27 Months of Silence: The Ongoing Enforced Disappearance of Saudi Student Mohammed Matar Al-Shalawi
It has now been over 27 months since the disappearance of Saudi national Mohammed Matar Al-Shalawi, who went missing after returning to the Kingdom in April 2023. Since then, Saudi authorities have refused to disclose his whereabouts or legal status. This prolonged official silence amounts to an act of enforced disappearance, depriving him of his basic rights to communicate with his family, access legal counsel, and enjoy protection under both domestic and international human rights law.
Al-Shalawi, a geology graduate from James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, had been living and studying there since 2019. Before his departure to Saudi Arabia, he recorded a video stating that if the footage was ever made public, it would mean he had been arrested due to his political views. He had also confided in a friend about his fears of being detained, especially after his brother in Saudi Arabia was arrested for private conversations they had recently exchanged. The video was indeed published after his disappearance, and both Australian and British media have reported on the deep concern among his friends, who fear he may have been arrested—or even killed—simply for expressing his opinions.
The Saudi authorities’ refusal to respond to the family’s repeated pleas for information stands in direct violation of the Kingdom’s own Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) and international humanitarian law. The U.S. State Department’s 2023 Human Rights Report also referenced Al-Shalawi’s case as an example of serious violations of freedom of expression and due process in Saudi Arabia.
The continued disappearance of Mohammed Matar Al-Shalawi constitutes an ongoing crime that demands accountability for all those involved or complicit. We call on the Saudi authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts, guarantee his safety, and release him unconditionally unless he is charged with a recognizable offense and granted a fair trial in accordance with international legal standards. We further urge the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and relevant regional and international human rights mechanisms to act urgently to end this ordeal.
We renew our focus on the case of Mohammed Matar Al-Shalawi and remind the international community of its moral and legal responsibility toward the victims of enforced disappearance in Saudi Arabia and beyond. Together for justice, until every disappeared person regains their freedom and dignity.
