Saudi authorities have continued to detain the preacher and professor of comparative jurisprudence, Dr Qashmir Mohammed Al-Qarni, since mid-2022, without any official announcement of the reasons for his arrest, and without disclosing his place of detention or legal status. This has raised serious human rights concerns regarding arbitrary detention and the risk that he may have been subjected to enforced disappearance.
Dr Al-Qarni is a well-known academic in the field of comparative fiqh. He holds a doctoral degree and has made extensive scholarly contributions both inside the Kingdom and abroad, in addition to delivering hundreds of recorded lectures, sermons, and religious lessons. He previously served as imam and preacher at the Basbarin Mosque in Jeddah and was one of the scholars affiliated with the educational and religious “Zad” satellite television channel.
Since the moment of his arrest, no official body has announced the charges against him, nor has it been made known whether he was brought before a competent judicial authority, or whether he has been allowed to communicate with a lawyer or with his family. This places his case squarely within the scope of detention outside the framework of the requisite legal safeguards.
Such a pattern of detention violates a number of fundamental principles enshrined in international human rights law, foremost among them the prohibition of arbitrary detention, the obligation to inform detainees promptly of the reasons for their arrest, and the right to challenge the legality of detention before an independent judicial authority.
Moreover, concealing the place of detention or refusing to disclose the fate of a detainee constitutes a grave violation that may amount to enforced disappearance, which is absolutely prohibited under international law.
Detaining an individual on account of peaceful scholarly or religious activity represents a direct infringement of freedom of opinion and expression, as well as freedom of thought and belief, which are fundamental rights that may only be restricted within the narrowest limits, in accordance with the principles of necessity and proportionality, and pursuant to clear law and fair judicial procedures.
Depriving a detainee of basic guarantees, including the right to a fair trial, the right to know the charges, and the right to defence, undermines the rule of law and opens the door to the misuse of executive power through arrest and punishment outside effective judicial oversight.
The arrest of Dr Al-Qarni comes within a broader context of sustained repression targeting preachers, academics, and opinion-holders within the Kingdom, where prolonged detention without trial has been used as a means to silence religious or intellectual voices engaged in peaceful activity, even in the absence of any declared charges or criminal acts.
The continued detention of Dr Qashmir Mohammed Al-Qarni without a publicly stated legal basis, and without access to his fundamental rights, constitutes a serious violation of international human rights standards. Legal responsibility requires his immediate release, or his presentation before a fair and public trial that meets all due-process guarantees, the disclosure of his place of detention and his health and legal status, and assurances that he is not subjected to any form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, in accordance with applicable human rights obligations.
