• On April 17, 2022, information received by human rights organizations confirmed the announcement of activist and human rights defender Issa al-Nakhifi's hunger strike from Al-Ha'ir Prison in Riyadh. According to the information, al-Nakhifi's hunger strike came in response to the refusal of his demands to conclude government transactions, which led to pressure on his family and children due to their non-completion.
For years, detained activists in Saudi Arabia have been on hunger strike after using every means to pressure the government to stop the violations practiced against them. Although information from prisons is scarce due to the intimidation practiced against defenders and the absence of any role for civil society organizations and bodies, many hunger strike cases were monitored.
- • On August 15, 2021, human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani announced a hunger strike after his demands were not met, especially his request to be transferred from the wing where prisoners with mental illnesses are located to another wing.
- In March 2021, more than 30 prisoners of conscience, including human rights activists Muhammad al-Qahtani, Fawzan al-Harbi, Issa al-Nukheifi, Fahd al-Arini, and writer Muhammad al-Hudayf, announced a hunger strike to protest the harassment in al-Ha'ir prison in Riyadh. The human rights activist Abdulaziz Al-Sunaidi, who is a prisoner in Qassim prison, joined the strike. On March 11, 2021, Issa Al-Nukheifi was taken to the hospital after a low blood sugar level due to a hunger strike. The hunger strike began because of the harassment and ill-treatment made by prison officials and their denial of contact with their families and access to books and newspapers. In addition to holding them in the wing where prisoners are suffering from mental illnesses, some of them deal violently with them.
- In January 2021, activist Muhammad Al-Otaibi announced a hunger strike in his prison in Saudi Arabia. Al-Otaibi demanded that he be transferred from the General Intelligence Prison in Dammam to a prison close to his family's residence in Jeddah. He also demanded proper medical care because he suffered from high blood pressure and was not given appropriate medication by the prison administration.
- • In October 2020, the family of Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul confirmed that their daughter had announced a hunger strike due to being deprived of her right to contact them.
- In December 2019, three activists, including activist Khaled al-Omair, Lawyer Walid Abu al-Khair, and Raif Badawi, announced a hunger strike to protest their poor prison conditions. The information said, A. Khaled Al-Omair started a hunger strike to protest the exceeded legal period of his arbitrary detention. Whereas, Walid Abu Al-Khair went on strike to protest his continued detention in solitary confinement under heavy guard.
- • In February 2019, human rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid announced a hunger strike in response to a wave of arrests targeting activists and defenders, demanding the release of all prisoners of conscience. Several detainees joined al-Hamid in his strike.
- • On April 10, 2012, the Civil and Political Rights Association (HASM) affirmed in a statement that the prominent human rights activist, Mohammed bin Saleh al-Bajadi's health had deteriorated after he had been on a hunger strike for weeks. Al-Bajadi had declared the hunger strike to demand his immediate release or to be granted a fair and public trial attended by his legal representatives.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights confirms that the Saudi government's intransigence in dealing with male and female prisoners of conscience has repeatedly prompted them to declare a hunger strike, a step that comes after the exhaustion of means to demand their basic rights. The organization notes that the arbitrary arrests of male and female activists in Saudi Arabia, and the violations that follow, which prompt them to repeatedly declare a hunger strike, is a disregard for all international laws and commitments. The organization believes that the Saudi government's arbitrary treatment of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders reflects the reality of human rights that the government is trying to falsify in international forums, based on the absence of the voices and roles of these detainees.