On 17 March 2013, 38-year-old sheikh Badr Halal Jasem Al Taleb was arrested at his house without a warrant by members of the police and the General Investigation Directorate (or "Mabahith") forces under the control of the Ministry of Interior responsible for investigating security related crimes, and taken to Riyadh Hair Prison.
Alkarama welcomes the release, on 9 February 2016, of Yemeni national Awad Al Hayki, who had been arbitrarily detained in Saudi Arabia for over five years.
On 4 September 2015, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) adopted Opinion 38/2015 calling upon the Saudi authorities to immediately release nine prominent human rights defenders, including head of Monitor for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA) Waleed Abu Al
On 9 December 2015, the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) – a body of 10 independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention against Torture (UNCAT) by its State parties – expressed its concern over the situation of torture in Saudi Arabia by publishing a
On 12 January 2016, human rights defender Samar Badawi was arrested by members of the Jeddah Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution, which had summoned her a few days before to appear for questioning.
On 16 December 2015, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (SR FRDX) David Kaye, supported by other UN experts, published a press release expressing his deep concern over the growing repression of freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia, ment
On 6 November 2014, human rights defender and writer Mikhlif Al Shammari was sentenced to two years imprisonment and 200 lashes after a single hearing for a tweet stating that he had faith in tolerance between Sunni and Shia and announcing that he will pray for that in a Shia mosque as a sign of solidarity, being himself Sunni.
On 8 September, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regarding the case of Waleed Al Dod Al Mekki Al Hussain, a Sudanese national who has been deprived of his fundamental rights since his arrest by the Saudi General Intelligence forces on 23 July 2015.
On 27 July 2015, Alkarama provided the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) – a body of 10 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) by its State parties – with a
On 12 June 2015, Raif Badawi's 1,000 lashes corporal punishment was not carried out, officially for medical reasons, but it could resume at any moment every Friday. The blogger and human rights defender is still arbitrarily detained, a situation that could last for up to 10 years, since his prison sentence was also confirmed by the Supreme Court of Riyadh on 7 June 2015.
