More Than Seven Years After His Arrest: Saudi Doctor Amer Al-Amer Remains Forcibly Disappeared With No Information on His Health, Legal Status, or the Reasons for His Detention
Together for Justice renews its call for the immediate disclosure of the fate and whereabouts of Saudi doctor Amer Ali Yahya Al-Amer, who has been missing since his arrest in February 2019 after security forces raided his home in Abha and took him to an unknown location.
More than seven years later, Saudi authorities continue to refuse to provide any information about where he is being held, the legal basis for his detention, the accusations against him, or his current health condition. This prolonged silence has left his family in a state of fear and uncertainty, with no official confirmation of whether he has been brought before a judicial authority, granted access to legal counsel, or allowed any form of communication with his relatives.
According to available information, Dr. Al-Amer was taken from his home following a security raid, with no publicly declared reason for his arrest. The absence of any official explanation raises serious concerns that his detention may be linked to the broader pattern of repression in Saudi Arabia, where individuals have been targeted for expressing independent views or for perceived dissent.
The complete lack of information about his condition is particularly alarming. After more than seven years of disappearance, there is no indication that he has received legal protection, medical care, or any independent oversight. Such circumstances place him outside the protection of the law and expose him to a heightened risk of torture, ill-treatment, and medical neglect.
From a legal perspective, the arrest and continued concealment of Dr. Al-Amer’s fate and whereabouts amount to enforced disappearance. This is a grave violation of fundamental rights, including the right to liberty and security of person, the right to legal representation, the right to family contact, and the right to a fair trial.
Together for Justice stresses that enforced disappearance is not only a violation against the detained person; it is also a continuing form of suffering imposed on the family, who are denied the most basic right to know whether their loved one is alive, where he is held, and under what conditions.
The case of Dr. Amer Al-Amer reflects the wider climate of secrecy surrounding detainees in Saudi Arabia, where arrests, hidden detention, and the denial of information are used to silence individuals and intimidate society.
Together for Justice calls on Saudi authorities to immediately disclose Dr. Al-Amer’s fate and place of detention, clarify his legal and medical status, allow him immediate access to his family and a lawyer of his choosing, and release him unless he is charged with a recognizable criminal offence and brought before an independent court in proceedings that meet international fair trial standards.
The organization also urges international human rights mechanisms, including those concerned with enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, to intervene urgently and press Saudi authorities to end this prolonged concealment and ensure accountability for the violations committed in his case.
