Saudi Authorities Subject Blogger Hani bin Mohamed Al-Fuhaid to Enforced Disappearance

In early May, the Saudi security forces arrested Hani bin Mohammed Al-Fuhaid, without disclosing the reasons for his arrest, and detained him in an unknown destination. Since then, he has not been present before any judicial authority or allowed to communicate with his family or lawyer.

Human rights sources stated that he was arrested for his religious views, which were considered to be conflicting with the authority’s policies, although his Twitter account has not been active since October 2020.

Al-Fuhaid is from Al-Qassim region and is a student, specialised in the science of hadith. His arrest came as part of a fierce arrest campaign against opponents, activists and opinion-holders in May 2020.

The ongoing arbitrary arrests in Saudi Arabia are aimed at controlling public opinion, silencing the voices calling for the application of democratic governance, and ensuring freedom of expression for everyone, without security prosecutions.

We call on the relevant UN bodies to urgently intervene and pressure the Saudi regime to release all prisoners of conscience, to reveal the fate of all forcibly disappeared persons, and to ensure that they obtain all their basic rights guaranteed by international law and various treaties and covenants.

We call on the international community to take a serious stance on the human rights violations committed by the Saudi regime, that continue to take place with full impunity, amid international silence, which encourages their commission of more crimes and violations of human rights.