The German Institute for Development and Democracy (DIDE) calls on Saudi authorities to free Dr. Lina Alsharif, who has been unlawfully incarcerated in Saudi Arabia for more than a year as a result of her social media advocacy. Dr. Alsharif celebrated her 34th birthday at Al-Ha’ir jail in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 11, 2022.
Lina Alsharif is a Riyadh-based physician. The Saudi Presidency of State Security stormed Alsharif’s family house in Riyadh in late May 2021, detained her, and forcefully disappeared her for two months, until 26 July 2021, finally keeping her in Al-Ha’ir jail. Dr. Alsharif was active on social media prior to her imprisonment, debating Saudi politics and pushing for human rights in Saudi Arabia, particularly women’s rights, religious freedom, freedom of expression, and liberation for prisoners of conscience.
On 9 July 2021, the MENA Rights Group made an urgent plea to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN WGEID), which spoke with the Saudi authorities, leading them to divulge her whereabouts. The Saudi authorities responded to the UN WGEID’s request for explanation on September 21, 2021. The Saudi authorities stated that Lina Alsharif violated Saudi regulations by exercising her right to free expression, and she was held in line with Articles 2 and 19 of the Law on Combating Terrorism Crimes and Financing. However, the government supplied no more information to the UN WGEID on any accusations filed against her, and her case is still being investigated.
Saudi Arabia has not signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as it has not ratified many other international human rights treaties, and consistently employs enforced disappearance against anyone expressing their right to free expression. Furthermore, the nation consistently violates the right to due process and does not guarantee free and fair trials, frequently keeping people indefinitely without charge or in pretrial detention. Alsharif’s case exemplifies Saudi Arabia’s record of grave human rights breaches.
We are gravely concerned that Dr. Lina Alsharif has been kept in pre-trial custody for an extended period of time without accusations being presented against her. Furthermore, her right to due process has been violated, and she has been denied legal counsel. We are particularly concerned about her mental and physical health at Al-Ha’ir jail, where she has been refused sufficient medical care. No impartial monitors are permitted to see her in order to verify her confinement circumstances.
On a different note, on Saturday, March 12, 2022, Saudi Arabia stated via the official Saudi Press Agency SPA that it had killed 81 persons guilty of offenses ranging from murder to membership in terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda or the Houthi rebel forces, as well as protest-related offences. This is the greatest known mass execution in the kingdom’s history.
Despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s previous vows to reform the court system and minimize the use of the death penalty, Saudi Arabia had already killed 11 individuals for various offenses in 2022; this new mass execution pushed the year’s total to 92. Since then, another wave of executions has occurred, bringing the total to 107.
According to rights groups, the executed defendants were tortured and disappeared from the time they were arrested until they were officially presented before the public prosecution.
We call on Saudi authorities to release Dr. Lina Alsharif and all others imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for exercising their right to free expression, especially internet activists and human rights defenders, immediately and unconditionally.
We also call on the Saudi authorities to urgently impose a moratorium on executions and comply with international conventions and treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Saudi Arabia record with Human Rights is one of the worst worldwide, and this has to come to and end.
