SAU 001 / 0319 / OBS 024
Arbitrary detention /
Judicial harassment
Saudi Arabia
March 15, 2019
The Observatory for the Protection of
Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation
Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent
intervention in the following situation in Saudi Arabia.
New
information:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable
sources about the continuing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of 10
women human rights defenders who were detained after May 2018 for their
peaceful defence of women’s rights, including Msses. Loujain al-Hathloul,
Aziza al-Youssef, Eman al-Nafjan, Amal al-Harbi, Hatoon
al-Fassi, Shadan al-Onezi, Mayaa al-Zahrani, Nouf
Abdelaziz, and Abeer Namankani[1].
According to the information received, on
March 13, 2019, Riyadh Criminal Court held the first hearing in cases against
the 10 above mentioned women human rights defenders. They are accused of
“undermining the public order, religious values, good morals and private life”
under Article 6 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law for expressing their opinion,
conducting human rights work, communicating with “hostile parties”, human
rights organisations and personalities, as well as cooperating with United
Nations mechanisms. Several of the accused have been reportedly
tortured while in detention, in particular to obtain confessions. The acts of
torture included electric shocks, whipping the women on their thighs, rape threats
and sexual harassment.
Eight hours before the session, the State
Security informed the accused that the hearing, initially scheduled before
Riyadh Specialised Criminal Court (SCC)[2]
would take place at Riyadh Criminal Court.
None of the accused have had access to a
lawyer since their arrest. One of the 10, Ms. Nouf Abdelaziz, failed to appear
before the court, for unknown reasons.
The Prosecution requested the court to apply
the upper limit of sentences provided under Article 6 of the Anti-Cyber Crime
Law as well as other punishments, that were not specified yet. Offences under
Article 6 carry a maximum penalty of five years in jail. The next hearing will
take place on March 27, 2019.
The Observatory recalls that several women’s rights defenders, both male
and female, have been detained since May 2018, in an attempt to silence the
women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia.
The Observatory strongly condemns the
continuing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of the ten
above-mentioned women human rights defenders, which seems to be only aimed at
punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities. The Observatory
calls on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all
the women’s rights defenders in the country and guarantee in all circumstances
their physical integrity and psychological well-being.
Background information[3]:
Ms. Loujain Al-Hathloul, who was defending
the right of women to drive, was abducted in the United Arab Emirates on May
15, 2018, brought to Saudi Arabia against her will, and arbitrarily detained.
In the following days, other prominent women’s rights defenders were arrested
and detained across the country.
On the same day, Ms. Aziza al-Youssef, a key
figure of women’s fight for their political rights and a supporter of the
campaign to abolish male guardianship, and Dr. Eman al-Nafjan, founder
and author of the Saudiwoman’s Weblog, who had previously
protested against the driving ban, were arrested and detained.
On June 6, 2018, Ms. Nouf Abdelaziz, a
journalist, TV producer and women’s rights defender, was arrested after a raid
on her home.
On June 27, 2018, Ms. Hatoon
al-Fassi, a prominent scholar and associate professor of women’s history at King
Saud University, was arrested. She was advocating for the right of women to
participate in municipal elections and to drive, and was one of the first women
to drive the day the ban was lifted on June 24, 2018. She was set to be
interviewed by French media France 2 to talk about the lift of the
driving ban shortly after.
Ms. Amal Al-Harbi, a woman human rights
defender and the wife of prominent activist Mr. Fowzan Al-Harbi,
co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), was
arrested by State Security on July 30, 2018 while on the seaside with her
children in Jeddah.
Ms. Shadan al-Onezi, Ms. Mayaa
al-Zahrani, and Ms. Abeer
Namankani were also detained following arrests that began in May 2018.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in Saudi
Arabia, urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical
integrity and psychological well-being of the ten above-mentioned women human rights
defenders, as well as of all
detained human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia;
ii. Ensure that the ten
above-mentioned women human rights defenders have
unhindered access to their families and lawyers and respect in all
circumstances their right to a fair trial;
iii.
Immediately and unconditionally release the ten above-mentioned
women human rights defenders, and end all forms of
harassment, including at the judicial level, against them and all detained
human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, as their detention is arbitrary since
it only aims at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;
iv.
Comply in all circumstances with all the provisions of
the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular its
Articles 1, 6(c) and 12.2;
v.
More generally, ensure in all circumstances the
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with
international human rights standards and instruments ratified by Saudi Arabia.
Addresses:
• His
Majesty, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian
of the two Holy Mosques, Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 11 403 3125;
Email: info@moi.gov.sa; Twitter: @KingSalman
• His
Excellency, Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Fax:
(via Ministry of the Interior) +966 11 403 3125; Email: info@moi.gov.sa
• H.E.
Waleed bin Mohammad Al Samaani, Minister of Justice, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
Fax: + 966 11 405 7777; Email: info@moj.gov.sa
• His
Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz Bin Saud Bin Naif Bin Abdulaziz, Minister of
Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fax: + 966 11 401 1111 / + 966 11 401 1944 /
+ 966 11 403 1125; Email: info@moi.gov.sa
• H.E.
Adel bin Ahmed El Jubeir, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax: + 966 11 403 0645 ;
Email: info@mofa.gov.sa
• H.E. Abdulaziz Alwasil, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 758 00
00. Email: saudiamission@bluewin.ch
• H.E. Abdulrahman bin Soliman Al-Ahmed, Ambassador, Embassy of Saudi Arabia in
Brussels, Belgium. Fax: +32 2 6468538. Email: beemb@mofa.gov.sa
Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Saudi Arabia in your
respective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies in
Saudi Arabia.
***
Paris-Geneva, March 15, 2019
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken
quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
[1] The tenth women rights
defender does not want her name to be disclosed.
[2] The SCC was originally
set up in 2009 to prosecute those with direct links to terrorist acts. It is
part of the Ministry of the Interior rather than the Ministry of Justice,
placing it firmly within the national security sphere. This jurisdiction has
been dealing with cases affecting “national security”. It is used by the Saudi
government to crush peaceful dissent from human rights defenders and
pro-democracy activists.
[3] See Observatory Urgent
Appeals SAU 003 / 0518 / OBS 073 and SAU 004 / 0718 / OBS 093,
published on May 24, 2018 and on July 6, 2018.
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