human rights defender
Atallah Al-Huwaiti
Actions and Campaigns
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Social and community leader
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- Land rights
Current Status
In prison (sentenced)
HRD's bio and work
Atallah Al-Huwaiti belongs to the Al-Huwaitat tribe, which was targeted by Saudi authorities for their vocal opposition to the NEOM project that threatens to displace them. He recorded a video on social media in which he was calling on international organizations to support the Al-Huwaitat tribe and prevent their forced displacement. Atallah was arrested on 4 January 2021, after handing himself over to the authorities in Jeddah in response to seeing the news of members of the Al-Huwaitat tribe being called “terrorists” by the authorities.
Detained since
Jan 4, 2021
Charge(s)
- Terrorism
Sentence
Death sentence
Latitude: 26.52111
Longitude: 43.99196
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Asia: Western Asia
Location of detention - City/Town
Al-Qassim
Location of detention - Facility
Al-Tarrfiyyah prison
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
Following his arrest, Atallah was held in solitary confinement and was subjected to brutal acts of torture as a way of coercing him to confess that he and other members of the Al-Huwaitat tribe had established a terrorist cell.
Recent case update / evolution
On 5 August 2022, Ataullah Al-Huwaiti was sentenced to death by the Saudi Specialized Criminal Court, which was then upheld by the Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal on 23 January 2023. He was charged with establishing a terrorist cell.
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