On 23 September 2009, Alkarama submitted his case to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), as well as those of his Moroccan wife, Ayadia Ahmed Al-Sayyad and his two brothers Salah Abdul Rahman Al-Faqasi and Abdullah Abdul Rahman Al-Faqasi, who were also arrested and detained Al-Hayr prison (Riyadh) and Dhahban (Jeddah) because of their connection to Mr Al-Faqasi.

Mr. Ali Al-Faqasi's name appeared on the list of suspects by the U.S. special commission for the inquiry into the 11 September 2001 attacks. In June 2003, Saudi authorities forced him to turn himself in, as they were holding his wife and eight members of his family hostage.

Once he had learned that he was being sought after by the authorities, Mr. Al-Faqasi released a statement indicating that he had no connection with terrorist activities and moreover, no connection with the accusations against him. In order to force him to surrender himself, intelligence services (Al-Mabahit) from Al-Baha region arrested his wife in late May 2003 and then 8 members of his family on 5 June 2009:

1 - Abdul Rahman bin Saïd Al-Faqasi, his father, then aged 70 and who has since died.
2 - Safr bin Salah Al-Faqasi, his uncle, then aged 60.
3 - Salah Al-Sabbah Safr Al-Faqasi, his paternal cousin.
4 - Abdul Rahman Salah Al-Faqasi, his brother, still held to this day.
5 - Said Abdul Rahman Al-Faqasi, his other brother.
6 - Abdul Razak bin Safr Al-Faqasi, his paternal cousin.
7 - Abdullah bin Safr Al-Faqasi, his paternal cousin.
8 - Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Faqasi, his paternal cousin.

They were held hostage for several weeks.

Fearing for their lives and before handing himself in, Mr. Ali Al-Faqasi visited Sheikh Safr Al-Hawali in order to get a guarantee for his relatives' release and a guarantee that he not be tortured and that he be the subject of legal proceedings and a fair trial.

On 30 June 2003, according to these conditions accepted by the Deputy Minister and son of Interior Minister Mohamed bin Naif bin Abdelaziz, Mr. Ali Al-Faqasi presented himself to the authorities and was imprisoned at Al-Hayr prison near Riyadh, where he currently detained.

The members of his family held hostage were released, with the exception of his brother Salah, who is still held to this day. He was first arrested on 28 September 2001 and detained without legal procedure for 18 months before being released without trial in March 2003.

A few days after Mr. Al Faqasi's surrender, the Vice-Minister of Interior issued a statement to the media declaring that his surrender was made without any agreement on the conditions. This statement has yet been publicly denied by Sheikh Safr Al-Hawali, who confirmed the terms of the agreement.

Following his imprisonment, Mr. Al-Faqasi was able to receive visits from his relatives and his wife, up until 2007. He was never brought before a magistrate nor was he subject of due process as promised Mr. Mohamed b. Naif b. Abdelaziz.

On April 25, 2007, his wife was arrested again after a visit to the Al-Hayr prison, where she is currently being held without trial or legal procedure. No reason for her arrest and detention was disclosed.  

In June 2009, after 25 months of incommunicado detention, without the possibility of contact with the outside world, he was authorized, for the first time, to receive a visit from relatives, who did not yet know she was subject to ill-treatment.

Since April 2007, Mr. Ali Al-Faqasi and his brother Salah have also been deprived of family visits and have had no possibility of contact with the outside world. Their relatives do not know why the sudden deterioration in the conditions of their detention and how they are currently being treated.

Finally, Mr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman Al-Faqasi, Mr. Ali Al-Faqasi's younger brother, a final-year engineering student at the University of Um Al-Qura, was also arrested without a warrant on 2 June 2009 before his final thesis examination in engineering. He has been detained in Dahban prison in Jeddah and is has not been subject to any legal procedure.

According to the victim's family, all these measures are means of putting pressure on Mr. Ali Al-Faqasi, in order for him to abandon his claim to a fair and public hearing.

Alkarama, once again, denounced the recurring practice in Saudi Arabia of long periods of incommunicado detention without legal proceedings. Alkarama submitted these cases to the UN Working Group, drawing particular attention to the reprehensible and unjustifiable arrest and detention of family members of suspects, taken as hostages by the authorities of the government.