Together for Justice recalls the case of Saudi activist and blogger Amani Al-Zain, who has now spent more than six years in enforced disappearance since her arrest in May 2020 over a video in which she criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Since then, no reliable information has emerged about her whereabouts, detention conditions, health, or legal status.
The organization stresses that the prolonged blackout surrounding Al-Zain’s fate cannot be treated as ordinary detention. It amounts to an ongoing enforced disappearance for which the Saudi authorities bear full responsibility. A state that arrests a person, cuts them off from the outside world, and prevents their family from knowing where they are or what has happened to them is operating outside the most basic standards of law and humanity.
Amani Al-Zain was targeted after appearing in an online conversation in 2019, during which she criticized the Crown Prince using a sarcastic expression linked to the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Although her remarks fell within the scope of peaceful expression, they triggered an organized online campaign against her by pro-government accounts demanding that she be punished and arrested.
In May 2020, Saudi security forces raided her home in Jeddah and took her to an unknown location. Since then, the authorities have not disclosed where she is being held, what charges she faces, or whether any clear legal proceedings have been initiated against her. There is also no public information confirming that she has been allowed regular contact with her family, access to a lawyer, or a fair and public trial.
Al-Zain’s case exposes how the Saudi authorities use the digital sphere as a tool of surveillance and punishment. A video, a sarcastic comment, or a critical opinion can be turned into grounds for arrest and disappearance. It also highlights the role of pro-regime online campaigns in inciting against activists and preparing the public space to justify repression instead of protecting the right to free expression.
Together for Justice stresses that the targeting of Amani Al-Zain must be understood within the wider pattern of repression against women activists in Saudi Arabia. Many women have faced arrest, prosecution, and harsh sentences because of their opinions, human rights work, or peaceful online expression. In this context, official narratives about reform and women’s empowerment ring hollow while women continue to be detained and disappeared for speaking out.
More than six years without disclosure of Al-Zain’s fate raises serious concerns about her physical and psychological safety, especially given the documented conditions faced by prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia, including isolation, denial of contact, medical neglect, and ill-treatment. Saudi authorities are directly responsible for any harm she has suffered or may suffer as a result of this prolonged disappearance.
From a human rights perspective, Amani Al-Zain’s arrest over peaceful expression violates her rights to liberty, security of person, freedom of opinion and expression, and fair trial guarantees. Her disappearance for years, and the denial of information to her family, further aggravate the violation and make it an ongoing crime that cannot be erased by silence or the passage of time.
Together for Justice calls on the Saudi authorities to immediately disclose Amani Al-Zain’s fate and place of detention, allow her family and lawyer to communicate with her without restriction, and guarantee her access to medical and psychological care.
The organization also calls for her immediate and unconditional release, the dropping of any charges linked to her peaceful expression, an independent investigation into the circumstances of her arrest and disappearance, and accountability for all those involved in inciting against her or violating her rights.
Amani Al-Zain committed no crime. She expressed an opinion in a video and then disappeared for years. After more than six years of official silence, her case remains a stark reminder of a reality in which women in Saudi Arabia are punished not because they committed crimes, but because they spoke beyond the limits set by power.