from the GANHRI and it is therefore not subject to any international oversight.”
The Riyadh Comedy Festival
On 16 September, CBS News reported that some of the biggest names in American comedy had signed up to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, and the US-based Human Rights Watch urged them to speak out against the country’s human rights abuses, so that they are not complicit in this whitewashing of abuses. However, although Human Rights Watch has written to the comics’ representatives requesting meetings about Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses, none have replied.
Saudi Arabia is hosting the Riyadh Comedy Festival, which organizers say is the “world’s largest comedy festival,” from 26 September to 9 October. Some of North America’s most popular comedians, along with comics from Europe and elsewhere, are featured on the bill, including Dave Chapelle, Kevin Hart and Bill Burr.
It has been further reported that the festival would be the latest in a series of events hosted by Saudi Arabia’s government that critics say “amount to an effort to obscure the country’s reputation for rampant human rights abuses.”
Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea told CBS News:
“The Saudi government has invested billions into high profile entertainment events like these in a deliberate effort to whitewash the country’s human rights record and deflect from the egregious abuses that continue to happen inside of the country. These investments are a part of the broader strategy to […] have people thinking about a comedy event […] rather than the soaring number of executions that are happening inside of the country.”
Following on from this, Human Rights Watch said on 24 September that the Saudi regime was using the event “to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.”
Conclusion
This is the present situation in Saudi Arabia as of September 2025. Are those who accuse the Saudi regime of having a bad human rights record being fair? What should we say and what should we do today, and in the future, to respond to the human rights record of the Saudi regime?
On 13 November 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. came to receive an honorary degree at Newcastle University. Perhaps, when contemplating the Saudi regime, we ought to remember his words from a sermon in 1959, where he said that “It is always the right time to do the right thing.”
To every man there openeth a way, and ways, and a way The high soul climbs the high way, and the low soul gropes the low, And in between on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro. But to every man—to every nation, to every civilization—there openeth a high and a low way. Every soul decideth which way it shall go. Martin Luther King, paraphrasing John Oxenham in The Ways
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