The Bulgarian authorities must suspend any plans to deport Saudi human rights defender Abdulrahman al-Khalidi to Saudi Arabia, and he should be allowed to resettle to a third country, twenty human rights organizations said today.
If deported, Bulgarian authorities would violate their obligations under Bulgarian, European and international law on non-refoulement, which prohibits returning a person to a country where they face a risk of torture or ill-treatment, the organizations stressed in a statement.
Bulgaria's National Security Agency issued a deportation order against Khalidi in February 2024. On October 21, 2024, the Sofia Administrative Court confirmed the deportation order, enforcing forced deportation to Saudi Arabia, according to Khalidi's lawyer. The Sofia Administrative Court rejected his objection to the order. Al-Khaldi has another asylum case pending before the Supreme Administrative Court, while the deportation order can only be implemented after asylum appeals have been exhausted and canceled.
Human rights organizations have documented the Saudi authorities' targeting of human rights defenders and activists for their peaceful expression, punishing them with long sentences and ongoing abuses in the Saudi judicial system.
Abdulrahman al-Khalidi has been a human rights defender for more than a decade, advocating for prisoners' rights and participating in numerous demonstrations in support of Saudi detainees. He fled Saudi Arabia in 2013, fearing for his safety, and has continued his activism abroad by writing articles critical of the Saudi government and participating in Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's online movement “Bee Army,” which seeks to counter pro-government propaganda and attack dissidents online. Khalidi lived in exile for nearly a decade in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, but after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate
In May 2022, the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees rejected Khalidi's asylum application, arguing that he was not threatened with persecution in Saudi Arabia, claiming that the kingdom had "taken measures to democratize society." Khalidi has appealed this decision to the Supreme Administrative Court twice and is awaiting the decision on the second appeal. His lawyer in Bulgaria said that the decision could also be appealed to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
Human rights organizations have documented poor living conditions, poor hygiene, beatings by officers, and other ill-treatment during his detention at the Bosmantsi detention center. In April 2024, I documented allegations that al-Khalidi was abused by police officers at Bosmantsi prison in Bulgaria, and was denied medical care after the incident.
Bulgaria has an obligation not to return individuals to another country where "there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture," under Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. These protections also apply under the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Rights, as well as under customary international law.
Khalidi's deportation would also violate Article 33 of the Refugee Convention, which prohibits "returning a refugee in any form to borders or territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinions."
The organizations concluded that Bulgaria's violation of European and international law is deeply troubling, especially when it could expose al-Khalidi to torture and other serious abuses in Saudi Arabia: "The Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees was wrong to conclude that Saudi Arabia's 'measures' to 'democratize society' were sufficient to exclude Khalidi's asylum application, given the country's ongoing record of persecuting political dissidents like him."
Signatories:
- Al-QST Organization for Human Rights
- مجلس اللاجئين البافاري
- مركز المساعدة القانونية – صوت في بلغاريا
- كوليتيفو روتي بالكانيتشي
- The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
- الحركات النسائية
- فرونت لاين ديفندرز
- Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
- Human Rights Watch
- هو مينا لحقوق الإنسان والمشاركة المدنية
- الاتحاد الدولي لحقوق الإنسان (FIDH)، في إطار مراقبة حماية المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان
- Law and Democracy Support Foundation
- متطوعو الرعاية الطبية الدولية (BG: التضامن الطبي الدولي)
- مجموعة حقوق مينا
- Center for Democracy in the Middle East
- التضامن مع المهاجرين في بلغاريا
- مجلس اللاجئين في ميونيخ
- لا نام كيتشن
- وكالة سكالابرياني للتعاون الإنمائي
- المنظمة العالمية ضد التعذيب (OMCT)، في إطار مراقبة حماية المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان