Sami Al-Ghaihab: From Expected Release to Years of Disappearance and Total Information Blackout
Together for Justice recalls the case of Sheikh Sami Al-Ghaihab, the former head of the Anti-Blackmail Department at Saudi Arabia’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, who has been detained since September 2017 as part of the wide crackdown targeting preachers, academics, activists, and independent voices in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ghaihab’s case raises serious concern, particularly after reports that he had previously been transferred to what is known as a “rest house” in preparation for his release. Yet instead of being freed, all information about his fate disappeared. No official statement has been issued about his whereabouts, legal status, or why his expected release was never carried out.
The transfer of a detainee to a stage supposedly preceding release, followed by years of complete silence, reveals a dangerous pattern in the Saudi authorities’ treatment of prisoners of conscience and their families. What should have been a step toward ending arbitrary detention became, in Al-Ghaihab’s case, the beginning of a new phase of uncertainty, disappearance, and information blackout.
Since his arrest in September 2017, Saudi authorities have failed to provide transparent information about the legal basis for his continued detention, the charges against him, or any clear judicial process. According to available information, news about him has been cut off for more than five years, placing his case within the framework of ongoing enforced disappearance.
Together for Justice stresses that enforced disappearance is not merely the absence of information. It is a grave and continuing violation. When authorities detain a person and refuse to disclose their fate or place of detention, they place that person outside the protection of the law and deny their family the most basic right to know the truth.
The case is especially alarming because Al-Ghaihab had previously held an official role related to combating blackmail, and no clear criminal act has been publicly announced to justify his arrest or continued detention for all these years. This reinforces concerns that his case is part of a broader political crackdown aimed at silencing or neutralizing religious, social, and professional figures who did not fully align with the direction of the authorities.
The continued concealment of information about Sami Al-Ghaihab violates his right to liberty and security of person, his right to communicate with his family and legal counsel, and his right to a fair and public trial if there are genuine legal charges against him. Keeping him in the unknown, without disclosure, accountability, or due process, amounts to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance.
Together for Justice holds the Saudi authorities fully responsible for the life, physical safety, and psychological well-being of Sheikh Sami Al-Ghaihab, and for any harm he may have suffered during the years of silence and disappearance.
The organization calls on Saudi authorities to immediately disclose his fate and place of detention, clarify his current legal status, allow his family and lawyer to communicate with him without restriction, and guarantee his access to necessary medical care.
Together for Justice also calls for his immediate and unconditional release if no clear and lawful charges are publicly presented, as well as an independent investigation into the circumstances of his arrest and disappearance, and accountability for those responsible for concealing his fate and denying him his basic rights.
Sami Al-Ghaihab’s case reflects the tragedy of many prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia: arrest without transparency, promises of release without implementation, and then years of total silence. After more than five years without news, the question remains urgent: where is Sami Al-Ghaihab, and why do Saudi authorities still refuse to disclose his fate?
