Sheikh Suleiman Al-Dowaish’s Family Subjected to Systematic Harassment
Together for Justice expresses deep concern over the arrest of Malek al-Dowaish, son of the preacher Sulaiman al-Dowaish who has been forcibly disappeared since 2016, earlier this month.
Malek’s arrest came as part of the Saudi collective punishment policy against al-Dowaish family. Malek’s father and younger brother are both held in Saudi custody.
In April 2016, Sulaiman al-Dowaish was arrested after posting tweets in which he was seen as criticising King Salman for giving his son Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), then Deputy Crown Prince, too many powers without accountability.
Nothing has been heard of him or his state of health or whereabouts since then; he remains forcibly disappeared.
According to former detainees’ testimonies, Sulaiman al-Dowaish was held in the basement of a royal palace in Riyadh run personally by MBS, where he was tortured and severely beaten on several occasions. His fate and whereabouts have remained unknown till today.
In October 2021, his younger son, Abdulrahman, was arrested for contacting the Public Prosecution to ask about his father’s father. Since then, no information has been released about him or his whereabouts.
A few months ago, Malek received conflicting information saying that Sulaiman al-Dowaish travelled to Syrian to join ISIS fighters. A story was strongly denied by the family as his passport is till with them. Recently, Malek was himself arrested to face his father and brother’s fate as part of the Saudi systematic collective punishment policy against opponents and their families.
In this regard, we call on the international community to take serious positions towards the Saudi regime and to put an end to its increasing violations.
We further call for an urgent international investigation into the torture allegations of dozens of political detainees, to examine their detention conditions, to press for the release of the forcibly disappeared persons, and to ensure a fair trial for all detainees.
