The Saudi government's response to the UN rapporteurs revealed that the Specialized Criminal Court, which deals with terrorism and state security cases, sentenced activist and sports trainer Manal Al-Otaibi to 11 years in prison on January 9, 2024, in accordance with Articles 43 and 44 of the Anti-Terrorism and Financing Law.
The Saudi response to a letter they received in December 2023 contains a distortion of reality and inaccurate information about Al-Otaibi's situation in prison, in addition to continuing the official misinformation approach in dealing with international mechanisms. Saudi Arabia indicated that Al-Otaibi was arrested on November 16, 2022, and placed in a women's prison in Riyadh, and that she was informed of the charges against her immediately. The response also stated that the seriousness of the charges led to her arrest. However, the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights confirms that Al-Otaibi's charges did not include acts of violence or serious accusations that would necessitate pre-trial detention, and that she was not informed of the nature of the charges against her.
Despite the fact that Manal Al-Otaibi was forcibly disappeared and not allowed to communicate with her family or the outside world since November 2023, the Saudi response denied this, stating that she enjoys her right to visits and regular and continuous contact with her family. Al-Otaibi had been forcibly disappeared and her whereabouts unknown from November 2023 until April 14, 2024, when she was allowed to contact her family.
In its response, the Saudi government claimed that Al-Otaibi was not placed in solitary confinement because she filed a complaint about being abused, and asserted that solitary confinement is applied only in cases of disturbance within the prison, and within narrow limits and specific conditions. However, Al-Otaibi confirmed in her last contact with her family that she is in solitary confinement. ESOHR has documented, in numerous cases, the arbitrary and widespread use of this measure repeatedly against activists. This practice is currently being used against defenders Dr. Mohammad Al-Qahtani and Issa Al-Nukhaifi, who have been forcibly disappeared despite having completed their prison sentences.
Additionally, the Saudi response reiterated that every detainee has the right to file a complaint with the prison director or the Public Prosecution, and that there are remedies available, including judicial bodies and governmental and non-governmental human rights institutions. The organization notes that it has documented multiple cases where detainees were punished for filing complaints. Moreover, the mentioned mechanisms have failed to achieve accountability in dozens of cases presented before them. The Saudi judiciary has issued sentences, including death sentences, despite the detainees having filed complaints and affirming that their confessions were extracted under torture.
The response stated that the Human Rights Commission followed the mentioned case, visited her several times, and found that the procedures taken against her were proper, and did not observe any violations of her rights. The organization considers that citing the visits and opinion of the commission is an additional attempt to use its role to whitewash Saudi Arabia's image, as its independence and procedures cannot be trusted.
The official response claimed that Saudi Arabia provides detainees and prisoners with appropriate and comprehensive healthcare. However, Al-Otaibi confirmed that she was denied treatment despite having a broken leg and being subjected to beatings and mistreatment. The documentation by the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights has shown that many prisoners in Saudi jails have died due to torture, mistreatment, or under mysterious circumstances.
The Saudi government stated in its response that Al-Otaibi was convicted of committing terrorist crimes unrelated to freedom of expression or her posts on social media and that she was convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Law. However, they did not specify these charges. The organization's investigation indicates that among the charges she faced was using the internet to spread rumors and news.
The response asserted that "there is no detainee in the Kingdom because of practicing their rights and freedoms, and all men and women enjoy their rights and exercise their freedoms." This official assertion blatantly ignores the sentences issued for charges that do not exceed tweeting, publishing news, and sharing photos, including the death sentence against Mohammad Al-Ghamdi.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia reiterated its talk about the achievements of Vision 2030 concerning women's rights and empowerment, despite figures and statistics showing that recent years have witnessed unprecedented violations against women, including arrest, torture, and mistreatment in prisons, as well as violence.
ESOHR believes that Saudi Arabia's response to the special rapporteurs in the case of Manal Al-Otaibi is a blatant manipulation, as it was sent while she was forcibly disappeared in prison, and it includes falsehoods denying violations without any real evidence.
While Saudi Arabia claimed that justifying the behavior of terrorists as an exercise of rights and defending them, and attempting to legitimize terrorist crimes, the organization questions why the government did not mention these crimes or specify the victims and violations resulting from them in its response. The organization emphasizes that contrary to the government's claims, the response is a clear attempt to criminalize the exercise of legitimate rights and continues to use the Anti-Terrorism Law and the Specialized Criminal Court for this purpose.