WGAD declares Saudi activist arbitrary detained

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) published an opinion on its website it adopted during its ninety fourth session concerning Husain Bin Abdulla Bin Yusuf AlSadeq, a 47-year-old Saudi social activist who is currently arbitrarily detained in Saudi Arabia.  AlSadeq, who is from Tarout Island in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, was involved in religious associations, voluntary charitable committees, and the organization of religious and cultural events, activities, and lectures in AlQatif. He was summoned to the Tarout police station and was warrantlessly arrested on false allegations of insulting the King and Government during a conversation with the mayor of Tarout regarding the 2015 stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. This tragedy caused the death of more than 2,400 pilgrims. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2018, which was reportedly increased to 13 years following an appeal in 2021.

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In French Parliament: Questioning the value of a close relationship with a Bahraini government guilty of rights abuses and suppression of democracy

Human rights abuses committed by the government of Bahrain against its own people are being discussed in French Parliament. Three members of the National Assembly, from three different political parties, are openly discussing the human rights violations occurring in Bahrain. They are openly scrutinizing the close relationship which the French government has with Bahrain, something which could call into question France’s values for the appearance of French support for “the regime in power” and it “intolerable persecutions.”

Each of these MPs have publicly and officially given voice to a reality in Bahrain that other western leaders have so far failed to do – that of the methods by which the Bahraini monarchy prevents democracy from coming to a country that wants it, and of the human costs resulting from the monarchy’s abuses.

MP David Habib spoke of the prisoners of conscience in Bahrain, specifically Hassan Mushaima, and demanded for the French Minister of Foreign Affairs to indicate what actions the government will initiate to pressure the Bahraini regime to release the political prisoners it has languishing in its prisons.

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Fears grow for Saudi detainees awaiting trial or sentencing, following wave of 30-year-plus prison terms

In light of the unprecedented jail sentences recently issued against peaceful activists and others in Saudi Arabia merely for exercising their freedom of expression, concerns are growing for those who remain in arbitrary detention without charge or are facing prolonged trials or retrial. The undersigned NGOs call on the international community to intensify efforts to press the Saudi Arabian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those who are unjustly and arbitrarily detained in the kingdom for peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms. 

One individual currently held in detention without charge is Abdullah Jelan, a graduate of West Chester University in the United States. Jelan was forcibly arrested by State Security forces on 12 May 2021 upon his return to Saudi Arabia from the United States. No arrest warrant or justification for his arrest was provided. Jelan had been vocal on Twitter, through an anonymous account, and advocated for fundamental freedoms in Saudi Arabia. During interrogation he was s

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Profile in Persecution: Husain Ahmed Ali (AlMoamen)

Husain Ahmed Ali , a 26-year-old Bahraini employee at the time, was warrantlessly arrested in 2017, tortured, and imprisoned following an unfair trial. He is currently serving his sentence in Jau Prison.

On 13 March 2017 at 2 a.m., Husain’s father’s house was raided by a group of masked police officers in civilian clothes from the State Security and Criminal Investigations officers. They broke down the door without presenting a search or arrest warrant, confiscated personal items and detained Husain and his brother Abdulla. His other two brothers were later taken into custody in a similar manner. Husain was arrested once before, on 4 January 2014, when he was accused of possessing a Molotov cocktail and was sentenced to 3 months in prison. However, he was not wanted and did not receive any summons.

 Husain and each of his brothers called their families separately at 7 a.m. on the same day, informing them that they were alright, were in the Criminal Investigations Directorate, and that they would contact them if anything happened. On 14 March 2017, at 7 p.m, the house was raided again without officers presenting any search warrant, and some personal items and mobile phones were confiscated.

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