
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) greatly welcomes the news of the release of several human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia after lengthy imprisonment. Among those who were recently released are Dr. Mohammed Fahad Al-Qahtani, Issa Al-Nukhaifi, Dr. Malik Al-Ahmad, Mohammed Al-Khudairi and Mohammed Al-Habdan.
Mostly they were imprisoned based on their human rights activism according to articles of the Cybercrimes Law and the Counterterrorism Law. GCHR has recently reported on several other prominent journalists and activists who were also released last year, but it is likely that others who were released did not wish to report that news out of fear of retaliation by the authorities.
Dr. Al-Qahtani, a professor of economy and a prominent human rights defender, is the founder of the Association for Civil and Political Rights in Saudi Arabia (ACPRA). He was sentenced on 09 March 2013 to 10 years of imprisonment followed by a 10-year travel ban. He endured several violations and went on hungers strikes while in prison. He was due to be released in 2022 but was retried at the time before he was finally released on 07 January 2025. Dr. Al-Qahtani is the recipient of several prestigious human rights awards, and his family living in the US eagerly awaits their reunion after over a decade of separation.
Al-Nukhaifi was arrested in February 2018 and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment followed by a six-year travel ban, after being convicted of several charges, including seeking to destabilise the social cohesion, receiving money from foreign, hostile groups, and using his pages on social media networks in ways that are harmful to public order. He also endured several violations while imprisoned until he was released on 06 January 2025, also long after his release date.
Dr. Al-Ahmad is an academic and journalist who was arrested among the mass wave of arrests on 19 September 2017. He was released at the end of 2024, but no other information was known about his case or charges.
Similarly, Dr. Al-Khudairi was arrested on 11 September 2017 for charges of disobeying the ruler, administering a Friday Sermon in Qatar, and building mosques. He was held for almost a year in solitary confinement and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment before being released in December 2024.
Al-Habdan, a religious cleric who was arrested during the same wave of arrests on 11 September 2017, was charged with sympathising with the Muslim Brotherhood and with detained women activists. He was released in December 2024.
Recommendations
GCHR welcomes the releases of human rights defenders, despite the unfairness of their targeting in the first place, and calls on the Saudi authorities to:
- End the unlawful arrests and legal harassment of human rights defenders due to their pursuit of legitimate reforms;
- Abolish the travel ban practices and allow those with families abroad to join them; and
- Allow all members of society their rights to free expression and assembly for a meaningful engagement in policies and practices which affect their lives.