Articles for Saudi Arabia

On 3 March 2010, 20-year-old Thamer Alkhodr was arrested by security agents. At the time of his arrest, he was not shown a warrant nor was he charged. He would spend his first two days in secret detention. Following his arrest, the agents searched his home without a warrant - confiscating some of his personal belongings including two computers belonging to his father.

The past 3 months have seen a serious worsening of the situation of Dr Saud Al Hashimi, the 48 year old Saudi doctor and human rights defender arbitrarily detained since 2 February 2007 in al Ruweis detention center, in Jeddah. Following 4 years of continual protest by Dr Al-Hashimi at his detention conditions and the lack of any trial, he has again been subjected to serious torture to pressure him to accept charges fabricated by the Ministry of Interior to justify his arrest and detention and forcing him to refuse legal help.

Mr Ali Abdulrahmane Al-Faqasi, a Saudi university student, has been detained without any trial or charge for over 7 and a half years. He gave himself up to the Saudi authorities on 26 June 2003, hoping to secure the release of 9 members of his family, including his wife, who had been arrested by the Saudi authorities to put pressure on Mr Al-Faqasi. He has been held since, in very difficult conditions in Al-Hayr prison, in Riyadh and with limited access to the outside world.

Since his arrest, Alkarama has been closely following Dr Al-Bachr's case.

Three and a half years ago, on 8 August 2007, Abdul Hakim Gellani, a British citizen and businessman of Yemeni heritage, was abducted by Saudi intelligence services from Al-Mordjane hotel in Mecca. He disappeared. On 25 September 2007, the Saudi authorities acknowledged his arrest but not his location.

On 10 December 2010, Alkarama sent his case to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders requesting his intervention with the Saudi authorities to ensure that Dr.

Human rights organisation Alkarama hosted a one-day symposium in London focusing on human rights and arbitrary detention in Saudi Arabia.

Families of prisoners held in Saudi Arabian prisons without charge or trial gathered outside Saudi embassies across Europe and the Middle East today, protesting long-standing and continuing abuses of human rights.