Saudi authorities continue to hold Abdullah Al-Ghafwi in arbitrary detention, six years after he was arrested without charge or legal basis. Al-Ghafwi, a young Saudi national, was detained in May 2019 after security forces reportedly raided his family home in Qatif, Eastern Province, without presenting a warrant or providing justification for the arrest.
Since then, Al-Ghafwi has remained in detention under harsh conditions, with reports indicating that he has been denied access to legal representation and contact with his family. Human rights organisations have raised concerns that his arrest was linked to his peaceful expression of opinion, in violation of his fundamental rights.
His case forms part of a broader pattern of repression in the Kingdom, where authorities continue to detain thousands of political prisoners, including human rights defenders, clerics, and academics. Many are prosecuted under broadly defined counter-terrorism and state security laws, often for peaceful activities or public criticism of the government. Trials are frequently conducted without basic guarantees of fairness, and many detainees face prolonged solitary confinement, torture, and denial of medical care.
Conditions in Saudi prisons have been widely criticised by rights groups and international observers. Leaked reports from inside detention facilities describe deteriorating health among prisoners, lack of access to adequate medical treatment, and widespread use of punitive isolation. The absence of judicial oversight and the denial of basic procedural safeguards have led to widespread allegations of ill-treatment.
Al-Ghafwi’s continued detention comes against the backdrop of a wider crackdown on freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia, in which critics and dissidents are detained, prosecuted, and, in some cases, sentenced to death under procedures that fall short of international standards of justice. These practices have raised serious concerns about the systematic use of the judicial system as a tool of political repression.
International human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, prohibits arbitrary detention and affirms the right of detainees to a fair trial and access to legal counsel. The prolonged and incommunicado detention of Abdullah Al-Ghafwi is a clear breach of these obligations, and part of a broader pattern of violations that have drawn condemnation from United Nations bodies and international rights groups.
It is incumbent upon the Saudi authorities to release Abdullah Al-Ghafwi immediately and unconditionally, along with all individuals detained solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression. The use of the judiciary to suppress dissent and intimidate critics must cease, and all practices amounting to serious human rights violations must be brought to an end in accordance with international legal standards.
