Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders today, as well as to the UN Special Rapporteur for the Freedom of Expression, requesting their intervention with the Saudi authorities for the release of the following seven individuals:

1. Shaykh Muhammad Bin Husayn Al-Ghanim Al-Qahtani, human rights defender
2. Dr. Ahmad Bin Saad Al-Gharam Al-Ghamidi, university professor at Umm Al Qura University
3. Prof. Saud Bin Ahmad Al-Dughaithir, human rights activist
4. Shaykh Abdulaziz Muhammad Al-Wuhaibi, lawyer and human rights defender
5. Prof. Dr. Abdulkarim Bin Yusuf Al-Khidr, university professor
6. Prof. Muhammad Bin Nasir Al-Ghamidi, human rights defender
7. Dr. Walid Muhammad Abdallah Al-Majid, lawyer and doctorate in law

Muhammad Al-Qahtani, a human rights defender living in Asir, was arrested at his home on 16 February 2011 at 3:04 pm (Makka time) by plainclothes security personnel, driving two unofficial cars, one red and the other black. He was forced go get into one of the in the cars, and was driven away. After a few hours, Al-Qahtani contacted his wife and told her that he was in the Special Investigations prison, also known as Abha prison, in the Asir region.

According to sources close to Muhammad Al-Qahtani, he was arrested in response to a demand (no. EHSA00466836) for the authorisation of what would be officially recorded as the first political party in Saudi Arabia, the "Islamic Umma Party", presented by him and other Saudi personalities to the Royal Diwan on 9 February 2011. To the request for authorisation was attached the Basic Law of the party and a press release published in media channels.

On the same day, 16 February 2011, the other six members of the coordinating board of the Islamic Umma Party were arrested in various parts of the Kingdom, under similar circumstances.

The authorities' response to the request for the authorisation of a political party is contrary to the edicts stipulated in the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, and is an assault on every peaceful attempt by citizens to exercise their internationally recognised civil and political rights.