Seven Years On: Abdulrahman al-Huwaili Still Held in Harsh Detention Without Justification

Seven years have passed since Saudi citizen Abdulrahman al-Huwaili was arbitrarily detained and subjected to ongoing inhumane conditions—solely because he is the son of prominent scholar and dissident Dr. Safar al-Huwaili, who was himself imprisoned for publishing a book that criticised the current Saudi regime under Mohammed bin Salman.

Abdulrahman’s case remains a deeply troubling example of collective punishment and systematic human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. Since his arrest in July 2018, he has endured severe abuse in prison—his only “crime” being his familial link to his father, a respected religious scholar known for his outspoken criticism of the regime.

His detention formed part of a wider crackdown on the al-Huwaili family following the release of Dr. Safar’s book, which sharply criticised Saudi political affairs. Throughout his imprisonment—now in its seventh year—Abdulrahman has suffered enforced disappearance, physical torture, and prolonged sleep deprivation, all aimed at exerting pressure on his father. He has also been denied contact with his children, compounding the emotional and psychological toll of this unjust incarceration.

Despite the absence of any legal justification for his arrest, Abdulrahman was initially sentenced to seven years in prison. Shockingly, following an appeal, his sentence was arbitrarily increased to 17 years—an outrageous violation of fundamental legal standards. Analysts and human rights experts view this escalation as part of a broader pattern of retaliatory and disproportionate punishment faced by the al-Huwaili family.

Abdulrahman was arrested alongside his brother Abdullah during a family wedding in July 2018, when Saudi security forces raided the event and detained them without warrants. Hours later, their father Dr. Safar al-Huwaili was also arrested from his home, along with another son, Ibrahim, in a violent raid that terrified the family and led to the seizure of their personal belongings. The entire family was forcibly disappeared for over three months, with no information on their whereabouts or wellbeing.

Dr. Safar al-Huwaili suffers from serious health conditions, including a fractured pelvis and complications from a prior stroke, for which he underwent a kidney transplant donated by his son Abdullah. Despite these critical health needs, he has been denied proper medical care in detention—further evidence of the Saudi regime’s contempt for human dignity and basic rights.

The al-Huwaili case exemplifies the regime’s use of collective punishment to silence dissent. By targeting family members, the authorities aim to intimidate outspoken critics like Dr. Safar and force them into submission. This practice of detaining relatives as hostages to coerce political silence is a blatant violation of international human rights law, which prohibits punishment based on family affiliation.

In May 2024, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities condemned Saudi Arabia for its treatment of Dr. Safar al-Huwaili, highlighting the state’s failure to provide adequate care for his disability and its continued use of prolonged solitary confinement. The committee declared these actions to constitute arbitrary detention and torture, urging an immediate review of his case to ensure either a fair trial or his immediate release.

Despite this condemnation, Saudi authorities have escalated their crackdown on the al-Huwaili family. Abdulrahman’s sentence was unjustly increased from 7 to 17 years, his brother Abdullah’s from 6 to 16 years, and their uncle Saadallah al-Huwaili—another victim of this collective reprisal—had his sentence extended from 4 to 14 years.

The continued detention and harsh treatment of Abdulrahman al-Huwaili and his family shed light on the Saudi regime’s brutal policy of punishing critics through their loved ones, in complete disregard for international norms and legal principles.

In this context, Together for Justice strongly condemns these actions and urges the international community to respond with urgency.

We call on international human rights organisations and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to intervene in this case and ensure that Abdulrahman and his family are granted their fundamental human rights, including the right to a fair and transparent trial. We further stress the urgent need for Saudi Arabia to end its campaign of repression against peaceful dissidents and their families and to hold those responsible for these abuses fully accountable.

The case of Abdulrahman al-Huwaili is not merely a personal tragedy—it is a symbol of the wider pattern of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, where peaceful dissent is met with vengeful repression, and entire families are made to pay the price for one person’s courage to speak the truth.