Saudi Arabia: Arrest and arbitrary detention of Ali Al-Qarni, Human Rights defender

On 16 March 2009, Al-Karama asked the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur of the Secretary-General on the situation of Human Rights Defenders to intervene with the Saudi authorities in his regard.

Al-Qarni, aged 27, a student in Arab literature lives with his family in Mecca. A few months before his arrest, he attended a training seminar on human rights organised by Al-Karama in Doha (Qatar) from 27 to 30 March 2007 and his arrest appears to be linked to his participation at this seminar.

However, he was not given the reasons for his arrest when this happened and no judicial warrant was presented to him. He has not been charged and has never, to date, been brought before a magistrate. In fact, he was only questioned about his activities as a human rights defender. His arrest was most certainly intended to stop his peaceful activities.

It is worth recalling that several of Al-Karama's members and activists have been stopped or arrested recently in Saudi Arabia, including lawyers and peaceful human rights defenders. Some of them were released after a few days but others are still detained without charge or trial since more than two years.

In this regard, we recall the cases of Walid Lamri arrested on 27 April 2007 and Suleiman Al-Rashoudi, a 74-year-old lawyer, arrested on 2 February 2007. Both of them are Human Rights defenders and are still being held, without charge or a legal procedure, since their arrests.

Al-Qarni's arrest is in the same logic as that which affected the Saudi Human Rights defenders. His deprivation of liberty is obviously arbitrary and contravenes both domestic laws and those stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.