A Decade of Repression – Waleed Abu al-Khair Faces Slow Death in Saudi Prisons
Together for Justice calls on the international community to urgently intervene to save the life of Saudi human rights lawyer and activist Waleed Abu al-Khair, who has been arbitrarily imprisoned for over ten and a half years and is now facing a severe health crisis as a result of deliberate medical neglect.
Hunger Strike and Deliberate Medical Neglect
In September 2025, it was confirmed that Abu al-Khair has begun a hunger strike in protest against the prison administration’s refusal to provide him with the medications he urgently needs. He suffers from diabetes and chronic colon and abdominal pain, and his condition has reportedly deteriorated sharply.
Despite his worsening health, the authorities at Dhahban Prison in Jeddah have refused to transfer him to a hospital and have continued to deny him basic treatment or medication. This policy of deliberate medical neglect amounts to a form of slow killing and constitutes a blatant violation of international law, including the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Over Ten Years of Arbitrary Detention
Abu al-Khair was arrested on 15 April 2014 from inside a courtroom during the fifth hearing of his trial, after refusing to sign a pledge to halt his human rights work. The Specialized Criminal Court later handed down a 15-year prison sentence, alongside a 200,000 Saudi riyal fine (about $54,000) and a 15-year travel ban to follow his imprisonment.
His trial was entirely politicized, marked by serious legal violations. He was denied the right to legal representation, subjected to psychological and physical torture, and held in inhumane conditions that have severely damaged his health.
In February 2023, credible reports confirmed that he was violently beaten by a group of criminal prisoners inside Al-Saadiyah Prison, following direct orders from a police officer. Instead of holding the attackers accountable, the prison administration punished Abu al-Khair by placing him in solitary confinement, despite his critical condition at the time.
A Lifelong Defender of the Oppressed
Abu al-Khair began his human rights work in 2008 when he founded the Saudi Human Rights Monitor. Although authorities refused to register the organization, he launched an online platform that quickly gained thousands of followers.
During the 2011 pro-democracy protests, his name became widely known for his relentless defense of activists and political detainees. This made him a target of escalating harassment, including fabricated charges in 2012 and 2013 such as “insulting the judiciary” and “communicating with foreign entities.”
Despite persecution, he remained steadfast in defending the oppressed, becoming a symbol of fearless human rights lawyering in Saudi Arabia — and paying the price with his own freedom.
Together for Justice stresses that the continued detention of Waleed Abu al-Khair under these conditions constitutes a clear violation of international human rights law and amounts to deliberate slow killing. The Saudi authorities bear full responsibility for his life.
We call for:
- The immediate and unconditional release of Waleed Abu al-Khair.
- Urgent medical treatment and transfer to a specialized hospital.
- An independent international investigation into the violations he has suffered.
- Protection of all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia from retaliation.
The case of Waleed Abu al-Khair is not an isolated incident — it is emblematic of a systematic crackdown on every voice defending human rights in Saudi Arabia. After more than a decade behind bars, and as he now faces death through deliberate medical neglect, silence is complicity. His release is an urgent humanitarian and moral imperative.
