Articles for Saudi Arabia

On 1 September 2016, Alkarama referred the case of Mohamed Said, an Egyptian citizen detained in Saudi Arabia, to the Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) Juan Méndez, in order to prevent his extradition from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, where he will be at risk of torture.

On 21 September 2014, Murtaja Algariras, 13 years old at the time, was arrested by Saudi police on his way to Bahrain. During the investigation, Murtaja was tortured to extract confessions stating his participation in "illegal gatherings". Almost two years after his arrest, Murtaja has not yet been charged and no date has been set for his trial.

On 1 June 2016, the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) of Riyadh sentenced Mounir Aal Adam to death after admitting confessions made under torture into evidence. On 16 August 2016, Alkarama raised his case with the Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions (SUMEX), calling for her urgent intervention with the Saudi authorities to demand that the death penalty Mounir was sentenced to not be applied.

As organizations working to protect the rights of children and health workers in armed conflict, we are shocked by your decision announced on June 6, 2016 to remove the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition from the "list of shame" annexed to your published 2016 annual report to the United Nations Security Council on children and armed conflict, "pending the conclusions of [a] joint review" of the cases and numbers included in the text.

Dr Sabeel Ahmed, an Indian national residing in the city of Hofuf in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia was arrested by twenty Intelligence officers dressed in civilian clothes who raided his house on 9 February 2016. They took him away without presenting a warrant or informing him of the charges held against him.

The Committee against Torture has, on 13 May 2016, published its Concluding Observations in response to Saudi Arabia's second periodic report (CAT/C/SAU/2) and review sessions of 22 and 25 April 2016.

During its review by the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT), the delegation of Saudi

On 24 April 2016, Issa Al Hamid, president of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), was sentenced to nine years of imprisonment and a consecutive nine-year travel ban by the Specialised Criminal Court, following an unfair trial during which he was denied access to a lawyer and to the prosecution file, preventing him from preparing his defence. All hearings and sentencing were carried out in private, denying the public access to the trial.

As a party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), Saudi Arabia is reviewed by the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT), which assesses the country's compliance with its obligations under the UNCAT.

Alkarama welcomes the recent release of Waleed Al Dod Al Mekki Al Hussain, a Sudanese national who was arrested by the Saudi General Intelligence forces on 23 July 2015.