Saudi Arabia: Mr Ramizi Siraj arbitrary detained since three years and half

20 Jun 2011
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Mr Ramizi Siraj (رمزي سراج), aged 30 years, usually lives with his family a Al Khodr Department, Saudi Arabia and works as an employee at Al Harass Al Wateni Hospital in Al Dammam.

On 27 January 2008, Mr Siraj was summoned by the Saudi Investigative Service of Al 'akrabieh who immediately arrested him without being presented with an arrest warrant.
On the same day, Mr Siraj's house was searched, without a warrant, by agents of the Saudi Investigative Service. The Saudi Investigative Service then took him to their prison, near Al Dammam Airport where he remains detained to date, nearly three years and six months after his arrest.

Mr Siraj was held incommunicado detention during the first four months following his arrest, during which he was subjected to severe acts of torture and other ill-treatments. Furthermore, Mr Siraj was prohibited from contacting a lawyer at the time of his arrest and to the present. He has not been presented before a judge or magistrate nor has he even been formally charged. In protest at these conditions, Mr Siraj has begun a number of hunger strikes, the last one on 8 May 2011, but no result has come of this to date.

Due to the unfair nature of his detention, Alkarama submitted Mr Siraj's case, on 17 June 2011, to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention with a copy to the Special Rapporteur on Torture. Alkarama especially request the Working Group issue an Opinion regarding the arbitrary character of Mr Siraj's detention, by finding that it is without legal basis and not in accordance with international fair trial norms.

We also ask the Saudi government to refrain from all forms of arbitrary detention and more particularly to guarantee the right of any person detained to exercise judicial review to challenge the validity of their detention before an independent judge as well as to ensure in practice the right of any accused to hire an attorney at all stages of the investigation and trial.
Saudi Arabia