human rights defender
Israa Al Ghomgham
Actions and Campaigns
human rights defender
Actions and Campaigns
1990
Woman
In prison (sentenced)
Israa Al Ghomgham is a Saudi human rights defender from Al Qatif, a region in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province with a Shi’a majority. In the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011, Al Ghomgham documented and took part in the protests that erupted across Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, calling for the end of discrimination against Saudi Arabia’s Shia population and the release of anti-government protestors. On 06 December 2015, the security forces raided the house of Al-Ghomgham and arrested her along with her husband, activist Mousa Al-Hashim.
Dec 6, 2015
13 years
Latitude: 26.33716
Longitude: 49.95834
Dammam
Al-Mabaheth
On 06 August 2018, after 32 months, the first hearing of Al-Ghomgham’s trial started before the Specialised Criminal Court. During the first session of her trial, the Public Prosecution presented a list of eight main charges against Al-Ghomgham, including allegedly: “joining a terrorist entity aimed at creating chaos and unrest within the Kingdom,” “participating in marches and gatherings in the province of Al-Qatif and encouraging young people to go to those marches and gatherings in addition to photographing, documenting and publishing these gatherings through social networks sites,” “participating in the funeral of victims of security clashes with protesters,” “preparing, sending and storing material that would harm the public order and punishable under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act of 2008,” “creating an account on social networking sites and using it to encourage rallies to riot and incite young people against the state and security forces in addition to publishing pictures and video clips of these rallies and marches about a number of victims of security clashes,” and “creating a channel on YouTube for the publication of video clips of victims of security clashes.” In that hearing, the Public Prosecutor originally called for Al-Ghomgham’s execution by beheading, making her potentially the first woman to be executed for her activism in Saudi Arabia. On 31 January 2019, in response to international pressure, the Saudi authorities announced that Al Ghomgham would not face the death penalty. On 10 February 2021, Al-Ghomgam was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by another eight years of travel ban by the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court. In October 2022, it was reported that the Court of Appeal increased her sentence from 8 to 13 years.
The photo above is from when she was a child and is the only known photo of her.
Documented by
Israa Al Ghomgham is a Saudi human rights defender from Al Qatif, a region in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province with a Shi’a majority. In the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011, Al Ghomgham documented and took part in the protests that erupted across Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, calling for the end of discrimination against Saudi Arabia’s Shia population and the release of anti-government protestors. On 06 December 2015, the security forces raided the house of Al-Ghomgham and arrested her along with her husband, activist Mousa Al-Hashim.
Latitude: 26.33716
Longitude: 49.95834
13 years
On 06 August 2018, after 32 months, the first hearing of Al-Ghomgham’s trial started before the Specialised Criminal Court. During the first session of her trial, the Public Prosecution presented a list of eight main charges against Al-Ghomgham, including allegedly: “joining a terrorist entity aimed at creating chaos and unrest within the Kingdom,” “participating in marches and gatherings in the province of Al-Qatif and encouraging young people to go to those marches and gatherings in addition to photographing, documenting and publishing these gatherings through social networks sites,” “participating in the funeral of victims of security clashes with protesters,” “preparing, sending and storing material that would harm the public order and punishable under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act of 2008,” “creating an account on social networking sites and using it to encourage rallies to riot and incite young people against the state and security forces in addition to publishing pictures and video clips of these rallies and marches about a number of victims of security clashes,” and “creating a channel on YouTube for the publication of video clips of victims of security clashes.” In that hearing, the Public Prosecutor originally called for Al-Ghomgham’s execution by beheading, making her potentially the first woman to be executed for her activism in Saudi Arabia. On 31 January 2019, in response to international pressure, the Saudi authorities announced that Al Ghomgham would not face the death penalty. On 10 February 2021, Al-Ghomgam was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by another eight years of travel ban by the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court. In October 2022, it was reported that the Court of Appeal increased her sentence from 8 to 13 years.
For more than two years, Al Ghomgham was detained, without charges. Little is known about what happened to Israa al-Ghomgham in the intervening 32 months before she first appeared in court. Al-Ghomgham was denied access to a lawyer during the early stage of detention and interrogation, and she alleged she was ill-treated.
The photo above is from when she was a child and is the only known photo of her.