Society for Development and Change

Focus	human rights for everyone including Shi'ites
Area served	Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
Key people	secretary-general: Ahmed Mohammad al-Rebh (in exile in Beirut) Ahmad al-Rayah, spokesperson
	Show more

The Society for Development and Change (Arabic: جمعية التنمية والتغيير), or SDC, is a Saudi Arabian human rights non-governmental organisation that became active in 2011, campaigning for equal human rights for Shia in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.^[1]^[4] The organisation called for a constitution and an elected legislature for Eastern Province.^[3]

Leadership

As of October 2011^[update], the SDC secretary-general was Ahmed Mohammad al-Rebh^[1]^[5] (or al-Ribh^[4]). Prior to the creation of the organisation, al-Rebh, an activist from Qatif, had called for political reform and opposed discrimination^[4] and had spent time in exile in Iran.^[5] In April 2010, al-Rebh had been interrogated by the Qatif branch of Mabahith about his political writing, which included a call for King Abdullah to create a legislative assembly similar to those of Kuwait and Bahrain and criticism of anti-Shi'a discrimination in government policy.^[6]

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. In October 2011, it reported protestors' demands to create a constitution and independent legislative assembly for Eastern Province.^[3] Secretary-General Ahmed Mohammad al-Rebh stated that Saudi Arabians should "be part of the Arab Spring".^[2] Al-Rebh was forced into exile in Beirut because of having been forbidden to take part in political activity in Saudi Arabia.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.^[3]

The Society for Development and Change ran the www.altaghyir.com website during 2011.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sawaneh, Mahamadou (2011-10-07). "Sectarian protests flare anew in Saudi Arabia". France 24. Archived from the original on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Des activistes du Golfe veulent leur printemps arabe" (in French). al-Qarra TV. 2011-12-06. Archived from the original on 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cockburn, Patrick (2011-10-05). "Saudi police 'open fire on civilians' as protests gain momentum". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Matthiesen, Toby (2012). "A 'Saudi Spring?': The Shi'a Protest Movement in the Eastern Province 2011–2012". The Middle East Journal. 66: 628–659. doi:10.3751/66.4.14. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
^ ^a ^b Seliktar, Ofira; Rezaei, Farhad (2020). Iran, Revolution, and Proxy Wars. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29418-2. ISBN 978-3030294175.
^ "Saudi shia writer questioned for criticizing the sectarian governmental policies". Jafria News. 2011-04-28. Archived from the original on 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2012-01-15.

[Fr24_ADC-1] Sawaneh, Mahamadou (2011-10-07). "Sectarian protests flare anew in Saudi Arabia". France 24. Archived from the original on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2012-01-15.

[alqarra_arabspring-2] "Des activistes du Golfe veulent leur printemps arabe" (in French). al-Qarra TV. 2011-12-06. Archived from the original on 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-01-15.

[indep_oct_livefire-3] Cockburn, Patrick (2011-10-05). "Saudi police 'open fire on civilians' as protests gain momentum". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2012-01-15.

[Matthiesen2012-4] Matthiesen, Toby (2012). "A 'Saudi Spring?': The Shi'a Protest Movement in the Eastern Province 2011–2012". The Middle East Journal. 66: 628–659. doi:10.3751/66.4.14. Retrieved 2021-06-27.

[Seliktar_Rezaei_2020-5] Seliktar, Ofira; Rezaei, Farhad (2020). Iran, Revolution, and Proxy Wars. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29418-2. ISBN 978-3030294175.

[jafria_alrebh_interrogated-6] "Saudi shia writer questioned for criticizing the sectarian governmental policies". Jafria News. 2011-04-28. Archived from the original on 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2012-01-15.

[1]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[5]

[6]

v t e 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests
Part of the Arab Spring
Timeline	Jan–Apr 2011 May–Dec 2011 Jan–Jun 2012 from Jul 2012
Events/Campaigns	Women's suffrage campaign Women to drive movement Political prisoner release Anti male-guardianship campaign
People	King Abdullah Wajeha al-Huwaider Hatoon al-Fassi Khaled al-Johani Eman al-Nafjan Samar Badawi Manal al-Sharif Hamza Kashgari Nimr al-Nimr Ali al-Nimr
Groups	ACPRA HRFS CDHRAP Society for Development and Change Umma Islamic Party Mabahith Coalition for Freedom and Justice
Places	Jeddah Riyadh Qatif al-Awamiyah ʽUlaysha Prison
Related	2011 Bahraini uprising Nimr Baqir al-Nimr street
Category

v t e Arab Spring
"Ash-shab yurid isqat an-nizam"
Events by country	Algeria Bahrain Djibouti Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Mauritania Morocco Oman Palestine Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Tunisia Western Sahara Yemen
Groups	Bahrain: Al Wefaq February 14 Youth Coalition Egypt: April 6 Youth Movement Kefaya Muslim Brotherhood (FJP) National Association for Change National Democratic Party National Salvation Front Revolutionary Socialists Shayfeencom Ultras Ahlawy Libya: National Liberation Army National Transitional Council Mauritania: February 25th Movement Saudi Arabia: Women to drive movement CDHRAP Society for Development and Change Syria: Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party Regional Command National Command National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces Free Syrian Army Syrian Revolution General Commission Syrian National Council National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change Hizb ut-Tahrir Foreign fighters Tunisia: Constitutional Democratic Rally Ennahda Popular Front Tunisian General Labour Union Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet Yemen: Alliance of Yemeni Tribes Al-Islah Hashid Houthis General People's Congress Hiraak
Notable people	Women in the Arab Spring Algeria: Abdelaziz Bouteflika Ahmed Ouyahia Bahrain: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Hasan Mushaima Ali Salman Ali Jawad al-Sheikh Egypt: Hosni Mubarak Omar Suleiman Mohamed Hussein Tantawy Ahmed Nazif Ahmed Shafik Wael Ghonim Kamal Ganzouri Khaled Mohamed Saeed Essam Sharaf Mohamed ElBaradei Mohamed Morsi Hesham Qandil Bassem Youssef Jordan: King Abdullah II Marouf al-Bakhit Samir Rifai Libya: Muammar Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Mustafa Abdul-Jelil Mahmud Gebril Mohammed Nabbous Mauritania: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf Morocco: Mohammed VI Abbas El Fassi Saudi Arabia: Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Khaled al-Johani Manal al-Sharif Nimr al-Nimr Sudan: Omar al-Bashir Hassan al-Turabi Syria: Bashar al-Assad Muhammad Naji al-Otari Adel Safar Riyad Farid Hijab Wael Nader al-Halqi Maher al-Assad Burhan Ghalioun Moaz al-Khatib Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb Tunisia: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Mohamed Ghannouchi Moncef Marzouki Rashid al-Ghannushi Fouad Mebazaa Beji Caid Essebsi Hamadi Jebali Mohamed Bouazizi Chokri Belaid United Arab Emirates: UAE Five Yemen: Ali Abdullah Saleh Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi Tawakkol Karman Abdul Majeed al-Zindani Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar Sadiq al-Ahmar Abdul-Malik al-Houthi Mohammed Ali al-Houthi
Role of the Internet	Internet censorship Online social media
Impact	Occupy movement Albania Armenia Azerbaijan 2011 2013 Belarus Burkina Faso China Greece India 2011 2012 Iran Iraqi Kurdistan Israel Maldives Mali Mexico 2011 2012 Portugal Russia Spain Turkey 2011–2012 2013 United Kingdom United States Libyan civil war (2011–present) Egyptian crisis (2011–2014)
UN Resolutions	65/265 1970 1973 2009 2014 2016
International reactions	Bahrain Egypt Libya civil war military intervention death of Muammar Gaddafi Syria Tunisia Yemen
Domestic reactions	Egypt Libya domestic responses Syria
Timelines by country	Bahrain Egypt Libya Saudi Arabia Syria Yemen Yemen Libya Egypt
Category

Society for Development and Change

Society for Development and Change

Society for Development and Change

Add your contribution

Hub overview

Root Wikipedia Article

Society for Development and Change

Key Information

Leadership

Actions

See also

References