On 6 November 2014, human rights defender and writer Mikhlif Al Shammari was sentenced to two years imprisonment and 200 lashes after a single hearing for a tweet stating that he had faith in tolerance between Sunni and Shia and announcing that he will pray for that in a Shia mosque as a sign of solidarity, being himself Sunni. Accused of "stirring up public opinion," Al Shammari's sentence was upheld by the Al Dammam Court of Appeal on 2 November 2015 and his sentence is now enforceable at any time, meaning that the human rights advocate is at risk of arbitrary detention and lashes at any time. In view of the facts and of Al Shammari's impossibility to obtain a fair hearing in his country, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression (SR Freedex) requesting him to urge the Saudi authorities to repeal the sentence and abandon all charges against Al Shammari.
On 8 September, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regarding the case of Waleed Al Dod Al Mekki Al Hussain, a Sudanese national who has been deprived of his fundamental rights since his arrest by the Saudi General Intelligence forces on 23 July 2015. His family suspects that Al Hussain was arrested because of his activity as founder and editor of the Sudanese government critical online news site Al Rakoba and fears that he will be extradited or expelled to Sudan where he would face further persecution, torture and execution after an unfair trial.
On 27 July 2015, Alkarama provided the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) – a body of 10 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) by its State parties – with a list of 72 issues to be raised by the UN experts with the Saudi authorities during their consideration of Saudi Arabia's second review, which will take place during the CAT's 57th session in 2016. In its submission, Alkarama recalled that Saudi Arabia is a monarchy without a formal Constitution or a criminal code. All State powers are concentrated in the executive, especially in the King. Alkarama is particularly concerned with the numerous cases of torture that it continues to receive, especially in view of the overly repressive and broad counter-terrorism law adopted in January 2014, which has increased the practice of extracting confessions under torture in national security related cases.
On 12 June 2015, Raif Badawi's 1,000 lashes corporal punishment was not carried out, officially for medical reasons, but it could resume at any moment every Friday. The blogger and human rights defender is still arbitrarily detained, a situation that could last for up to 10 years, since his prison sentence was also confirmed by the Supreme Court of Riyadh on 7 June 2015.
Alkarama sent a second urgent appeal to the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) concerning the upcoming hearing of Mr Abdulaziz Al Shabili, a Saudi Human Rights Defender (HRD) awaiting prosecution by the Specialised Court on Terrorism and facing over 10 years in arbitrary detention for "incitement to demonstrate" and "insulting Saudi authorities by describing them as a police State which violates human rights." This case underscores the worsening restrictions on freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia and the conditions under which human rights associations in the country are operating.