Mr Khellil Abdurahmane Abdelkarim Al Junahi, aged 37, is an Emirati national and regularly living in Saudi Arabia, where he has been studying religious sciences for several years.
He was arrested by the Saudi general intelligence services (Al Mabahit Al Aama) on 26 April 2007 at Riyadh airport. It was only three months later that his family found out his place of detention and were able to visit him in the Alicha prison near Riyadh. The authorities said that he was not accused of anything precisely, and it was "only a preventative measure" and that he would soon be released.
After waiting for a few months, his family contacted the Consul of the United Arab Emirates in Riyad to attempt to release him, who promised to take steps with the Saudi authorities. His family also submitted his case to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 21 January 2008 and 6 December 2008.
On 24 November 2008, the Saudi newspaper, Al Watan reported that Mr Al Junahi had been released that same day. Having not heard from him, his family contacted the authorities which confirmed the information, adding that "he had been handed over to the United Arab Emirates on 24 November 2008".
To recall, Saudi Arabia is party to the Convention Against Torture and a extradition such as this constitutes in all evidence a violation of article 3 of the Convention because of the serious risks of torture which Mr Al Junahi may face if he was to be sent back to his country in these conditions.
His family attempted to get information on him in the United Arab Emirates from the Ministry of the Interior. The civil servants at first denied his handover from the Saudi authorities, and it is only after the family's insistence that the Emirati authorities recognized, two weeks later his detention was "for an inquiry", saying that this was a normal procedure and that he would certainly be released within two weeks at the latest, without providing any other information.
However, after two months of incommunicado detention without being able to contact a lawyer or the outside world, and having been in a state of permanent anxiety since then, Mr Al Junahi's family hold legitimate for his mental and physical integrity.
Alkarama contacted the Special Rapporteur on Torture to ask him to urgently intervene so that Mr Al Junahi be released if no charges are made against him, and in any case, that he be treated humanely, placed under the protection of the law and that a lawyer and his family be allowed to visit him.