Unknown Fate of Sami Al-Ghayhab for over three years
Sheikh Sami Al-Ghayhb is one of the Saudi detainees who have been detained in Saudi prisons for three years and a half, following a crackdown against dozens of Saudi writers, preachers, journalists, academics, activists, and human rights defenders.
His news was completely cut off and his fate remains unknown, as the Saudi authorities refuse to disclose any information on his place or reasons for detention. He is considered to be forcibly disappeared, as he has not been brought before any judicial authority until now.
Sheikh Sami Al-Ghayhab is the former director of the anti-extortion department at the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which was dissolved several years ago.
There are rising concerns over his safety and life as he was completely disappeared from the minute of his arrest until now, especially given the horrific practices against detainees in Saudi prisons.
In “Together for Justice”, we affirm that the practices of the Saudi authorities against the detainee Sami Al-Ghayhab is classified as crimes against humanity, according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the international human rights law, providing that: enforced disappearance occurs when a person is kidnapped or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support or approval of a state or political organization, followed by refusing to acknowledge the fate and whereabouts of the person, with the intent to place the victim outside the protection of the law, which is completely applicable to the case of Sheikh Sami Al-Ghayhb.
We also stress that the enforced disappearance is considered a crime against humanity, as it is not subject to the statute of limitations, and therefore those involved in committing this grave violation are liable to international legal accountability.
Together for Justice organization calls on the international community to intervene immediately, take the necessary action, and pressure the Saudi regime to reveal the fate of the detained Sheikh Sami Al-Ghayheb, and guarantee him all his basic rights while enabling him to communicate with his family and his lawyer and allow his visitations.
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