03 October 2013

Saudi Arabia: Risk of torture of Yemeni national arrested on his pilgrimage to Mecca

Tawfiq Ahmad Ali Al Sabary, a 32 year-old Yemeni national from Dhamar, was arrested while on his way to pilgrimage at Mecca on 11 June 2013 by Saudi police officers without an arrest warrant. He is currently detained in Al Madina prison and has not been charged, nor brought before a judge since his arrest. As detainees are often imprisoned for years without judicial proceedings, amounting to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, Alkarama fears for Mr Al Sabary' physical and mental integrity and requests his immediate release.
On 11 June 2013, Al Sabary travelled from Dhamar in Yemen to Saudi Arabia accompanied by his wife and two children on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He used to live in Al Madina in Saudi Arabia, which he left in 2009 to resettle in his homeland. Before traveling, he made sure he complied with all administrative procedures to enter the country, and obtained an entry visa for himself and his family at the Saudi embassy in Sana'a.

A few kilometers after having crossed the Saudi-Yemeni border, Tawfiq Al Sabary's car was stopped by Saudi police. The police asked him to get out of the car and to show them his identity documents. His wife told Alkarama that Mr Al Sabary was then arrested without being shown any warrant. She was also not given any reason for the arrest her husband and return to Yemen directly.

Two days after Mr Al Sabary's arrest, his wife received a short call from her husband, informing her that he was being interrogated about a case that he was not involved in, and did not know the location of the place of his detention. He was then given another opportunity a few weeks later to call his family to inform them that he was now detained in Al Madina prison, without any proper judicial proceedings. No date had been set for a trial and he had not been granted the right to access a lawyer.

Mr Al Sabary's mental and physical integrity is at risk as torture is frequently used against detainees in Saudi Arabia, often with the aim to extract confessions from them. Alkarama has in fact submitted several cases to Special Rapporteur on Torture which have occurred in Saudi jails. The same concerns have also been raised by international NGO, and stressed by the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in his statement of 6 January 2012 stating that "the use of torture as a means to obtain confessions appears to be rampant (in Saudi Arabia)". 

On 2 October 2013, Alkarama requested the urgent intervention of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention with the Saudi authorities in order to obtain Al Sabary's immediate release.

Mauritania - HR Instruments

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

ICCPR: Accessed on 17.11.2004
Optional Protocol: No

State report: Due on 01.11.2017 (2nd)
Last concluding observations: 20.11.2013

Convention against Torture (CAT)

CAT: Accessed on 17.11.2004
Optional Protocol: Yes
Art. 20 (Confidential inquiry): No
Art. 22 (Individual communications): No

State report: Due on 31.05.2017 (2nd)
Last concluding observations: 18.06.2013

International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED)

CED: Ratified on 03.10.2012
Art. 33 (Inquiry procedure): Yes

State report: Overdue since 03.11.2014
Last concluding observations: N/A

Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

Last review: 11.2010 (1st cycle)
Next review: 2015 (2nd cycle)

National Human Rights Institution (NHRI)

Commission Nationale des Droits de l'Homme (CNDH) – Status A

Last review: 05.2011
Next review: 2016