Saudi journalist Maha Al-Rafidi has completed 41 months in arbitrary detention for her peaceful activism on social media.
In November 2019, Al-Rafidi was arrested for writing posts on Twitter in support of prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia and calling for human rights reforms.
Al-Rafidi was subjected to ill-treatment and beatings, of which bruises on her face were visible. She also spent the first two months in solitary confinement in Shaar Prison, and she continues to be deprived of her rights in prison today.
According to several human rights reports, many women activists in Saudi Arabia have been subjected to unfair trials, sentenced unjustly, and severely tortured in different forms including sexual harassment.
The Saudi authorities hide all news of its detainees; however, some news leaks have confirmed the health deterioration, torture and ill-treatment of many detainees.
The Saudi authorities continue to violate human rights while claiming it is fighting terrorism as a pretext for arbitrary detention and violating freedom of opinion and expression, despite the repeated criticism of the international community.
