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The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has received reports of several hunger strikes undertaken by human rights defender Issa Al-Nukhaifi in the last few months in protest against his prolonged arbitrary detention and mistreatment. There are reports that he was taken to a hospital because of these hunger strikes.
In February 2018, Al-Nukhaifi was sentenced to six years in prison followed by a travel ban of six years on charges related to his advocacy against corporate corruption in the southern city of Jizan, as well as for publishing news online about protests by local communities who were forcibly evicted from their homes in border areas with Yemen without compensation. He was charged under the Anti-Cybercrimes Law. Al-Nukhaifi was scheduled to be released in December 2022, six years after his arrest on 18th December 2016 in Jizan. However, he was reportedly moved to another prison for further interrogation and retrials in October 2023. Since then, he has been unable to call his family, receive visits, or consult with a lawyer, and as such is subject to enforced disappearance.
On 10th May 2024, Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, wrote on X, “Hearing very disturbing reports that Saudi HRDs Walid Abu Al-Khair, Dr. Mohammed Fahad Al-Qahtani, and Issa Al-Nukhaifi face increasing ill-treatment in prison & medical neglect despite a sharp deterioration in their health.”
During his prolonged sentence, he went on hunger strike on several occasions to protest mistreatment and denial of prisoner’s rights. In his trial in 2018 by the Specialised Criminal Court, he was charged with several vague allegations, including “seeking to destabilise the social fabric and national cohesion,” and “communicating with and receiving money from foreign hostile groups.”
In 2019, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention qualified his detention as arbitrary because there was no legal basis to prevent him from exercising his fundamental rights of freedom of expression and opinion.
On 14th August 2024, GCHR reiterated its concerns about the mistreatment of detained human rights defender Dr. Mohammed Fahad Al-Qahtani, who has been forcibly disappeared since October 2022. Dr. Al-Qahtani’s family reported that he went on several hunger strikes to protest abuses in prison and his prolonged arbitrary detention, so there are concerns for his health. Prior to his enforced disappearance on 24th October 2022, Dr. Al-Qahtani used to call his family on a daily basis. Later, the family learned that he is being subjected to a new investigation and retrial allegedly for “committing and inciting others to commit a number of criminal offences within the prison.” He remains without access to family visits, calls, or legal representation. They are still unable to determine the basis of his new detention and trial, or even where he is being held.
Dr. Al-Qahtani was first arrested in June 2012 for establishing an unlicenced association and was later released. He was arrested a second time on 9th March 2013, while attending the hearing in which he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment followed by a 10-year travel ban. The sentence was based on several charges including “planting seeds of sedition”, “breaking allegiance with the ruler”, “defaming the judiciary”, and “turning international organisations against the Kingdom”.
Dr. Al-Qahtani was supposed to be released on 22nd November 2022. However, prior to his release, he was taken for a new investigation in October 2022, reportedly possibly transferred to another prison, and has been denied any contact with his family since 24th October 2022. The family has been unable to obtain concrete information on his case or confirm his whereabouts until now, almost 22 months later.
On 12th August 2024, GCHR reported that it had received disturbing news about the condition of Saudi women’s rights activist Manahel Al-Otaibi, who is currently imprisoned for her defence of human rights, specifically women’s rights. On 9th January 2024, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison in a secret hearing before the Specialised Criminal Court as a result of her women’s rights activism online and for wearing “indecent” clothes.
Al-Otaibi was arrested on 16th November 2022 and one year later her family lost contact with her until 14th April 2024, when she was finally able to contact them and let them know that she was being held in solitary confinement in Malaz Prison in Riyadh.
According to her family, Al-Otaibi has been subjected to sexual harassment and various forms of abuse while in detention, since late last year. She reported an incident where an inmate who was let inside her cell beat her severely, to the point where she couldn’t walk. In April 2024, GCHR was among 11 NGOs who protested the abuse and mistreatment of Al-Otaibi, including reports that her leg was broken. She told her family that when she complained to the prison authorities, they found both the perpetrator and Al-Otaibi herself guilty and placed her in solitary confinement for weeks while denying her any medical attention. Afterwards, she said that she was allowed to receive medical attention, but was then subjected to another attack by a group of women inmates who entered her cell and abused her sexually. She does not have legal counselling, because her lawyers are unable to properly communicate with the authorities. Her lawyers and family are not informed of the case proceedings and are unable to receive any information regarding the case from state security.
On 9th August 2024, Amnesty International reported that Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal had quashed the death sentence against 55-year-old retired teacher Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi. The human rights organisation commented that his “so-called ‘crime’ was expressing his opinions on social media.” According to well-informed sources, the Court of Appeal has yet to impose a new sentence to Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, who is now awaiting news about his fate.
On 29th May 2024, the Specialised Criminal Court sentenced Mohammad al-Ghamdi’s brother, Asaad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, to 20 years in prison for social media posts criticising the government. Their other brother, Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, is an Islamic scholar and government critic living in self-imposed exile in the UK. Human Rights Watch has also reported on the case.