human rights defender
Dr. Mohammed Al-Qahtani
Actions and Campaigns
HRD's year of birth
1965
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Academic
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
Current Status
Released
HRD's bio and work
Dr. Mohammed Al-Qahtani is an economics professor with PhD from Indiana University. He is a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) to promote human rights in Saudi Arabia. The association calls for a constitutional monarchy, rule of law, and an end to the torture and targeting of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Dr. Al-Qahtani is highly regarded and his activism was recognised by several prestigious awards, including the Right Livelihood award in 2018 and the Geuzenpenning (“Beggar Medal”), a Dutch human rights award, in 2020.
Detained since
Mar 9, 2013
Date of release
Jan 7, 2025
Charge(s)
- Creating disturbances
Sentence
10 years in prison
Latitude: 22.92196953046811
Longitude: 44.51660156250001
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Asia: Western Asia
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
For the past 10 years of imprisonment, security forces subjected Al-Qahtani to inhumane and degrading conditions of detention, and they have also subjected him to torture and ill-treatment. He was forcibly disappeared for two years from October 2022 until November 3rd when he was allowed to call his family. His family suspects that the authorities are not allowing him to contact them as a punishment for filing a complaint about the repeated assaults he faced in Al-Ha’ir prison by prisoners suffering from mental health issues. In addition, Al-Qahtani was placed in solitary confinement in December 2018.
On 26 May 2022 at night, Dr. Al-Qahtani was assaulted by a prisoner who is a member of a large group of mentally-ill patients, who are crowded in ward 8A in Al-Ha’ir prison. He launched three hunger strikes in December 2020 and March 2021, lasting for several days, to protest the mistreatment of inmates and being denied family contact and access to books and newspapers.
Recent case update / evolution
On 9 March 2013, Al-Qahtani was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment followed by 10 years of travel ban. He was charged with founding an unlicensed civil association, planting seeds of sedition, breaking allegiance with the ruler, defaming the judiciary, and turning international organisations against the Kingdom.
Dr. Al-Qahtani was supposed to be released on 22 November 2022. However, prior to his release, he was taken in October 2022 for a new investigation for allegedly committing and inciting others to commit a number of criminal offences within the prison. He has been reportedly possibly transferred to another prison, and was denied any contact with his family since 24 October 2022.
On 3 November 2024, and after two years and 10 days of enforced disappearance, Al-Qahtani made a 10-minute call to his family.
On 7 January 2025, Dr. Al-Qahtani was released by Saudi authorities.
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