The Society for Development and Change ( ar, جمعية التنمية والتغيير) is a Saudi Arabian

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

that became active in 2011, campaigning for equal

for

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The organisation called for a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

and an elected

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

for Eastern Province.

Leadership

, the secretary-general of the Society for Development and Change was Ahmed Mohammad al-Rebh (or ''al-Ribh''). Prior to the creation of the organisation, al-Rebh, an activist from

Qatif Qatif or Al-Qatif ( ar, ٱلْقَطِيف ''Al-Qaṭīf'') is a governorate and urban area located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Dammam in the south, and from the Persian Gulf in the ...

, had called for political reform and opposed discrimination and had spent time in exile in Iran. In April 2010, al-Rebh had been interrogated by the

branch of Mabahith about his political writing, which included a call for King Abdullah to create a legislative assembly similar to those of

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and criticism of anti-Shi'a discrimination in government policy.

Actions

The Society for Development and Change contacted international media to report on events in the Qatif region during the

2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests The protests in Saudi Arabia were part of the Arab Spring that started with the 2011 Tunisian revolution. Protests started with a self-immolation in Samtah and Jeddah street protests in late January 2011. Protests against anti-Shia discriminati ...

. In October 2011, it reported protestors' demands to create a

and independent legislative assembly for Eastern Province. Secretary-General Ahmed Mohammad al-Rebh stated that Saudi Arabians should "be part of the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

". Al-Rebh was forced into exile in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

because of having been forbidden to take part in political activity in Saudi Arabia. In October 2011, spokesperson Ahmad al-Rayah flew to Beirut to report on the situation in Eastern Province. He stated that he wished for the Society for Development and Change to be legally registered. Al-Rayah said that although protests for democracy and civil rights had taken place since February 2011, security forces did not fire live bullets against protestors until 3 October, when they "fired live rounds directly into a crowd" around a police station in

al-Awamiyah Al-Awamiyah, also spelled Awamia, ( ar, العوامية ') is a town situated in the Al-Qatif region in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. , it has a population of about 25,500 people. Al-Awamiyah is bordered by the Al-Ramis farms to the e ...

. The Society for Development and Change ran the ''www.altaghyir.com'' website during 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Society for Development and Change 2011 establishments in Saudi Arabia Organizations established in 2011 Organizations of the Arab Spring Human rights organisations based in Saudi Arabia 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests Shia Islam in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian democracy movements

Leadership

Actions

See also

References