The health of Dr. Adel Banama who has been detained by the Saudi authorities since September 2017, has deteriorated as he faces deliberate health neglect in his prison, while reports revealed that many political detainees have been subjected to torture and I’ll-treatment, as well as medical negligence in Saudi prisons.
Dr. Banama was the Dean of the Institute of Arabic Language Education, a professor and member of the teaching staff of Umm Al -Qura University, member of the Jeddah Literary Club, member of the International Islamic Literature Association, the head of the Islamic department in the country newspaper, and the dean of library affairs at Umm Al -Qura University.
He was arrested in a fierce campaign launched by the Saudi authorities in September 2017, against academics and activists, and was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment on fabricated charges.
The September Arrests Campaign included a number of preachers and academics, including Dr. Salman Al-Ouda, Dr. Awad Al-Qarni, the academic at the Higher Institute of the Judiciary Abdulaziz Al-Fawzan, the Imam of the Great Mosque of Mecca, Saleh Al Talib, and Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, I’m addition to thinkers and economists like Issam Al-Zamil, Abdullah Al-Maliki, Jamil Farsi, and Mustafa Al-Hassan, who was later released after suffering cancer during his detention. The arrest campaign also included journalists and a number of social and human rights activists.
Recently, The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and basic freedoms while combating terrorism, Fiona No Olin, has accused the Saudi authorities of violating human rights and the freedom of opinion and expression, under the name of fighting terrorism. She also shed light on the secret detention places in Saudi Arabia, during the follow-up of the 2010 recommendations.
