Four Years of Silence: Saudi Authorities Continue to Forcibly Disappear Activist Abdullah Al-Mubarki
Together for Justice expresses deep concern over the continued enforced disappearance of Saudi activist Abdullah Al-Mubarki, who has been missing for more than four years since his arrest on 22 July 2021 from his home in the city of Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast. The Saudi authorities have consistently refused to reveal his whereabouts or the conditions of his detention, making his case one of the longest ongoing enforced disappearances in the Kingdom.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that plainclothes security forces raided Al-Mubarki’s home late at night, arresting him without presenting a warrant or disclosing the reason for his detention or the agency responsible for his custody. Since that night, all contact with him has been severed. His family has repeatedly appealed to the authorities for information, but every attempt has been met with silence.
According to credible sources, Al-Mubarki’s arrest was linked to his peaceful online activity, where he called for political reform, transparency, and basic civil rights guaranteed by both Saudi law and international treaties. Instead of engaging in dialogue, the authorities responded with repression, silencing yet another voice demanding justice and equality.
Today, in October 2025, Abdullah Al-Mubarki remains forcibly disappeared, with no official acknowledgment of his detention, no access to legal representation, and no contact with his family. Such prolonged and secretive detention constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, particularly the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The use of enforced disappearance as a tool of repression has become a systematic practice in Saudi Arabia, aimed at intimidating activists, suppressing freedom of expression, and instilling fear among citizens. Reports of torture and ill-treatment in Saudi prisons heighten concerns that Al-Mubarki may be enduring similar abuse in complete isolation.
Together for Justice holds the Saudi authorities fully responsible for Abdullah Al-Mubarki’s safety and well-being, and warns against any attempt to fabricate charges or extract confessions under torture, as has been documented in numerous other political cases.
The organisation calls on the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, the European Union, and all international actors to exert immediate pressure on Saudi Arabia to disclose Al-Mubarki’s fate and location, release him unconditionally, and guarantee his legal and human rights.
The prolonged silence surrounding Abdullah Al-Mubarki’s case is not merely negligence — it is a deliberate act of repression. The international community must not remain passive while Saudi Arabia continues to disappear its critics into the shadows.
