Press Releases from CDHR
Saudi Arabia should ensure detainees’ rights
(Washington, D.C., February 8, 2007) — Saudi Arabia should disclose the charges facing ten men recently arrested for “helping terrorism” and ensure the men are protected from torture or other ill-treatment, the Center for Democracy and Human Rights said today in a letter to Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud. CDHR has received reports that the men are not linked to terrorism and are being held incommunicado.
The detainees’ lawyer, Bassem Alem, told Reuters that the men “are pure reformists par excellence. Nothing about them is remotely linked with terrorism.”
“If these men are being held for expressing their views on political reform they must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Dr. Ali Alyami, Executive Director of CDHR, “Saudi Arabia is in need of outspoken reformers who promote an accountable, transparent political structure and the rule of law.”
The Saudi government is known for arbitrary arrest, physically forced confessions and imprisonment without any justification or explanation. Saudi Arabia has a well-documented history of holding detainees incommunicado and subjecting them to torture in order to obtain a confession. No representative institutions or political parties exist in Saudi Arabia and there is no freedom of assembly or speech. Independent organizations, political parties and labor unions are all prohibited.
The text of the letter to King Abdullah:
King Abdullah Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty, The King
Royal Court
Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
February 8, 2007
Your Majesty,
We at The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia would like to express concern at reports that at least ten men, including Sulieman al-Rushudi (m), lawyer; Essam al-Basrawi (m), lawyer; Dr Saud al-Hashimi (m), medical doctor; Al-Sharif Saif Al-Ghalib (m); Dr Musa al-Qirni, university profesor (m); Dr Abdel Rahman al-Shumayri (m), university professor; and ‘Abdelaziz al-Khariji (m), were arrested in Jeddah and Madinah on February 3, 2007, and are being held incommunicado.
We request that your Majesty ensure that all the detainees are protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and given regular access to their families, their lawyers and any medical attention they may require.
As the reasons for their detention are unclear, we request that your Majesty make clear exactly why they have been detained, and what charges they are facing. If these men are being held solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to express their conscientiously held beliefs, we call on your Majesty to immediately and unconditionally release the men.
Sincerely,
Ali Alyami
Executive Director
Cc:
HRH Prince Naif bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud, Minister of the Interior
HRH Prince Saud al-Faisal bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs
His Excellency Adel A. Al-Jubeir, Ambassador to the United States
Turki Al-Sudairi, Saudi Human Rights Commission President