Saudi Authorities Continue to Hide the Fate of Detained Scholar Dr. Ibrahim Al-Yemani
Together for Justice expresses its deep concern over the continued disappearance of Saudi academic and legal scholar Dr. Ibrahim Al-Yemani, who has been held incommunicado for nearly three years inside Al-Ha’ir Prison. His fate and condition remain unknown after he had earlier sent distress messages revealing that he was receiving death threats from extremist inmates deliberately placed in his cell by prison authorities.
The organization holds the Al-Ha’ir Prison administration and the Saudi Ministry of Interior fully responsible for Al-Yemani’s safety, particularly given the deliberate transfer that exposed him to physical danger despite repeated warnings from his family and human rights organizations. Since his transfer in 2022, all communication with him has been cut off, and no official information has been provided regarding his whereabouts or wellbeing.
Dr. Al-Yemani was arrested in September 2017 as part of the Saudi regime’s mass crackdown on academics, clerics, reform advocates, and intellectuals — a campaign that marked a sharp escalation in repression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. No formal charges have ever been substantiated against him. Instead, he faces fabricated accusations that reflect the authorities’ ongoing policy of silencing peaceful calls for reform and participation in public life.
A respected legal scholar, Dr. Al-Yemani holds a PhD in Criminal Legislation and a Master’s degree in Jurisprudence. He previously served as a faculty member at Taibah University, a legal advisor to the same institution, and earlier as a lecturer at Imam Muhammad bin Saud University. He also worked as a Mufti in the Prophet’s Mosque and was a member of the Municipal Elections Appeals Committee.
He was first brought before a court in September 2018, a full year after his arrest. During interrogations, he endured severe psychological and physical torture and was coerced into signing confessions under duress. Since then, all his hearings before the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) have been conducted in secrecy — without the presence of his lawyer, independent observers, or due process guarantees — in violation of both Saudi law and international human rights standards.
Throughout these proceedings, the Public Prosecution has demanded the harshest possible penalties, including the death sentence, without presenting credible evidence or specifying the nature of the alleged offenses.
In addition to the ongoing denial of justice, Al-Yemani suffers from inhumane detention conditions, including prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and deprivation of communication with his family. Reports indicate repeated episodes of physical assault and torture, resulting in serious injuries — including a fractured foot caused by guards’ beatings two years after his arrest.
Such acts constitute a flagrant violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture, to which Saudi Arabia is a signatory. The Saudi authorities’ continued concealment of Dr. Al-Yemani’s fate amounts to enforced disappearance, a crime under international law.
Together for Justice holds the Saudi regime fully accountable for the safety and wellbeing of Dr. Ibrahim Al-Yemani and calls for his immediate and unconditional release, alongside all prisoners of conscience arbitrarily detained in Saudi prisons.
The organization further urges the United Nations, the European Union, and the UN Human Rights Council to pressure the Saudi government to disclose the fate of all disappeared detainees, ensure their protection, and conduct an independent international investigation into the widespread use of torture and enforced disappearance in Saudi detention centers.
