The Saudi authorities have continued Palestinian writer and researcher Mahmoud Kalem, for nearly 38 months, after he was arrested on September 26, upon his arrival to perform Umrah.
In February 2019, Saudi Arabia arrested more than 60 Jordanians and Palestinians working there and referred them to trial on charges of “providing financial support to the Palestinian resistance”, in a mass trial marred by serious legal violations.
Many families were unable to visit their detained relatives due to the expiry of their residency permits and having to leave Saudi Arabia. They could only communicate with their families over the phone every week or two.
The Saudi authorities are imposing a blackout on the conditions of many detainees; however, news leaks confirmed the deterioration of the health of many of them and being subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
A UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, accused the Saudi authorities of ongoing violations of human rights, and using the fight terrorism as a pretext for arbitrary detention and suppressing freedom of opinion and expression.
