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AlKarama had already alerted on January 14, 2008 Ms. Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, asking her to intervene with the Saudi authorities. However the situation of Mr. AlFarhan has not changed since that date.
Fouad Ahmad AlFarhan, born on 07 July 1975, is director of a company and moderator of a very popular blog in Saudi Arabia (Http://www.alfarhan.org/).
His arrest is certainly linked to the fact that he has openly expressed in his blog strong criticism about arbitrary arrests and detentions of individuals from the Saudi reform movement under the pretext of combating terrorism. It is named Dr. Saud Al Hashimi Mukhtar and eight other people (lawyers, doctors, university professors and businessmen) arrested at the same time (See the opinion of Working Group No. 27/2007 of 28 November 2007 & Alkarama's press release ).
Fouad AlFarhan had been informed two weeks earlier of his likely arrest and had written in his blog a letter to inform his family: "I learned that a person in the Interior Ministry had requested the opening of an inquiry about me. I should be arrested within the next two weeks. (...) The decision follows my articles on political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. They think I have launched a campaign to support them. In fact all I did was that I have published some articles, displaying banners on my site and asking the other bloggers to do the same".
Mr. AlFarhan also said he has been asked to sign a declaration as a public apology, to which he responded in his blog, saying : "I am not sure to be ready for that. An apology for what? Because I said that the government lied when it claimed that these guys supported terrorism? ".
Mr. AlFarhan was therefore arrested without judicial warrant by the Intelligence Services (Mabahith) at his workplace, at the company's headquarters, "Sammara Info" in Jeddah on December 10, 2007. His home was also searched without a warrant. He was then taken to an unknown destination and detained incommunicado and his family knowing neither the place of detention nor the legal grounds for this detention.
On 1 January 2008, the spokesman of the Interior Ministry, Major General Mansur Al Turki finally acknowledged his arrest in the media stating "that he had been interviewed but was not being prosecuted for security related reasons but that he was blamed for violating some regulations. " However, he assured his family that "he would not be detained for long."
After having been detained incommunicado until 05 January 2008, the family of Mr. AlFarhan was told that he was in Dahbane prison in Jeddah. His stepfather was allowed to visit him. But since then, his family has no news of him.
Lawyers appointed by his family tried, in vain, to get permission to provide him with legal assistance. He therefore has no legal possibility to challenge the validity of his detention.
His detention without due process of law since December 10, 2007 is a violation by Saudi Arabia, both for its own internal law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The arbitrary detention of citizens without due process of law and without trial sometimes during several years is a major problem for human rights in Saudi Arabia who is member of the Council on Human Rights until 2009.
The statements of officials and diplomats are often contradicted by the practice on the ground. Until recently, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, asked, in a verbal note, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to reaffirm that in matters of justice standards applicable in the Kingdom, "an accused person had the right to have recourse to legal counsel and to receive visits from his family. " (A/HRC/7/4 page 11).
The Government of Saudi Arabia has also reaffirmed on this occasion its willingness to cooperate with the Working Group that will certainly refer to this manifestation of intention within the framework of the examination of the many cases that have been submitted by AlKarama about this country.
Fouad Ahmad AlFarhan, born on 07 July 1975, is director of a company and moderator of a very popular blog in Saudi Arabia (Http://www.alfarhan.org/).
His arrest is certainly linked to the fact that he has openly expressed in his blog strong criticism about arbitrary arrests and detentions of individuals from the Saudi reform movement under the pretext of combating terrorism. It is named Dr. Saud Al Hashimi Mukhtar and eight other people (lawyers, doctors, university professors and businessmen) arrested at the same time (See the opinion of Working Group No. 27/2007 of 28 November 2007 & Alkarama's press release ).
Fouad AlFarhan had been informed two weeks earlier of his likely arrest and had written in his blog a letter to inform his family: "I learned that a person in the Interior Ministry had requested the opening of an inquiry about me. I should be arrested within the next two weeks. (...) The decision follows my articles on political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. They think I have launched a campaign to support them. In fact all I did was that I have published some articles, displaying banners on my site and asking the other bloggers to do the same".
Mr. AlFarhan also said he has been asked to sign a declaration as a public apology, to which he responded in his blog, saying : "I am not sure to be ready for that. An apology for what? Because I said that the government lied when it claimed that these guys supported terrorism? ".
Mr. AlFarhan was therefore arrested without judicial warrant by the Intelligence Services (Mabahith) at his workplace, at the company's headquarters, "Sammara Info" in Jeddah on December 10, 2007. His home was also searched without a warrant. He was then taken to an unknown destination and detained incommunicado and his family knowing neither the place of detention nor the legal grounds for this detention.
On 1 January 2008, the spokesman of the Interior Ministry, Major General Mansur Al Turki finally acknowledged his arrest in the media stating "that he had been interviewed but was not being prosecuted for security related reasons but that he was blamed for violating some regulations. " However, he assured his family that "he would not be detained for long."
After having been detained incommunicado until 05 January 2008, the family of Mr. AlFarhan was told that he was in Dahbane prison in Jeddah. His stepfather was allowed to visit him. But since then, his family has no news of him.
Lawyers appointed by his family tried, in vain, to get permission to provide him with legal assistance. He therefore has no legal possibility to challenge the validity of his detention.
His detention without due process of law since December 10, 2007 is a violation by Saudi Arabia, both for its own internal law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The arbitrary detention of citizens without due process of law and without trial sometimes during several years is a major problem for human rights in Saudi Arabia who is member of the Council on Human Rights until 2009.
The statements of officials and diplomats are often contradicted by the practice on the ground. Until recently, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, asked, in a verbal note, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to reaffirm that in matters of justice standards applicable in the Kingdom, "an accused person had the right to have recourse to legal counsel and to receive visits from his family. " (A/HRC/7/4 page 11).
The Government of Saudi Arabia has also reaffirmed on this occasion its willingness to cooperate with the Working Group that will certainly refer to this manifestation of intention within the framework of the examination of the many cases that have been submitted by AlKarama about this country.