Abdullah Al-Attawi Remains Detained Despite Completing His Sentence

Despite the completion of his sentence in September 2024, Saudi human rights activist Abdullah Al-Attawi remains in arbitrary detention, in blatant violation of both domestic and international law. His continued imprisonment reflects the ongoing repressive approach taken by Saudi authorities toward human rights defenders.

Al-Attawi was arrested in September 2017 for his peaceful activism as one of the co-founders of the Union for Human Rights Association. In January 2018, he was handed a harsh seven-year prison sentence by the Specialized Criminal Court, following a trial that lacked the basic guarantees of due process.

Throughout his imprisonment, Al-Attawi has faced multiple grave violations, including ill-treatment, denial of access to legal counsel, lack of medical care, and restricted communication with his family. His colleague and co-founder of the association, human rights defender Mohammed Al-Otaibi, also remains detained since May 2017, under similarly unjust conditions that underscore the broader absence of justice and human rights protections in the Kingdom.

SANAD Human Rights Organization strongly condemns the continued detention of Abdullah Al-Attawi beyond the expiration of his sentence. This constitutes a clear case of arbitrary detention, in violation of international human rights standards. SANAD calls for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as the release of all prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia, and urges the international community and UN bodies to exert effective pressure on the Saudi government to end these serious violations and uphold the rights of human rights defenders.