For more than seven years, Saudi authorities have continued the detention of Abdullah Al-Hawali

Since July 2018, Abdullah, the son of prominent scholar Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, has been arbitrarily detained after being arrested at a family wedding alongside his brother. He was never charged with any clear crime other than being the son of Dr. Safar Al-Hawali. In June 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced him to six years in prison, but the Court of Appeal later increased the sentence to 16 years, prompting him to go on a hunger strike.

During his detention, Abdullah has faced severe abuses, including arrest without a warrant, torture, months-long sleep deprivation, denial of family visits and communication, as well as being denied legal representation. He was secretly tried in proceedings that lacked the most basic standards of justice.

The targeting extends beyond Abdullah himself. More than seven years have also passed since the arrest of his father, Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, along with two of his brothers (Abdulrahman and Abdulrahim), his uncle Saadallah Al-Hawali, and his father’s office manager, Dr. Ismail Al-Hassan. Their arrests followed a brutal raid on Dr. Safar Al-Hawali’s home after he circulated a draft manuscript critical of Saudi policies. The raid caused severe trauma to one of his daughters, leaving her unable to speak.

Abdullah and his brothers have endured both psychological and physical torture, restrictions on family visits, and were deliberately placed in cells with dangerous criminals to harm them. The Court of Appeal has arbitrarily increased their sentences, in some cases up to 17 years, pushing them to launch a hunger strike in early 2023 in protest of these unjust rulings.

UN reports have confirmed that the detention of Dr. Safar Al-Hawali and his sons constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights, amounting to arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearance. The United Nations has called for their immediate release.

Sanad Human Rights Organization reiterates its demand for the Saudi authorities to release Abdullah Al-Hawali, his father Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, his brothers, uncle, and office manager without conditions, and to end the systematic abuses against them. The continued imprisonment of the Al-Hawali family is a stark indictment of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.