Saudi Arabia: Senior Human Rights Lawyer Arrested for Saying Right to Assembly is Legitimate

17 Dec 2012
On 12 December, senior Saudi human rights lawyer and recently elected President of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), Suleiman Al Rashoudi, was arrested by Saudi intelligence services for having publicly stated that the right to assembly was protected by international law.
On 11 December 2012, former Saudi judge Suleiman Al Rashoudi held a public meeting in Riyadh during which he asserted that the rights of assembly, association and peaceful protest are legitimate as recognized by international law. Early the following day, he received a call from the General Investigation Directorate (Mabahith) summoning him to come to the central office in Riyadh, which he did, where he was immediately arrested. His son Khaled Al Rashoudi was also summoned to come the General Investigation Directorate in Riyadh later that day, where he learned that his father "had been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment" without being shown any official document and without any new elements concerning Rashoudi's ongoing appeal in another case being mentioned.

This appeal process stem's from Suleiman Al Rashoudi 3 February 2007 arrest, alongside eight prominent human rights defenders known as 'the Reformers' Group', including 2012 Alkarama Award Laureate Dr Saud Mukhtar Al Hashimi. The nine men were holding a meeting in Jeddah to discuss the constitution of a committee for the defence of civil and political rights. Mr Al Rashoudi was therefore detained with his colleagues for a period of 4 years before being brought before a court. Accused of 'supporting and financing terrorism' as well as 'illicit activities related to the illegal collection of funds and the diversion of funds to suspicious parties', Mr Al-Rashoudi has in fact struggled for the promotion of justice and the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Kingdom. He regularly denounced unfair trials and detentions without due process. In particular, he supported the defence of members of the reform movement in Saudi Arabia and during 2005, he participated in the international campaign to free Dr Matrouk Al-Faleh, Mr Abdellah Hamed and Mr Ali Al-Damini, all prominent reformists seeking civil and political rights for the Saudi population.

Released on bail on 23 June 2011, Mr Al Rashoudi was sentenced on 22 November 2011 to 15 years of imprisonment and convoked to appear before the Special Criminal Court at the end of December 2011 to receive a copy of the sentence. While Mr Al Rashoudi appealed the sentence, he was not brought in front of the Court for the appeal. In view of their prolonged detention without trial, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated in its opinion 27/2007, adopted on 28 November 2007, that the detention of the eight individuals including Mr Al Rashoudi constituted a grave violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It appears clear that Mr Al Rashoudi has been re-arrested due to the declarations he made in Riyadh on 11 December, his activities as president of ACPRA, as well as his cooperation in providing the UN with information through our organisation. All founders of ACPRA, including prominent human rights defenders Mohammad Al-Qahtani and Abdullah Al-Hamid, have been subjected to such reprisals for their activities, namely judicial harassment and travel bans. 

Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders about this latest arrest, and calls on the Saudi authorities to immediately release Mr Al Rashoudi.
 
For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).
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