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Home » Mauritania » Reports » KSA - News » Saudi Arabia: Faisal Al Majed, arbitrarily detained after being deported from Kuwait
Mr. Faisal Abdullah Nedjm AL MAJED was born on August 31, 1978, is married and father of a child. He lives with his family in Kuwait city and works in a humanitarian organisation. He is a Saudi national.
He was arrested at his home on September 30, 2007 at 20 hours by officers of State Security (Amn Addaoula) of Kuwait. The about forty agents who conducted the arrest have threatened members of his family with their weapons, and one of them even pointed his automatic pistol on the temple of one of the women who were protesting in view of such unjustified violence .
They immediately handcuffed M. Al Majed and blindfolded him. They then conducted a search of the house, still without any judicial warrant and confiscated his documents and his personal computer.
According to family members who witnessed the arrest, the officers did not exhibit a judicial warrant and have not given the reasons for his arrest.
He was then driven to the headquarters of the state security services of Kuwait, where he was interrogated for three hours and subsequently taken by car to the border with Saudi Arabia at Al Khardji. From there, he was handed over to the Saudi intelligence services.
He was then taken by car to Dammam where he was held incommunicado at the detention centre of the intelligence services for over a week.
Upon his arrival in this centre, he has been subjected to ill-treatment. Officials have particularly shaved his head and he was totally deprived of food throughout this period. He was maintained blindfolded in a glacial cell with his feet and hands tied.
He was then transferred to the detention centre of Al Hayr near Riyadh, where he was again detained in a secret dungeon, totally cut off from the outside world during 06 months. Throughout this period, his family knew nothing of his fate.
During his interrogation, he was accused of having criticised the Saudi authorities on some websites.
He was also questioned about the actions he has made with some Arab NGOs to inform them about the case of his brother Tallal, detained for nearly 06 years. He was accused of having given to NGOs information via the Internet on violations of human rights in the region.
He was never brought before a magistrate or a judicial authority whatsoever, nor was he legally charged.
It was only in early April 2008 that he was able to call his mother for the first time by phone to inform her that he was being held at Al Hayr and that she was permitted to visit him.
It was during her visit that his mother was informed of the facts reported here. After this visit, his mother has made numerous efforts to mandate a lawyer. She called on the Ministry of Interior to know the reasons for his arrest and the reasons for not bringing him before a court to be tried him if any criminal act were attributed to him. All these approaches have remained without success.
Mr. Faisal Al Majed is therefore detained without legal procedure, for the sole reason to have communicated situations of human rights violations and expressing political opinions through the Internet: This deprivation of liberty is under these conditions totally arbitrary.
He was arrested at his home on September 30, 2007 at 20 hours by officers of State Security (Amn Addaoula) of Kuwait. The about forty agents who conducted the arrest have threatened members of his family with their weapons, and one of them even pointed his automatic pistol on the temple of one of the women who were protesting in view of such unjustified violence .
They immediately handcuffed M. Al Majed and blindfolded him. They then conducted a search of the house, still without any judicial warrant and confiscated his documents and his personal computer.
According to family members who witnessed the arrest, the officers did not exhibit a judicial warrant and have not given the reasons for his arrest.
He was then driven to the headquarters of the state security services of Kuwait, where he was interrogated for three hours and subsequently taken by car to the border with Saudi Arabia at Al Khardji. From there, he was handed over to the Saudi intelligence services.
He was then taken by car to Dammam where he was held incommunicado at the detention centre of the intelligence services for over a week.
Upon his arrival in this centre, he has been subjected to ill-treatment. Officials have particularly shaved his head and he was totally deprived of food throughout this period. He was maintained blindfolded in a glacial cell with his feet and hands tied.
He was then transferred to the detention centre of Al Hayr near Riyadh, where he was again detained in a secret dungeon, totally cut off from the outside world during 06 months. Throughout this period, his family knew nothing of his fate.
During his interrogation, he was accused of having criticised the Saudi authorities on some websites.
He was also questioned about the actions he has made with some Arab NGOs to inform them about the case of his brother Tallal, detained for nearly 06 years. He was accused of having given to NGOs information via the Internet on violations of human rights in the region.
He was never brought before a magistrate or a judicial authority whatsoever, nor was he legally charged.
It was only in early April 2008 that he was able to call his mother for the first time by phone to inform her that he was being held at Al Hayr and that she was permitted to visit him.
It was during her visit that his mother was informed of the facts reported here. After this visit, his mother has made numerous efforts to mandate a lawyer. She called on the Ministry of Interior to know the reasons for his arrest and the reasons for not bringing him before a court to be tried him if any criminal act were attributed to him. All these approaches have remained without success.
Mr. Faisal Al Majed is therefore detained without legal procedure, for the sole reason to have communicated situations of human rights violations and expressing political opinions through the Internet: This deprivation of liberty is under these conditions totally arbitrary.