News - Middle East: International human rights center confirmed that Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that exercises strict censorship on the Internet and social media, whether through blocking or punishing with imprisonment and fines, with the aim of quelling dissenting voices.

"The Saudi authorities are detaining in its prisons a large number of intellectuals, scholars, journalists and human rights activists, as well as a number of prominent human rights activists," the center said in a statement.

The center pointed out that a Saudi court recently sentenced activist Salma Al-Shihab to 34 years in prison, on charges of “providing aid to those who seek to disturb public order and spread false news,” which is the longest prison sentence against any activist in the country.

It called for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience, activists and human rights defenders detained for their exercise of their human rights and freedom of expression.

This comes before the Saudi regime disappeared the prisoner of conscience, Mohammed Fahd Al-Qahtani, for 54 days, in light of depriving his family of communicating with him or obtaining any information about his detention and conditions inside the prison.

"The enforced disappearance that her husband is subjected to is a flagrant violation and a clear challenge to international and Arab human rights conventions and treaties ratified by Saudi Arabia," Al-Qahtani's wife, said.

Al-Qahtani is businessman and influencer, and one of the founders of the ACPRA Human Rights Association. He was arrested because of his participation in its founding in March 2013.

The human rights activist detained in the detention centers of the Saudi regime, Mohammed Al-Rabeeah, faces the risks of continuous violations that affect him, coinciding with the issuance of harsh prison sentences against him.

According to Democracy Now for the Arab World, the Saudi judiciary issued an arbitrary ruling in early December against the activist and writer Muhammad Al-Rabeeah, who sentenced him to 17 years in prison.

Al-Rabeeah was arrested in May 2018, due to his human rights activities, and he was subjected to heinous violations with the most severe forms of torture.

Recently, The International Organization Against Torture (OMCT) condemned the continued detention by the Saudi authorities of prisoners of conscience whose sentences have ended, in clear violation of all international laws and conventions. 

In a tweet, the organization expressed its deep concern about the Saudi authorities continuing to detain some prisoners of conscience despite the end of their sentences. 
“In a disturbing new trend, the Saudi authorities have continued to detain some prisoners of conscience beyond the end of their sentences, or have already retrialed and increased sentences for some of those already serving prison sentences,” the tweet stated.

Activists had called on the Saudi authorities to reveal the fate of the detained human rights activist, Issa al-Nukhaifi, who was forcibly disappeared after the end of his sentence.
For her part, the Saudi activist, Maha Al-Qahtani, the wife of the detainee, Mohammad Al-Qahtani, denounced the authorities’ continued detention of her husband and his enforced disappearance despite the end of his sentence, saying: “35 days since the disappearance of my husband, whose sentence ended last week, November 22, and no official has responded to us nor explain why this violation he is exposed to!"

Al-Qahtani added, “He does not have a lawyer, and my husband was transferred from the Riyadh Reformatory without telling us where he is now!” So the Saudi activist concluded her tweet, asking: “Where is Dr. Muhammad Fahd Al-Qahtani ?!”.

Meanwhile, the Global Platform for Change launched an international human rights petition calling on the Saudi government to immediately and unconditionally release the prisoners of conscience, Salma Al-Shehab and Noura Al-Qahtani, who were sentenced to prison without any crime other than the peaceful expression of their opinions.
Salma Al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years behind bars last month for having a Twitter account and for sharing posts from activists.

In the same regard, the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)) has revealed that a court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced activist Nasser Al-Mubarak to 16 years in prison for sharing a post on Twitter.

It is worth noting that the Saudi authorities have arrested many local Imams since Mohammed Bin Salman became Crown Prince and the country's de facto ruler, including Salman Al-Awda, Ali Al-Omari and Awad Al-Qarni.

The Saudi Criminal Court issued a 45-year prison sentence for 50-year-old Saudi citizen Noura Al-Qahtani, after convicting her of a number of alleged crimes. These included using the internet and social media to "spread lies" about the Kingdom and its leaders.

In recent months, a Saudi appeals court sentenced mother of two Salma Al-Shehab, a doctoral student at the University of Leeds, to 34 years in prison, because of her Twitter account. She was arrested and convicted when she returned to Saudi Arabia for a holiday.

Prisons Saudi Arabia