Abdul Hakim Gellani, a British citizen of Yemeni origin, was arrested by Saudi intelligence services on 8 August 2007 at Al-Mordjane hotel in Mecca. Just before officers confiscated his mobile phone, he was able to alert his wife of his arrest, but has since disappeared.
Alkarama has submitted his case to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), emphasising the likelihood of torture as of result of Abdul Hakim Gellani's disappearance.
On 16 August 2007, Alkarama for Human Rights formally informed the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers of the secret detention and risk of torture faced by Mr. Saad Ben Zair, lawyer, human rights activist and defender of public freedoms in Saudi Arabia.
Alkarama for Human Rights has appealed to the President of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding the case of Walid Ali Ahmad Lamri, a Saudi citizen, human rights defender, and member of Alkarama.
Alkarama for Human Rights has learned that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued opinion 4/2007 on 8 May 2007 about the detention of Mr. Khalid Al Rashed, deeming the case to constitute arbitrary detention and calling on the Saudi government to remedy this situation.
Alkarama had submitted the case of Mr. Khalid bin Muhammad Al Rashed, detained at Al Ha’ir prison in Riyadh, to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 30 April 2006.
Alkarama for Human Rights has sent a letter to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour, asking her to intervene urgently in the case of Dr. bin Zair. (See also the communiqué of 9 June 2007.)
Alkarama for Human Rights has just learned that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion on 8 May 2007 about the detention of Mr. Faiz bin Abdelmohsen Al Qaid.It judges it to constitute arbitrary detention and demands that the Saudi government remedy this situation.
On 13/06/2007 Alkarama for Human Rights appealed to Ms. Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, regarding the arrest and maltreatment of Mr. Khalid Gharamallah Awdah al-Zahrani, a Saudi national born on 11 April 1972 living in King Fahd Neighbourhood in Riyadh.
Dr. Said ben Zair, aged 57, professor of sciences and information at Riyadh University, was arrested in Riyadh on 6 June 2007. He is well-known in the country for his spirit of independence and the public positions he holds on the need for institutional reforms in the country as well as for his support for the reformists’ movement.
Alkarama for Human Rights has asked the Special Representative of the Secretary General on the situation of human rights defenders to intervene in the case of Walid Ali Ahmed Lamri, a Saudi human rights defender and a member of Alkarama.
On 27 April 2007 Walid Lamri, 24, a student residing in Jeddah, was arrested at his family home at 9pm by the Saudi intelligence services. His family was able to learn, however uncertain, that he is currently being and detained at the intelligence services headquarters in Taif.
Alkarama for Human Rights has just submitted the case of Sulaiman Ibrahim Saleh Al Rashoudi to the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and Special Representative of the Secretary General on the situation of human rights defenders. Mr Al Rashoud, born in 1935 and living in Riyadh, is a lawyer, activist and human rights defender working on civil liberties in Saudi Arabia. He worked mainly on the defence of prisoners of conscience.
