Alkarama has submitted a large number of cases concerning human rights violations in Saudi Arabia to the United Nations human rights mechanisms. Several of the most serious cases have been included in the List of Issues prepared by the Committee against Torture in 2009. We refer to the cases of Mr. Walid Lamri, Mr. Fayçal al Majed, Mr. Fouad Ahmed Al Farhan, Dr. Saoud Mukthar Al Hashmini, Mr. Mahmoud Hozbor, Mr. Abdulrahim Al Murbati, and Mr. Khaled Gharmallah Ouda Al Zahrani, referred to paragraph 9 of the List of Issues.

The adoption of the List of Issues for Saudi Arabia took place in the procedure adopted by the Committee against Torture in which a list of issues is serves as the basis for the preparation of the State party report (see here for more information about this new procedure).

According to article 19 of the Convention (formally known as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment), State parties, including Saudi Arabia, are required to submit an initial report 1 year after the convention enters into force for them, and then every four years. Saudi Arabia's initial report being three years overdue, and its second report overdue by 9 years, according to the official reporting schedule. While this problem is not contained to Saudi Arabia, with a number of other Arab states having overdue reports, this is particularly concerning as Saudi Arabia has not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the international convention covering all civil and political rights protected under international law.

Although Alkarama is pleased that a number of its cases in the List of Issues, it condemns the fact that while the List of Issues for Saudi Arabia was adopted in 2009, with a view to Saudi Arabia presenting its periodic report in 2010, this report has not yet been presented to the Committee. This is symptomatic of Saudi Arabia's chronic overdue reporting.

Alkarama therefore calls on the Saudi authorities to respect its international reporting obligations by submitting reports on time, and urges the immediate submission of their periodic report to the Committee against Torture with a view to being examined in the near future.