The Saudi authorities have released academic Khaled Alodah, brother of the prominent preacher and scholar Dr. Salman bin Fahd Alodah, after eight years of arbitrary detention. He had been arrested for sharing information about his brother’s arrest, who remains arbitrarily detained under inhumane conditions, despite a decision by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) describing the detention of both brothers as a flagrant violation of international law.
The Saudi authorities had arrested Dr. Salman Alodah on 10 September 2017, following a tweet in which he expressed hope for reconciliation among Gulf countries. His arrest was part of a broad crackdown targeting numerous religious scholars, preachers, and activists. His brother, Dr. Khaled Alodah, was arrested two days later, simply for announcing Salman’s arrest and expressing his support.
Following complaints submitted by Alkarama, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), during its 97th session, issued Opinion No. 56/2023. It concluded that the deprivation of liberty of the Alodah brothers constituted arbitrary detention in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The group emphasized that they had been arrested without a judicial warrant, denied access to legal counsel, and not brought before a judge within a reasonable time frame, in violation of Articles 9, 10, and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as fair trial standards. It further determined that their detention was politically motivated and called for their immediate release and appropriate compensation.
In its submissions to UN human rights protection mechanisms, Alkarama reported that Dr. Khaled Alodah had been subjected to prolonged solitary confinement and deprived of any contact with the outside world, under conditions amounting to ill-treatment or even torture, in violation of the Convention against Torture, to which Saudi Arabia acceded in 1997.
For its part, on 22 December 2017, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a letter addressed to the Saudi authorities referring to the cases of Dr. al-Hawali, Dr. Salman Alodah, and his brother. In this letter, the High Commissioner expressed “deep concern at the widespread and systematic arbitrary arrests and detention of individuals, including human rights defenders, solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”
Although Dr. Khaled Alodah has been released after nearly eight years of detention, Dr. Salman Alodah remains imprisoned, prosecuted solely for his opinions and peaceful exercise of freedom of expression. During his detention, he has endured prolonged periods of solitary confinement, been denied medical care and family visits, under particularly humiliating and inhumane conditions.
In light of these ongoing violations, Alkarama reiterates its call on the Saudi authorities to implement the decision of the UN Working Group by releasing Dr. Salman Alodah immediately and unconditionally; to investigate the conditions of his detention and the serious violations surrounding it; and to put an end to all politically motivated prosecutions against activists, human rights defenders, and preachers. Finally, Alkarama urges Saudi Arabia to uphold its international obligations under the ICCPR, the Convention against Torture, and other international human rights instruments.