Saudi Arabia: Dr Al-Rayyes in secret detention yet again

On 2 September 2009, Alkarama sent a communication to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, asking it to once again intervene in the case of Dr Al-Rayyes, who was arbitrarily detained in 2003 and 2004 for publicly voicing his political opinions.

Dr Abdullah El b. Ibrahim b. Abd Mohssen Al-Rayyes was born in 1961 in Riyadh. He is a professor of educational sciences at King Saud University in Riyadh. He was arrested at his home in Riyadh on 25 May 2009 by the Intelligence Services (Amn Al Mabahit Al-Dowla) without a judicial warrant and without being given reasons for his arrest. He has been held incommunicado for what is now more than three months and has been denied legal aid for his assistance.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rayyes was the signatory of a 2003 petition by Saudi intellectuals which addressed the Crown Prince of the Kingdom demanding institutional reforms. He was first arrested and then detained incommunicado without due process from 27 May  2003 to December 08, 2004, when he was released without trial.

Alkarama presented his case to the Working Group on 29 June 2004.

After his initial release, Dr Al-Rayyes was continuously subjected to pressures and threats from the authorities because of his public positions on seminal issues in the region, which are considered as "extremist" by the authorities because of their non-compliance with official discourse.

This is mostly likely why Dr Al-Rayyes was again arrested just days after publicly expressing his condemnation of violations of human rights by American troops in Iraq.

The denial of his freedom is part of the authorities mandate to suppress any dissenting political opinions, i.e. contrary to official discourse.

His current detention without legal procedure, is a violation of his right to exercise public and peaceful expression of his political opinion. His detention is arbitrary and violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specifically Article 19.

This incommunicado detention, without legal proceedings, is contrary to Saudi domestic law as well as the fundamental principles established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Alkarama urges the Working Group to intervene with the Saudi authorities in order to take the necessary steps to remedy this situation; to bring it into conformity with the norms and principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by appealing for the immediate release of Dr. Abdullah Al-Rayyes.