URGENT APPEAL - THEOBSERVATORY

SAU003 / 0217 / OBS 018

Judicial harassment

Saudi Arabia

February 17, 2017

The Observatory for the Protectionof Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Saudi Arabia.

Descriptionof the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliablesources about the ongoing judicial harassment targeting Ms. Samar Badawi,a vocal advocate for imprisoned human rights activists and women's rights inSaudi Arabia, in particular the rights of women to vote, drive and achievesocial justice.

According to the information received, on February13, 2017, Ms. Samar Badawi received a phone call from the Bureau of Investigationand Prosecution in Jeddah, summoning her to appear at 10 am on February 15,2017 for an interrogation.

Ms. Samar Badawi presented herself on that day andwas interrogated for several hours. Later, on her Twitter account, Ms.Samar Badawi explained that the interrogation was “related to previous issuesabout [her] human rights and civil activities including women’s campaignagainst male guardians”.

TheObservatory recalls that this is not the first time Ms. Samar Badawi isjudicially harassed by the Saudi authorities[1](see background information). Thus, theObservatory expresses its utmost concern over the repeated judicial harassmentof Ms. Samar Badawi by Saudi authorities, which only seems to aim atsanctioning her peaceful and legitimate human rights activities and urges Saudiauthorities to put an end to it.

Furthermore,the Observatory condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention of Ms. Badawi’sex-husband, Mr. Waleed Abu al-Khair,and brother, Mr. Raif Badawi, whichonly aims at punishing them for their legitimate and peaceful human rightsactivities, and calls upon the Saudi authorities to immediately release themand drop all charges against them (see background information).

Backgroundinformation:

InDecember 2014, Ms. Samar Badawi was intercepted at King Abdulaziz InternationalAirport in Jeddah, and prevented to board a plane to attend the EU NGO Forum onHuman Rights in Brussels, Belgium, before being informed of a travel ban issuedby the Ministry of Interior against her[2].

On January6, 2016, Ms. Samar Badawi was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Authorityin Jeddah for interrogation concerningactivity on the Twitter account of her detained ex-husband, human rightslawyer Mr. Waleed Abu Al-Khair[3].Ms. Badawi waited for several hours before being asked to come back on January12, 2016. On that date, officers started interrogating her at 11 am onaccusations that she had been managing her husband's Twitter account andmore particularly leaking a picture on January 8, 2016, of Mr. FawzanAl-Harbi, a member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association(ACPRA) arbitrarily detained with Mr. Abu Al-Khair at the Al-Malaz prison,before Mr. Abu Al-Khair's transfer to Dhahban Central Prison in Jeddah inJanuary 2016.

Afterbeing interrogated for about four hours, she was placed in a police car andtransferred along with her two years old daughter, to Hayy al-Salam policestation. Upon arrival, she was formally placed under arrest and transferredalone to Dhahban Central Prison where both her ex-husband and her brother Mr. Raif Badawi[4]are detained. On January 13, 2016, she was released on bail in the earlymorning. Later on the same day she appeared before the public prosecution, whoreleased her without charges.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Saudi Arabia asking them to:

i. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. SamarBadawi as well as all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia;

ii. Putan end to all acts of harassment and intimidation, including at judicial level,against Ms. Samar Badawi and all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, and ensure in allcircumstances that they are able to carry out their work without unjustifiedhindrance and fear of reprisal;

iii. Comply in allcircumstances with all the provisions of the UnitedNations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular its Articles 1, 6(c) and 12.2;

5. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and instruments.

Addresses:

• His Majesty, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 11 403 3125; Email: info@moi.gov.sa
• H.E. Waleed bin Mohammad Al Samaani, Minister of Justice, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Fax: + 966 11 401 1741 / + 966 11 402 0311 / +966114055399
• His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Minister of Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fax: +966 11 403 3125; Email: info@moi.gov.sa
• H.E. Adel bin Ahmed El Jubeir, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax: +966114030645; Email: info@mofa.gov.sa
• H.E. Abdulaziz Alwasil, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 758 00 00. Email: saudiamission@bluewin.ch
• H.E. Abdulrahman bin Soliman Al-Ahmed, Ambassador, Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Brussels, Belgium. Fax: +32 2 6468538. Email: beemb@mofa.gov.sa

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Saudi Arabia inyour respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva, February 17, 2017

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of thisappeal in your reply.

The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to theprotection of human rights defenders and aims to offer them concrete support intheir time of need. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH: +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / 01 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29

[1] See the Urgent Appeal of theObservatory SAU 001 / 0116 / OBS 007issued on January 14, 2016.

[2] The ban came only two monthsafter Ms. Badawi's intervention at the 27th Session of the UN HumanRights Council in Geneva, calling for the release of human rights defendersimprisoned in Saudi Arabia.

[3] Mr. Waleed Abu al-Khair, alsothe founder and Director of the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia(MHRSA), has been arbitrarily detained since April 15, 2014. See ObservatoryUrgent Appeal SAU 001 / 0415 / OBS 035

[4] Mr. Raif Badawi, laureate ofthe 2015 SakharovPrize for Freedom of Thought, is a blogger and creator of the website FreeSaudi Liberals. On September 1, 2014, he was sentenced in appeal to 10 years ofprison and 1,000 lashes. See Observatory Urgent Appeal SAU 001 / 0514 / OBS048.3.