Saudi Arabia: Arbitrary detention since 2004 of the engaged poet Saleh Al Hweiti

Mr. Saleh Awad Saleh AL HWEITI was born in Riyadh in 1946. His father, former soldier who died in 1978, belongs to the vast nomadic Arab tribe of Anza from the Arabian peninsula that used to wander also in southern Jordan. He was stripped of his nationality in 1969 as part of his family was established in the desert of Jordan.

That is why Mr. Saleh Al Hweiti, although born in Saudi Arabia as well as his entire family, and having made all his studies in this country, is considered by the Saudi authorities as stateless (Bedoon) and never benefited from any identity document.

Mr. Saleh Al Hweiti is a "Nabataean" poet known by the pseudonym "Akhu Saad" in his engaged poetry in which he describes the social misery and suffering of the Bedoon and part of the population as well as criticizing the government policy and the authoritarian nature of the regime.

His poems were published by several Arab websites and in particular 48 of them have been recorded and broadcast by a site of the Saudi opposition in London and by radio stations in Europe.

This is the obvious reason for which he was arrested by Saudi intelligence services at the home of his brother, Faisal Al Hweiti, in Riyadh on October 27, 2004.

For a month, his family was unable to obtain any information on his fate until the day that his brother Faisal was found out that he was in the Al Alicha prison near Riyadh.

Having been allowed to visit him in early December 2004, his brother was informed on that occasion by his brother that Saleh Al Hweiti had been sentenced to 21 months in prison following an unfair trial under the accusation of "Defamation against leaders and other government officials." He also learned that he had been beaten on numerous occasions during his interrogation.

Mr. Saleh Al Hweiti, was then transferred to Al Hayr in southern Riyadh and should have been released on September 27, 2005.

Noting that Saleh Al Hweiti had not released at the end of his sentence, his brother Faisal approached on November 14, 2005 Dr. Bandar Al Hajjar, president of the Saudi National Society for Human Rights, to explain the situation of his brother and all the injustices suffered by the Al Hweiti family. This action remained however unsuccessful.

Mr. Saleh Al Hweiti was finally released on April 5, 2007 in Tabuk. But as he had no identity document, the intelligence services asked him to stay in this city until his administrative situation is clarified.

Six days later, he was summoned by the intelligence services of Tabuk who arrested him again. Only 9 months later, on January 20, 2008 did his family receive a brief phone call informing them that he was detained at the Ta'ef prison.

During that call, Mr. Saleh Al Hweiti implored the help of his family by explaining that he was under tremendous pressure and suffering torture during his interrogations and he seemed in a very bad psychological state . This second arrest was certainly due, according to his family, to the fact that he has no identity documents because of its status.

His family got no news from him until 1 July 2008 when they received a brief telephone call in which Mr. Saleh Al Hweiti told them that he had been transferred to the prison in Jeddah three weeks earlier. He said he had still not been presented before a judicial authority since his arrest dating 14 months back, and most importantly that he had been tortured to the point of having suffered fractures to his face and to his jaw.

Because of this situation and legitimate concerns of his relatives, Alkarama demands an urgent intervention so that Mr. Saleh Al Hweiti be placed under the protection of the law and that a lawyer is allowed to visit him in accordance with Article 2 of Decree Royal Nr. M39.

His detention is manifestly arbitrary and constitutes a serious violation of both the domestic legal standards and the relevant international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

A communication about the case of Mr. Al Hweiti was also addressed to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.