The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights and 9 civil society organisations, expressed extreme concern about developments threatening the safety and wellbeing of detained feminist and fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi.
The organisations clarified that on 14 April 2024, when al-Otaibi was finally able to contact her family after having been forcibly disappeared since November 2023, she told them that she was being held in solitary confinement in Malaz Prison in Riyadh and had a broken leg as a result of physical abuse. She said she is also being denied medical visits.
The statement highlights that these violations further illustrate the authorities’ contempt for the wellbeing of detainees in Saudi Arabia’s opaque prison system, where those behind bars routinely face enforced disappearance, vicious abuse by other prisoners and guards and medical neglect. Shortly before her disappearance on 5 November 2023, ALQST learned that Manahel al-Otaibi had been subjected to various forms of abuse at the hands of another inmate, including beatings, bites and death threats. In a recent phone call with her family, al-Otaibi said that she has been subjected to further beatings since.
The organisations consider that Al-Otaibi’s abuse and denial of medical treatment in custody are part of a growing and alarming trend that places the lives of prisoners at risk. In one egregious case, Saudi cleric Musa al-Qarni was killed in his prison cell in October 2021 by other prisoners, despite having repeatedly complained to the prison administration about the risks he faced from the prisoners with whom he was incarcerated. In April 2020, iconic human rights defender Abdullah al-Hamid died in custody as a result of the authorities’ repeated withholding of adequate medical treatment. Years on, the authorities have still failed to effectively investigate these and other similar deaths.
Manahel al-Otaibi was arrested on 16 November 2022 and faces charges under the kingdom’s draconian Anti-Cybercrime Law for her peaceful promotion of women’s rights, wearing “indecent” clothes, and tweeting using feminist hashtags. She is currently awaiting trial before the Specialised Criminal Court, the Saudi terrorism court notorious for conducting grossly unfair trials and handing down harsh sentences to individuals critical of the authorities. Her sister Fouz al-Otaibi faces similar charges, and fled Saudi Arabia fearing arrest after being summoned for questioning in 2022. In December 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders issued a public communication to the Saudi government regarding the cases of Fouz and Manahel, and called for the latter’s immediate release.
The statement emphasized that prolonged solitary confinement for more than 15 days is a violation of the absolute prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Further, while disappeared and with no access to legal remedies, prisoners are at heightened risk of other human rights violations including sexual violence or torture.
The organisations stressed that No independent monitoring of prison conditions is currently permitted in Saudi Arabia, and the authorities refuse to cooperate with United Nations bodies, denying country access to UN special procedures mandate holders. Meanwhile, the government’s official human rights body, the Saudi Human Rights Commission, has consistently failed to effectively address complaints of torture or ill-treatment within detention facilities it has visited, acting instead as a whitewashing tool for the authorities.
The statement asserted the importance of granting independent international observers and NGOs access to prisoners and detainees, and that they extend invitations to, and accept visits from, UN special procedures mandate holders
Signatory organizations::
ALQST for Human Rights
Amnesty International
ARTICLE 19
DAWN
European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
FEMENA
Freedom House
Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR)
MENA Rights Group
Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA Coalition)