At its last session, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) examined the case of Saudi religious figure Safar Al Hawali, who has been arbitrarily detained since his arrest by state security agents in July 2018.
On 23 May 2023, Alkarama referred to the United Nations Special Procedures, including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), the case of four Yemeni nationals arrested by the police on 23 April 2022 in the Taif region of southern Saudi Arabia under the pretext of being affiliated with the Houthi group in Yemen while on their way to "Umrah", (religious pilgrimage) to Mecca.
On 8 May 2023, a Saudi court decided to postpone the session of the academic and prominent lawyer, Mohammed bin Fahd Al Qahtani’s trial whose news was cut off before the end of his unfair sentence in November 2022.
The wife of the Saudi activist noted on Twitter that the Specialized Criminal Court postponed the trial session, the charges against him and the reasons for not bringing him to court remaining unknown. She added that he is maintained in detention and prevented to communicate with his family or lawyer.
On 10 May 2023, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to shed light on the fate of Aimidoula WAILI and Nuermaimaiti RUZE, Chinese citizens of Uyghurs origin, who have been missing since their transfer to the capital Riyadh in March 2023.
Saudi authorities have released Yemeni journalist Marwan Al Muraisy after nearly five years of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and suffering inflicted on his family. The authorities decided to deport him to Yemen without granting him compensation for the violations he had suffered.
On 3 April 2023, Alkarama referred to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions and the Special Rapporteur on torture the case of Abdulsamed Esmail Mohammed Salem, a Yemeni businessman tortured to death by members of the Saudi security services during his detention at the General Administration for Drug Control centre in Jazan (southwest).
Awad Al-Qarni, a 65-year-old law professor and prominent Saudi preacher, was arrested by the intelligence services (Mahabith) in 2017 during the massive crackdown on preachers, human rights defenders, journalists and businessmen including members of the royal family. He is accused of using social networks (Twitter and WhatsApp) to spread information interpreted as "hostile" to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
