human rights defender
Issa Al-Nukhaifi
Actions and Campaigns
Issa Al-Nukhaifi
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
HRD's year of birth
1971
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Social and community leader
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Economic, social and cultural rights
Current Status
Released
HRD's bio and work
Al-Nukhaifi is a community and anti-corruption activist who protested against the government’s policy of displacing families from the Saudi-Yemeni borders for security measures without adequate compensation. In 2012, Al-Nukheifi was arrested for his activism following his appearance on television accusing the local authorities in Jazan, in the south-west of Saudi Arabia on the border with Yemen, of corruption and human rights violations during the forced eviction of nearly 12,000 residents of the region. He served a three-year prison sentence ending in April 2016. After his release, he was re-arrested again in December 2016 over his cooperation with international civil society and the United Nations.
In late 2016, Al Nukheifi had been consulted during the preparation for the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty’s visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2017, and he had agreed to meet and further assist the team on the ground. On 06 December 2016, he tweeted in response to a summon made by the Criminal Investigation Department: “I did not steal trillions, I did not buy a yacht and I did not buy a plane. I do not have a home for my children. I do not have a job after you took my job away and even my payment is late for the rented home so why the summons.”
Detained since
Dec 18, 2016
Date of release
Jan 6, 2025
Charge(s)
- Espionage
- Subversion
Sentence
6 years in prison
Latitude: 23.21980912722173
Longitude: 44.53857421875001
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Asia: Western Asia
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
On December 30, 2016 after his arrest, Al-Nukheifi was transferred to Mecca General Prison, where he was forced to sleep on the floor without a blanket and repeatedly threatened with torture. In July 2019, it was reported that Al-Nukheifi was being subjected to on-going ill-treatment, including being stripped of his clothes and having his hands and feet shackled. On 08 April 2019, he requested to be transferred to Jizan prison in order to be closer to his 80-year-old mother, who struggles to visit him at Makkah General Prison, which is over 700 km away from their usual residence, but to no avail.
Repeated local reports received by GCHR confirmed that human rights defender Issa Al-Nukhaifi was transferred on 24 October 2022 from Al-Ha’ir Reformatory Prison in Riyadh to an unknown destination, and there is no information about his current whereabouts.
From March 2021 until now, Al-Nukheifi has gone on several hunger strikes for reasons that include ill-treatment by prison officials at Al-Ha’ir in Riyadh, including being held on the same wing as psychiatric detainees, the prison administration’s vindictive delays over letting him out to complete some banking transactions in relation to his salary and ID card renewal, which caused his family hardship, and not being released despite the end of his sentence.
Since the end of his sentence, Al-Nukhaifi has been unable to call his family, receive visits, or consult with a lawyer, and as such is subject to enforced disappearance.
Recent case update / evolution
In February 2018, Al-Nukhaifi was sentenced to six years in prison followed by six years of a travel ban and social media ban on him upon his release. He was charged with seeking to destabilise the social fabric and national cohesion, communicating with and receiving money from foreign hostile groups, using a personal cell phone and the internet to store and transfer information that is harmful to the public order, and adopting a ‘Takfiri’ approach by accusing the Guardians of Saudi Arabia of being infidels. On April 7, 2018, in a decision that cannot be further appealed, the Court of Appeal confirmed Al Nukheifi’s sentence.
Al-Nukhaifi was scheduled to be released in December 2022, six years after his arrest on 18 December 2016 in Jizan. However, he was reportedly moved to another prison for further interrogation and retrials in October 2023.
On 6 January 2025, Al-Nukhaifi was released by Saudi authorities.
Attachments
Documented by
- Country(ies) of nationality
- HRD's year of birth
- 1971
- HRD's Gender
- Man
- Type of HRD
- Social and community leader
- HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- HRD's Picture
- HRD's bio and work
Al-Nukhaifi is a community and anti-corruption activist who protested against the government’s policy of displacing families from the Saudi-Yemeni borders for security measures without adequate compensation. In 2012, Al-Nukheifi was arrested for his activism following his appearance on television accusing the local authorities in Jazan, in the south-west of Saudi Arabia on the border with Yemen, of corruption and human rights violations during the forced eviction of nearly 12,000 residents of the region. He served a three-year prison sentence ending in April 2016. After his release, he was re-arrested again in December 2016 over his cooperation with international civil society and the United Nations.
In late 2016, Al Nukheifi had been consulted during the preparation for the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty’s visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2017, and he had agreed to meet and further assist the team on the ground. On 06 December 2016, he tweeted in response to a summon made by the Criminal Investigation Department: “I did not steal trillions, I did not buy a yacht and I did not buy a plane. I do not have a home for my children. I do not have a job after you took my job away and even my payment is late for the rented home so why the summons.”
- Country or area of detention
- Region of detention
- Asia: Western Asia
- Geolocation of detention
Latitude: 23.21980912722173
Longitude: 44.53857421875001
- Geolocation of detention
- Detained since
- Dec 18, 2016
- Current Status
- Released
- Date of release
- Jan 6, 2025
- Charge(s)
- Espionage
- Subversion
- Sentence
6 years in prison
- Recent case update / evolution
In February 2018, Al-Nukhaifi was sentenced to six years in prison followed by six years of a travel ban and social media ban on him upon his release. He was charged with seeking to destabilise the social fabric and national cohesion, communicating with and receiving money from foreign hostile groups, using a personal cell phone and the internet to store and transfer information that is harmful to the public order, and adopting a ‘Takfiri’ approach by accusing the Guardians of Saudi Arabia of being infidels. On April 7, 2018, in a decision that cannot be further appealed, the Court of Appeal confirmed Al Nukheifi’s sentence.
Al-Nukhaifi was scheduled to be released in December 2022, six years after his arrest on 18 December 2016 in Jizan. However, he was reportedly moved to another prison for further interrogation and retrials in October 2023.
On 6 January 2025, Al-Nukhaifi was released by Saudi authorities.
- Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
On December 30, 2016 after his arrest, Al-Nukheifi was transferred to Mecca General Prison, where he was forced to sleep on the floor without a blanket and repeatedly threatened with torture. In July 2019, it was reported that Al-Nukheifi was being subjected to on-going ill-treatment, including being stripped of his clothes and having his hands and feet shackled. On 08 April 2019, he requested to be transferred to Jizan prison in order to be closer to his 80-year-old mother, who struggles to visit him at Makkah General Prison, which is over 700 km away from their usual residence, but to no avail.
Repeated local reports received by GCHR confirmed that human rights defender Issa Al-Nukhaifi was transferred on 24 October 2022 from Al-Ha’ir Reformatory Prison in Riyadh to an unknown destination, and there is no information about his current whereabouts.
From March 2021 until now, Al-Nukheifi has gone on several hunger strikes for reasons that include ill-treatment by prison officials at Al-Ha’ir in Riyadh, including being held on the same wing as psychiatric detainees, the prison administration’s vindictive delays over letting him out to complete some banking transactions in relation to his salary and ID card renewal, which caused his family hardship, and not being released despite the end of his sentence.
Since the end of his sentence, Al-Nukhaifi has been unable to call his family, receive visits, or consult with a lawyer, and as such is subject to enforced disappearance.
- Protection actions and campaigns
- Documented by
- Consent status
- Consent to register, store and publish the information
Supporting files
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Date added
7 relationships, 6 entities