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.
An outspoken professor of Religious Science at a University in Riyadh, 50 year old Dr Bachr bin Fahd Al-Bachr, remains detained in Al-Hayr prison suffering from a precarious health situation. Dr Al-Bachr had long since been targeted by the Saudi authorities over his criticism of the Saudi government's policies, only to be arrested by the Saudi Investigative Police on 15 March 2007 in Riyadh. To date, he has spent 3 years and 9 months detained in Saudi Arabia without charge or trial.
Since his arrest, Alkarama has been closely following Dr Al-Bachr's case.
Alkarama sent two urgent appeals today to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions and the Special Rapporteur on torture, requesting their intervention with the Saudi authorities to uncover the circumstances surrounding the death of a Yemeni detainee, Sultan Mohamed Abdo Addoais, 32, a salesman and father of
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.
Dr. Al-Abdulkareem, a member of the "Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association" (ACPRA), was arrested by intelligence agents on 5 December 2010. On the day of his arrest, he was able to make a phone call to a close friend informing him that he was being held in Al-Hayr prison near Riyadh.
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.
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.
On 18 July 2009, Bilal Abu Haikal, a Lebanese citizen, was en route from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia to begin work in a Saudi Arabian engineering company. When he arrived at Riyadh airport - he was immediately arrested. He has since been detained without charge or trial and held in two different Saudi prisons.
Cherif Al Karoui and Hichem Matri, two French nationals who travelled to Saudi Arabia and were arrested on 27 May 2010, are currently being held in Al-Hayr prison in total isolation from the outside world. They have learned that they are suspected of terrorist activity without any charges officially being brought against them and without being brought before a judge.
Alkarama submitted their cases to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, asking them to intervene with the Saudi authorities so that the two men are freed or given legal protection.
