The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) monitored Saudi Arabia's continued violation of prisoners' rights under the pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic related measures.
While the Saudi government has been speaking in international forums about its achievements in the fight against the pandemic, the reality is that these measures violate many basic rights, including those of prisoners.
Prisoners' rights::
Although the number of doses of the vaccine received in Saudi Arabia exceeded 34 million according to the Ministry of Health, and despite Saudi Arabia's confirmation that 68% of inmates in state security prisons were vaccinated until May 2021, measures against prisoners and their families are still being tightened, and additional arbitrary and retaliatory measures have been taken.
According to information ESOHR received, the management of Al-Mabahith prison in Dammam puts the detainees in a "protective quarantine" for 10 days after they attend their trial sessions. The information indicated that the context of this quarantine shows that the prison administration deals with this measure as a punishment without crime, in which it prevents the detainee from communicating with the outside world, and places him in his cell without television, in what one prisoner described as "a solitary prison again", which causes a difficult psychological condition.
The information received by the organization also indicated that the detainee is deprived of his most basic rights during this period, including access to additional clothes, which is contrary to basic safety conditions in regard to hygiene procedures in response to the pandemic.
In addition, despite the promotion of improved travel, entry and exit procedures after immunization campaigns, the Saudi Government continues to tighten with regard to prison visits. After having absolutely prohibited it, it returned and permitted it on a regular basis. According to information, visits are still conducted from behind a glass barrier, and for a limited number of family members, even if the visitor and the detainee have received the vaccine.
Deaths in prisons:
In addition to the rights of detainees, the organization monitored deaths linked to the pandemic in prisons. On May 8, 2021, prisoner of opinion Zuhair Ali Shreida al-Muhammad died in al-Ha'ir Prison in Riyadh after he was infected by Corona following the outbreak of the disease in the prison. Al-Mohammed was taken to hospital where he stayed for more than a month until his death. His family has not received any news about his illness, and have been denied of any visits or calls since February 2021, and then received his body the day after his death. And according to information confirmed by follow-up organizations, al-Muhammad was detained along with others in the same section of prisoners infected with the Coronavirus and other prisoners of conscience were infected including human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani.
Zuhair Ali and more than 30 other prisoners of conscience at Ha'ir Prison announced a hunger strike in March 2021, protesting the harassment which included detention in the same ward with psychiatric detainees, denial of contact with family and denial of access to books and newspapers.
In the absence of any serious and independent investigation, medical or deliberate neglect is a major cause of a number of deaths during the pandemic. This includes the death of human rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid in April 2020, and the death of journalist Saleh al-Shehi on 19 July 2020, just two months after his unexpected release.
ESOHR has reported numerous human rights violations in which the Saudi government has invoked measures to combat the pandemic since its inception:
- Arbitrary Detentions: Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Saudi government has banned any criticism of the measures taken, including targeting critics with detention, including one of the social media celebrities Abu al-Fida, after he published a video showing a shortage of bread in shops.
- Selectivity in dealing with assemblies: ESOHR monitored discretionary in the Saudi government's handling of precautionary measures in gatherings. While allowing concerts and gatherings in some areas, including the Eastern Province and Abha, many religious gatherings were banned, including banning residents of Al-Qatif area from commemorating the first days of Ashura, despite the declaration of adherence to safety requirements.
- Preventing visits and cutting off communications for continuous months: ESOHR monitored the Saudi government's ban at various times on female and male detainees from contacting their families as visits are stopped due to the pandemic. The ban on contact with the outside world has led detainees to go on hunger strike several times.
- Foreign workers: Information has indicated that the Saudi government is detaining hundreds of migrant workers in incompetent places of detention that have been a fertile environment for the spread of coronavirus. Pregnant women and young children are reportedly being held in "appalling conditions", where at least three children died.
ESOHR confirms that the Saudi government's policy of intimidation towards the community inside Saudi Arabia, and its ban on the organizations, prevent access to sufficient information about the conditions of detainees in light of the pandemic. However, the information monitored by ESOHR confirms serious violations of human rights and prisoners' rights under the pandemic.
According to a report by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, entitled "COVID-19 and the Protection of the Right to Life in Detention Centers", the authorities have a duty to investigate all deaths recorded in prison custody to establish the actual circumstances surrounding the death during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to the organization, deaths in prisons during the pandemic have not been investigated, including the death of activist Abdullah al-Hamid following medical neglect in prison.
The organization points out that while, according to international legal recommendations, restricted visits should have been replaced by increased access to alternative means of communication, such as telephone and video calls, Saudi Arabia has strictly blocked communication.
While international legal standards adopted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirm that "restrictive measures must be assessed regularly in the light of the evolution of the pandemic in the country, the needs of the specific prisoner and the facilities available in prison", The restrictions imposed on the prisons are still far from the development that Saudi Arabia says is taking place in the society in terms of easing measures and restrictions.
ESOHR believes that the Saudi government is ignoring human rights in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic and is carrying out practices at different levels that increase the suffering of individuals under the pandemic. The organization points out that prisoners and migrant workers are among those most at risk of these violations.
The organization stresses that no progress can be made as Saudi Arabia continues to carry out retaliatory practices using pandemic measures or increase the suffering of vulnerable members of society due to the pandemic.