The United Nations Secretary-General, in his annual report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, emphasized that Saudi Arabia continues to engage in acts of intimidation and reprisal against individuals who seek to cooperate with the UN, its representatives and mechanisms in the human rights field. The Council also condemned all acts of intimidation and reprisal by governments and non-state actors.
In his annual report, issued on the sidelines of the 48th session, the Secretary-General stated that Saudi Arabia had practiced arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment and harsh sentences to retaliate against individuals or their relatives who cooperated or attempted to cooperate with the United Nations.
The report highlights the cases of six individuals who were arrested in Saudi Arabia and one who died in prison. The report noted that it does not include an update on some of the cases due to fears of further retaliation.
The report also shows that Saudi Arabia continues to exercise retaliation and threats against individuals reporting to the Working Group on Enforced Disappearance on issues related to its mandate, as indicated in the working group's last report. The Secretary-General's report also noted that the special rapporteurs had indicated that Saudi Arabia counited to use anti-terrorism legislation against individuals cooperating with the Human Rights Council, and that experts had reiterated their condemnation of the Terrorism Law in a letter sent to the Saudi government in December 2020.
The report highlighted developments in a number of cases, including Loujain Alhathloul , Samar Badawi, Muhammad Fahd Al-Qahtani, Issa Al-Nakhefi, Issa Hamed Al-Hamed, Amal Al-Harbi and Abdullah Al-Hamad
- The case of human rights defender Loujain al-Hathloul was included in the 2019 and 2020 reports of the UN Secretary-General on allegations of disappearance, detention and torture after her participation in the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in March 2018. The Committee and a number of rapporteurs addressed the issue. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its opinion No. 33/2020, found Al-Hathloul's detention to be arbitrary and requested her immediate release and called on the Government to provide compensation and reparation.
In December 2020, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced al-Hathloul to prison and travel ban on charges that included harming national security, communicating with international human rights groups, and speaking about women's rights. Because of the travel ban, al-Hathloul can be re-arrested. Saudi Arabia has refused Al-Hadhloul's request to investigate her torture.
- Samar Badawi's case was included in the Secretary-General's reports for 2020, 2019 and 2015 on allegations of threats and interrogation after her statement to the Human Rights Council in 2014. Badawi was arrested in July 2018. She first appeared before the Criminal Court in Riyadh on 27 June 2019, without legal representation. The prosecutors reportedly requested the maximum penalty under article 6 of the Cybercrime Act and charged her with "undermining public order, religious values, good morals, and private life", "communicating with journalists, UN human rights bodies, and human rights organizations, "and other groups described as "anti-state."
United Nations special rapporteurs addressed issue of Badawi. They expressed concern at her prolonged detention without sufficient legal basis and stated that a trial hearing was scheduled for 25 November 2020, the results of which remain unknown. On 26 June 2021, Ms. Badawi was reportedly released from prison after the completion of her sentence.
- The case of Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association was included in the 2020, 2019, 2013, and 2012 reports of the Secretary-General." He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges including providing false information to external sources, including United Nations human rights mechanisms. According to information received by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, al-Qahtani and other prisoners held a hunger strike to protest harassment, lack of family contact, and access to books and essential medicines. In April 2021, Al-Qahtani was reported to have been infected with the Coronavirus and prevented from communicating with the outside world.
In February 2021, special procedures mandate-holders addressed Mr. Qahtani's case and requested information among them regarding any restrictions on his contact with his family members. On May 10, 2021, the government responded by providing information on the sentencing of Mr. Qahtani for national security offenses and crimes punishable under the Internet Crime Suppression Act. The Government stated that no restrictions had been imposed on his contact with family members and indicated that prison authorities had investigated the reasons for Mr. Qahtani's hunger strike.
- The case of Issa al-Nakhefi, a human rights defender and anti-corruption activist, was included in the Secretary-General's 2020, 2019 and 2018 reports after being sentenced to six years of prison, with six years travel ban and social media ban after his release, for cooperating with the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty during his visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2017. In November 2019, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that Mr. al-Nakhefi's detention was arbitrary.
- The case of Mr. Issa Hamed al-Hamed, a human rights defender and member of the The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), was included in the Secretary-General's 2020, 2018 and 2017 reports on a 11-year prison sentence followed by 11 years of travel ban and a 100,000 Riyals fine for his cooperation with the United Nations.
- The case of human rights defender and member of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights, Fawzan al-Harbi, was included in the Secretary-General's 2020, 2019 and 2014 reports on allegations of detention for his cooperation with the United Nations. The case of Mr. al-Harbi's wife, Amal al-Harbi, was included in the Secretary-General's report for 2020 and 2019.
- The case of Abdullah al-Hamed was included in a number of complaints and in the 2020 and 2013 reports of the UN Secretary-General. Al-Hamad died in prison in April 2020 while serving a six-year prison sentence on charges including spreading false information to foreign groups. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that his detention was arbitrary in 2015 and called on UN experts to investigate the details of his death.
The report concluded that the reported acts of intimidation and reprisals by governmental and non-governmental actors against individuals or groups seeking to cooperate with the United Nations was very high. It also pointed out that States continue to prevent individuals from accessing their right to communicate with the United Nations through the use of legislative measures and arguments related to combating terrorism, and have recently used measures related to combating the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to stifle civil society.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations called on States to commit to the right of individuals to safe and unhindered access to the United Nations and to stop and respond to all acts of intimidation and reprisal.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) asserts that successive reports of the UN Secretary-General over the past years have shown the reprisals practiced by Saudi Arabia against individuals for their dealings with the UN and its mechanisms. It points out that the suffocation of civil society and acts of intimidation and intimidation have escalated in recent years, with the aim of imposing silence and preventing human rights organizations, defenders and human rights defenders from practicing their work, which has prevented the documentation of further cases of reprisal against them.