15 | April | 2024 | IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers

Ten years after arbitrary arrest, NGOs call for Saudi rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair to be released

15/04/24

Monday, 15 April 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the arrest of Saudi human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence as a result of his peaceful human rights activism. He has repeatedly been ill-treated in prison, including being denied vital medical care. The undersigned organizations call on the Saudi authorities to allow him immediate access to the medical care he requires, and to immediately and unconditionally release him, as well as all other prisoners unjustly detained for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights.

Waleed Abu al-Khair is a prominent human rights defender and founder of the NGO Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA). He has spent much of his life advocating for democratic reforms in the country and, before his arrest, provided legal representation for many victims of human rights abuses.

Abu al-Khair was arrested on 15 April 2014 after refusing to sign a pledge to give up his human rights activism, and became one of the first activists to be tried and sentenced under Saudi Arabia’s draconian Counter-Terrorism Law. He was tried in the Specialized Criminal Court, an exceptional jurisdiction that was set up in 2008 to try cases of terrorism but has since been used to prosecute numerous peaceful human rights defenders. It is notorious for disregarding legal safeguards.

On 6 July 2014, Abu al-Khair was sentenced to 15 years in prison, to be followed by a 15-year travel ban and a fine of 200,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (about US$53,000) as punishment for his lawful and peaceful human rights advocacy. The charges against him included “inciting public opinion against the State and its people”; “inciting international organizations against Saudi Arabia with the intention of ruining its reputation”; and “setting up and supervising an unlicensed association”, namely the MHRSA, which he registered in Ontario, Canada, after it was denied a licence in the kingdom.

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https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/15/ten-years-after-his-arbitrary-arrest-ngos-call-saudi-human-rights-defender-waleed

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/15/saudi-arabia-free-award-winning-activist

https://alqst.org/en/politicalprisoners/waleed-abu-al-khair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waleed_Abulkhair

https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2024/04/15/arabie-saoudite-declaration-conjointe-dong-au-sujet-de-waleed-abu-al-khair (FRANCAIS)

https://jeunes.amnesty.be/jeunes/engage/engagetoi/article/agis-waleed-khair

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waleed_Abu_al-Khair

Ten years after his arbitrary arrest, NGOs call for #Saudi human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair to be released! #وليد_عشر_سنوات_خلف_القضبان #وليد_أبوالخير https://t.co/dTF8rY7VGe
— وليد أبوالخير (@WaleedAbulkhair) April 15, 2024

(((🔴)))Ten years after his arbitrary arrest, NGOs call for Saudi human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair to be released #FreeWaleed
Monday, 15 April 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the arrest of Saudi human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair, who is serving a 15-year… pic.twitter.com/4FqKrxGo9w
— SALMA (@SALMMA1997) April 15, 2024

🚨 The #Saudi authorities have refused a hospital transfer for jailed #HRD Waleed Abu al-Khair, depriving him of medical care that he needs.

Abu al-Khair has been subjected to repeated ill-treatment in jail, including the denial of adequate medical care.https://t.co/m83zmDqz4z pic.twitter.com/HUFX12tLi2
— ALQST for Human Rights (@ALQST_En) March 14, 2024

Prominent activist and lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair represented many of his fellow Saudi human rights defenders in court.

He has received multiple awards for his courageous work, including @ABAesq’s International Human Rights Award.#StandWithSaudiHeroes #SaudiNationalDay pic.twitter.com/nYOcILBE9t
— ALQST for Human Rights (@ALQST_En) September 23, 2023

All of the brave 2018 🇸🇦 Laureates were imprisoned when they received the #RightLivelihood Award.

Abdullah al-Hamid died in prison due to medical neglect in 2020.

Waleed Abu al-Khair remains in prison.@MFQahtani has been forcibly disappeared by Saudi authorities for 1+ year. pic.twitter.com/4XLKj1wI8o
— Right Livelihood (@rightlivelihood) November 29, 2023

14/04/24

On April 10 2024, the Russian Duma approved amendments to the 2002 Advocacy Law, significantly tightening regulations within the legal profession.

This is part of a broader trend over the past two decades characterized by the gradual erosion of rights and protections for lawyers and thus their clients.

Key changes include the creation of a Unified State Register of Lawyers, managed by the Ministry of Justice, which could limit legal practice to those centrally approved and undermine lawyer independence. Further controls include restricted access to police facilities without explicit permission, and the possibility of revoking a lawyer’s status if they spend more than a year abroad.

These regulations have been criticized for potentially undermining the legal advocacy system, particularly impacting associative workers involved in human rights and high-profile defense cases. Critics are concerned that these changes occur in Russia amid the recent labeling of the LGBT movement as a terrorist organization and the ongoing requirement for humanitarian workers to register as foreign agents.