Saudi Arabia: ACPRA co-founder, Dr. Al-Khodr sentenced to 8 years in prison

24 يونيو 2013
Today, Abdul
KSA_Abdulkarim_Al_Khodr
karim Al-Khodr, a long-standing Saudi human rights defender, was sentenced to eight years in prison and a 10-year travel ban. Alkarama is deeply concerned by the acts of reprisals against ACPRA human rights defenders, especially those who cooperate with the United Nations. We call on the Saudi authorities to release Dr Al-Khodr, who is detained solely for his human rights activities.
Besides campaigning for the promotion and protection of civil and political rights and calling for constitutional reform in Saudi Arabia, Dr Al Khodr has been combating the widespread practice of arbitrary detention in the country.

Dr Al-Khodr is a Professor of comparative law and one of the founding members of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), and has displayed exceptional commitment to the cause of constitutional and judicial reform as well as the protection of civil and political rights in the Kingdom.

Persecution and acts of reprisal

He and his family have been subjected to continuous harassment and intimidation by the Saudi authorities. Two of his sons, Thamer Abdulkarim Al Khodr and Jihad Abdulkarim Al Khodr were arrested in March 2010 and March 2011, respectively.

Over 2012, Dr Al Khodr was repeatedly been summoned for questioning. He was interrogated on his activities with ACPRA, public statements he made, contacts with individuals inside and outside the Kingdom as well as on the organisation's efforts to document human rights violations committed by the State.

Sentence and intimidation of Dr Khodr's lawyer

Dr Al Khodr was sentenced on 24 June to eight years prison and a 10-year travel ban. His lawyer Abdulaziz Al-Shbaily was briefly arrested by the Saudi intelligence services after the verdict for having told the judge that the facts reproached to his clients should not lead him to jail.

There is no doubt that Mr Al-Khodr's condemnation is related to his human rights activities as a co-founder of ACPRA.

Today, Alkarama asked the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders to intervene urgently with the Saudi authorities to remind them of their obligation to respect and protect the work of human rights defenders and to put an immediate halt to all forms of persecution of human rights defenders, especially those who cooperate with the UN human rights mechanisms, as set out in Human Rights Council resolution 12/2, adopted while Saudi Arabia was a member of the Council.
Saudi Arabia