Since October 8, 2022, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has forcibly disappeared the Egyptian publisher and writer, Ahmed Ali Diouf. Diouf (January 24, 1988) was arrested during his participation in the Riyadh International Book Fair activities as director of the Egyptian Publishing House, Ktubia. According to the information, five to six people in civilian clothes came to the Ktubia section in the fair and took him without a warrant to the hotel where he was staying, where they searched his room and then took him to an unknown location.
Eyewitnesses and exhibition participants informed the family about the arrest, and the family contacted the Egyptian Embassy and the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two weeks later, the family received an unofficial call, informing them that he was arrested and under investigation without any additional information.
The family was unable to contact him or find out any details about the reason for his arrest. After months of detention, the mother of one of the detainees in Al-Ha'ir prison in Riyadh called Diouf's family and told them that her detained son had informed her that Diouf was with him in the cell and asked her to inform them. According to the information, he remained in solitary confinement for a month and a half before being transferred to the collective prison.
The family did not know any additional details, nor did the Egyptian embassy or the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs take any steps to secure his basic rights, the simplest of which is securing communication with the family, appointing a lawyer, and knowing the charges against him.
Diouf had no known political activity, and the publications of the publishing house he ran did not address religion or politics.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights believes that the enforced disappearance of the publisher, Ahmed Diouf, is a gross violation of human rights, and comes within a broad approach used by Saudi Arabia, as it is in most cases a prelude to torture and other violations.
The organization indicates that it has monitored cases in which Saudi Arabia forcibly disappeared individuals for a long period of time without filing charges, the latest of which was the case of the Lebanese engineer Ali Mazyad, who disappeared for a year and four months without reason and was later released without compensation.
ESOHR considers enforced disappearance and prolonged detention without disclosing charges a flagrant violation of international laws and believes that its widespread practice against foreigners disregards international obligations. The organization also notes that Saudi Arabia's widespread violations against foreigners may reach arbitrary death sentences.