Sentencing of Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi to fourteen and seven years in prison

Arbitrarydetention

Saudi Arabia

January 30,2018

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDHand the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Saudi Arabia.

Descriptionof the situation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the sentencing ofMessrs. Abdullah Al-Attawi and Mohamed Al-Otaibi, two founders of theUnion for Human Rights, as well as about the ongoing arbitrary detention of Mr.Mohamed Al-Otaibi.

(c) Gulf Center for Human Rights

Accordingto the information received, on January 25, 2018, Section 12 of the SpecialisedCriminal Court[1] sentenced Messrs. MohamedAl-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi to fourteen and seven years in prison respectively,under a series of charges, including: “participating in setting up anorganisation and announcing it before getting an authorisation”, “dividingnational unity”, “spreading chaos and inciting public opinion by preparing,drafting and publishing statements that are harmful to the reputation of theKingdom and its judicial and security institutions”, “opposingjudicial decisions”, “formulating data aimed at disrupting security”,“participating in a hunger strike”, and “publishing informationabout their interrogations despite signing pledges to refrain from doing so”.

Mr.Mohamed Al-Otaibi was facing additional charges of “disseminating informationabout an investigation”, “abusing the Kingdom via Twitter”, “calling to changethe basic system of governance” as well as “spreading harmful information aboutSaudi Arabia via a satellite channel”.

Messrs.Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi’s trial started on October 30, 2016and all charges relate to the Union for Human Rights, a human rightsassociation set up in 2013 and almost immediately shut down by the Saudiauthorities[2].

The Observatory recalls that this is not the firsttime Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi are being judicially harassed by the Saudiauthorities, and that Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi remains detained at the Intelligence Prison in Al-Damam since May2017 (see background information). As of issuingthis Urgent Appeal, Mr. Abdullah Al-Attawi remained free.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern overthe sentencing of Messrs. Abdullah Al-Attawi and Mohamed Al-Otaibi and the arbitrarydetention of the latter, which only seem to aim at sanctioning their peacefuland legitimate human rights activities. Consequently, the Observatory urgesSaudi authorities to release Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi immediately and unconditionally and to putan end to all acts of harassment against him and Mr. Abdullah Al-Attawi as well as all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.

Backgroundinformation[3]:

Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi was first arrested on January 1, 2009, chargedwith “attempting to initiate a peaceful demonstration” to protest the Gaza warand subsequently sentenced on these charges to three years in prison. He servedthree years and seven months in prison before he was finally released on June10, 2012.

In April 2013, Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawico-founded the Union for Human Rightsin Riyadh and applied for registration. Less than a month after the firstposition papers of the organisation were published on social networks by the Unionfor Human Rights[4],a criminal enquiry on the above-mentioned charges was launched against them. InMay 2013, Saudi authorities rejected the application for registration of the Unionfor Human Rights and sought undertakings from thefounders that they would dissolve the association and desist from carrying onits activities.

In March 2014, Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi weresummoned by Saudi authorities and as a result both pledged to stop issuingstatements, reports, or participating in TV interviews.

In 2015, following the publication of the Law on Associations andFoundations, Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi filed anapplication to register the Union for HumanRights. Their application was rejected and proceedings against them upheld.

On October 30, 2016, the trial of Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and AbdullahAl-Attawi opened before the Specialised Criminal Court on the basis of the chargesbrought against them in 2013.

In February 2017, Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi managed nonetheless to flee toQatar. On May 24, 2017, on his way to Norway where he had been granted refugeestatus, he was arrested at Hamad International Airport in Doha and deported toSaudi Arabia the following day. He has been in prison ever since.

A hearing scheduled to take place on July 12, 2017 was postponed toAugust 8, 2017 and further to January 25, 2018.

Actions requested:

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

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical andpsychological integrity of Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi aswell as all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia;

ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Mr. MohamedAl-Otaibi, as well as all detained humanrights defenders in Saudi Arabia, as their detention is arbitrary since itonly aims at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to all forms of harassment,including at the judicial level, against Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and AbdullahAl-Attawiand all human rights defenders in the countryso theyare able to carry out their work without unjustified hindrance and fear ofreprisal;

iv. Comply in all circumstances with all theprovisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, inparticular its Articles 1, 6(c) and 12.2;

v. More generally, ensure in allcircumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with international human rights standards and instruments.

Addresses:

· His Majesty, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia andCustodian of the two Holy Mosques, Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 11403 3125; Email: info@moi.gov.sa;Twitter: @KingSalman

· His Majesty, Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,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 ofSaudi Arabia, Fax: + 966 11 405 7777; Email: info@moj.gov.sa

· His Royal HighnessPrince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Minister of Interior, Kingdomof Saudi Arabia. Fax: + 966 11 401 1111 / + 966 11 401 1944 / + 966 11 4031125; Email: info@moi.gov.sa

· H.E. Adel bin Ahmed ElJubeir, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax: + 966 11 403 0645 ; Email: info@mofa.gov.sa

· H.E. Abdulaziz Alwasil,Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the UnitedNations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 758 00 00. Email: saudiamission@bluewin.ch

· H.E. Abdulrahman bin Soliman Al-Ahmed, Ambassador, Embassy of SaudiArabia 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, January 30, 2018

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.

[1] Set up in 2003, theSpecialised Criminal Court was originally tasked with trying terrorism andnational security cases in accordance with Sharia. However, the Court has beenused as a tool to repress human rights defenders tried on charges affectingnational security in the broadest sense. For more information, see ObservatoryMission Report, Saudi Arabia: Condemnedto Silence, the situation of women human rights defenders, January 2018.

[2] Founded in2013, the Union for Human Rights’ main objectives were to defend the rights ofcitizens, spread the culture of human rights, abolish the death penalty, and tostrengthen the role of women in society. In 2015, the application to have theNGO officially registered under the Law on Associations and Foundations wasrejected. While it was operating, the Union for Human Rights monitored trialsof human rights defenders, released explanatory statements about the hearings,documented and published appeals on human rights violations.

[3]For more information, see Observatory Mission Report, Saudi Arabia: Condemned to silence: the situation of women human rightsdefenders, January 2018.

[4] The position papers were detailing the objectives of the Unionfor Human Rights.