On 27 July 2021, ALQST for Human Rights held a panel discussion entitled “Shrouded in Secrecy: Prisons and Detention Centres in Saudi Arabia”. The event focused on ALQST’s latest report which presents an in-depth study of the Saudi prison system, identifying an emerging trend of increased abuse of prisoners’ rights. The report was dedicated to ALQST’s late Executive Director and Emirati human rights defender, Alaa Al-Siddiq, who fought tirelessly for a better and rights-respecting future for her country and the whole of the Middle East and North Africa region.
Hala al-Dosari, Saudi activist, scholar and ALQST trustee, highlighted the key findings of the report and the conclusions which can be drawn from it. She explained how there is no independent monitoring or transparency within the Saudi prison system. Al-Dosari emphasised that since the ascent of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to power, there has been a concerning increase in use of detention and imprisonment, torture, the neglect of prisoners’ rights and a major lack of responsiveness from the Saudi authorities to claims of ill-treatment by the prisoners themselves or by their families.
Abdullah Alodah, Research Director for the Gulf Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), shared the details of the case of his father, Salman Alodah, and gave his view on the overarching problems of the Saudi prison system and what can be done to improve the situation. Following his arrest in September 2017, Salman Alodah was held incommunicado, subjected to sleep deprivation and deprived of medication, which led to him being hospitalised. During a trial hearing in September 2020, his father discussed the deterioration of his health and ill-treatment which resulted in half of his vision and hearing being lost. Salman Alodah has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest until today, all because of personal tweets and his relationship with intellectuals in Saudi Arabia.
Areej al-Sadhan, sister of imprisoned Saudi humanitarian worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, provided a summary of her brother’s case and the violations he has been subjected to during his detention. She explained how her brother was forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily detained for over three years, during which he was subjected to brutal psychological and physical torture, causing his health to deteriorate. On 5 April 2021, he was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment followed by a 20-year travel ban. Today, Abdulrahman al-Sadhan reamins in solitary confinement without contact with his family. Areej al-Sadhan concluded that the crackdown in Saudi Arabia against prisoners of conscience is systematic and worsening day-by-day.
Brian Dooley, Senior Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, shared what his mandate has documented in terms of detention conditions and reprisals human rights defenders have faced in Saudi Arabia, what his interactions with the Saudi authorities have looked like and what he has demanded of them to improve the human rights situation.
