Democracy for the Arab World Now

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) is a US-based non-profit that advocates for democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. It also campaigns to change US foreign policy so that the US stops supporting governments it considers abusive.^[1] The Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi founded it in 2018, several months before Saudi agents murdered him in October of that year. It was formally launched from Washington, D.C. on September 29, 2020.^[2][3] Sarah Leah Whitson, formerly of Human Rights Watch, has been executive director since April 1, 2020.^[3]

DAWN first focused on three US allies: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. It later broadened its work to include Israel and Palestine and Jordan.^[3][1] With Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, it sued Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a US court over the murder. The case was dismissed in 2022 because the court found that bin Salman had head-of-state immunity.^[4:1]

History

According to Whitson, Khashoggi founded DAWN with friends in the summer of 2018. He believed that "only democracy and freedom will bring lasting peace and security" to the region.^[2] After his murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, the organization stayed largely inactive until its public launch, held online just before the second anniversary of his death.^[2] At the launch, DAWN said it accepted "no government or government-linked funding".^[3] Its website lists institutional supporters including the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.^[1]

Programs

At its launch DAWN described several projects:^[3]

• files documenting prosecutions of dissidents;
• a "Gallery of Culprits" naming officials it holds responsible for abuses;
• Democracy in Exile, a publication for writers from the region living in exile;
• a "Khashoggi Index" measuring how foreign governments affect human rights and democracy in the region;
• advocacy on US military aid, troop deployments and sanctions.

Its website also features a "Lobbyist Hall of Shame" tracking lobbying on behalf of governments in the region.^[1]

Litigation against Mohammed bin Salman

On October 20, 2020, Cengiz and DAWN sued Mohammed bin Salman and two alleged co-conspirators in the US District Court for the District of Columbia over Khashoggi's killing.^[4:1] In September 2022, shortly before a US government deadline to state its view on immunity, King Salman appointed bin Salman prime minister. That post had traditionally been held by the king. The Biden administration then told the court that bin Salman was immune from suit as a head of government.^[4]

On December 6, 2022, Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case on grounds of head-of-state immunity. He deferred to the executive branch's determination. He also acknowledged "credible allegations of his involvement in Khashoggi's murder" and said the plaintiffs had a strong argument that their claims were meritorious.^[4:1] Cengiz said she was "very disappointed" and called the administration's position a "shameless decision to give a brutal murderer a free pass".^[4]

Detention of Asim Ghafoor

Asim Ghafoor is a Virginia-based civil rights lawyer who had represented Khashoggi, and he is a member of DAWN's board.^[5][3] On July 14, 2022, he was arrested while changing planes in Dubai. A UAE court had earlier convicted him in his absence on money laundering charges, and DAWN said the conviction was obtained "without due process".^[5] UAE officials said the case concerned only financial crimes. US officials said the arrest had not been made at Washington's request. In August 2022 a UAE court overturned his three-year prison sentence but upheld the conviction and fined him 5 million dirhams. He then returned to the United States.^[6:1]

Saudi Arabia and Wikipedia

In January 2023 DAWN and the Beirut-based digital rights group SMEX published a joint statement. It reported that two Arabic Wikipedia administrators, Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani, had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. It also alleged that the Saudi government had "infiltrated" Wikipedia by recruiting senior administrators.^[7] The Wikimedia Foundation disputed the infiltration claim. It said its own investigation had found no evidence of it, and that the statement contained "material inaccuracies".^[8][9] SMEX later published an update defending the statement.^[10]

Israel and Palestine

After the October 7, 2023 attacks and the start of the Gaza war, DAWN pursued accountability measures against Israeli officials and their foreign backers. According to a 2025 account by Whitson, these included the following steps:^[11]

• In December 2023, DAWN filed a submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC) naming 40 Israeli commanders it said were involved in attacks on civilians, starvation and the blocking of aid.
• In January 2025, it filed a 172-page communication to the ICC urging the indictment of former President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for aiding and abetting Israeli crimes.
• In 2024, it organized a lawsuit over the State Department's enforcement of the Leahy Law, which bars US security assistance to foreign military units that commit gross human rights violations.

NGO Monitor, an Israeli organization that scrutinizes non-governmental organizations that criticize Israel, has criticized DAWN. It describes DAWN's work on Israel as "lawfare", meaning the use of legal proceedings as a political weapon, and as support for boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns. It has also criticized statements by DAWN staff and board members.^[12]