Saudi Arabia: Communications Cut between Yemeni Prisoners and their Families

29 May 2013
KSA_YemeniDetainees
Alkarama has received information from the families of Yemeni prisoners in Saudi Arabian prisons communications with their loved ones detained in Saudi Arabia has been cut for about a month for reasons that remain unclear.
According to these families, who fear that this severing of communications is a form of retaliation following the testimonies that these families provided for a documentary film being aired on the Alasr Channel. The documentary brings to light the tragedy that these families have been subjected to at the hands of Saudi Arabia's Security Forces. They were arbitrarily detained and mistreated before being expelled to Yemen, despite having been settled in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for half a century. Meanwhile, there are still more than 14 members of their families detained in the Kingdom, some of them for as many as 7 years, without any legal procedures against them.

One of the families said that the last call they received from their loved ones was on 22 April. Her son, detained in the Al-Qasim prison called 3 days after the launch of the aforementioned film. He told them that he and the others with him would be sent to a court in Jeddah, despite the fact that some of them were, at that time, being tried in front of a court in Riyadh.

Another family said that they received a call on the same date, 22 April, from their family member who is detained in the same prison. He told them that he was going to be moved to the court in Jeddah on 14 May and said that he would be able to call them weekly, although they have not received a phone call from him since then.

The Al Haudali Yemeni families spoke out previously [Link to press release of DATE?] about their fear of retaliation by the Saudi Authorities, because they provided testimonies in this documentary that ran for days on the Alasr satellite channel.

Alkarama joins the families in their deep concern for the lives of the detainees listed below. The Saudi Authorities carry the responsibility for the lives of those victims and their safety.

List of members of the Al Hudali families detained in Saudi Arabia: 

1 Ahmad Hadi Khadiri Qasir,  47,  4 years of detention 

2 Salim Muhammad Musa Hudali,  26,  5 years of detention

3 Ibrahim Muhammad Musa Hudali, 24, 5 years of detention

4 Walid Muhammad Musa Hudali, 22, 4 years of detention

5 Ayman Muhammad Salim Hudali, 28, 3 years of detention

6 Sa'ad al-Din Nasir Sa'ad Hudali, 24, 4 years of detention

7 'Abd-al-Rahman 'Abdallah Ja'far, 38, 5 years of detention

8 Usamah Salih 'Abdallah Sanbusah, 33, 7 years of detention

9 Anwar Salih 'Abdallah Sanbusah, 31, 7 years of detention

10 Walid Yahya Muhammad al-Ahdal, 34, 4 years of detention

11 Khalid 'Abud al-'Amuri, 27, 5 years of detention

12 'Abd-al-Majid Batis, 32, 3 years of detention

13 'Abdallah Salih al-Siy'ari, 46, 3 years of detention

14 'Abd-al-Rahman Muhammad Isma'il, 32, 4-5 years of detention
Saudi Arabia