Human rights organizations have urged the United States government, including Congress, to address Saudi Arabia’s ongoing human rights abuses during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s expected visit to Washington, DC, on November 18, 2025. The visit marks the crown prince’s first trip to the US since authorizing the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and overseeing a severe crackdown on dissent in the kingdom. Eleven organizations, including Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement calling for accountability and emphasizing that the US should not overlook Saudi Arabia’s worsening rights situation.
Sarah Yager of Human Rights Watch criticized the Saudi leader’s efforts to rebrand himself internationally, noting that his regime continues to repress dissent, execute record numbers of people, and silence opposition voices. She urged US officials to demand reforms rather than provide political legitimacy through photo opportunities.
Matt Wells of Reprieve US highlighted that international pressure following Khashoggi’s killing once led to improvements in Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, including the release of some child defendants. However, he warned that recent executions, such as those of Jalal al-Labbad and Abdullah al-Derazi, demonstrate a return to impunity. Wells called on the US to reconsider its extensive security assistance to Saudi Arabia, stressing that strong diplomatic pressure could still save lives, including that of Youssef al-Manasif, currently facing execution for alleged protest participation as a minor.
Abdullah Alaoudh from the Middle East Democracy Center condemned the ongoing wave of executions in Saudi Arabia, including that of journalist Turki al-Jasser. He described the situation as a tragic shift from secretive killings of journalists to executing them openly, underscoring the hypocrisy of MBS’s visit to Washington amid these abuses.
Liesl Gerntholtz of PEN America’s Freedom to Write Center emphasized that Saudi Arabia remains one of the world’s most repressive countries for writers, consistently ranking among the top jailers globally. She called on the Trump administration to use the crown prince’s visit as an opportunity to denounce the Saudi government’s attacks on freedom of expression and demand the release of imprisoned writers and activists.
Raed Jarrar of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) criticized the US administration for welcoming the crown prince despite his role in Khashoggi’s murder. He urged US officials to at least press MBS publicly to release detained activists and reveal the location of Khashoggi’s remains, enabling his family to find closure.
Abdullah Aljuraywi of ALQST for Human Rights described the continued repression in Saudi Arabia as persistent beneath its modernized image. He urged the US to leverage its influence to secure tangible human rights commitments, including freeing detained activists, lifting arbitrary travel bans, and ending politically motivated executions.
The joint statement was endorsed by 11 organizations: ALQST for Human Rights, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), DAWN, Freedom House, Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), Human Rights Watch, MENA Rights Group, Middle East Democracy Center, Peace Action, PEN America, and Reprieve. Together, they called for the United States to place human rights and justice at the center of its engagement with Saudi Arabia.
