Saudi Arabia is a cruel, despotic, backward-looking monarchical tyranny; it is perfectly willing to do the bidding of Khartoum’s génocidaires for narrowly self-interested reasons, including forcibly repatriating Sudanese human rights activists to face incarceration and torture.
Here is Amnesty International’s “URGENT ACTION” announcement concerning two such Sudanese activists, arrested by Saudi officials and at risk of torture:
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Saudi Arabia Date: 8 June 2017
URGENT ACTION
TWO SUDANESE ACTIVISTS AT RISK OF DEPORTATION
Sudanese activists Elgassim Mohamed Seed Ahmed and Elwaleed Imam Hassan Taha are at imminent risk of deportation from Saudi Arabia to Sudan, where they would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. The two activists have been detained in Saudi Arabia without charge or trial since 21 December 2016. They are prisoners of conscience.
[According to a highly reliable Sudanese source, a third name should have been included in this list of two: Alaa eldin Aldifina—ER]
According to information provided to Amnesty International, Elgassim Mohamed Seed Ahmed and Elwaleed Imam Hassan Taha were called for questioning by the prison authorities on 5 June in al-Ha’ir Prison in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital, where they have been detained since 21 December 2016. They were questioned in two separate cells while blindfolded and handcuffed about who sponsors their own and their family’s residency in Saudi Arabia; whether they owe or are owed any debts by anyone; and whether they own property in Saudi Arabia. They were also asked to delegate a Power of Attorney to a family member in Saudi Arabia in order to manage their properties in the country. On 7 June, the passports of the two men were apparently collected from their workplace by officials believed to be from the Ministry of Interior. They have had no legal representation.
Both men had last been interrogated in March 2017, when they were told by prison authorities that they are being detained and interrogated at the behest of the Sudanese authorities. The security officers from the General Directorate of Investigations (GDI, or al-Mabahith) told them that they were now awaiting trial, after which they could face imprisonment or deportation to Sudan. The content of the recent questioning and ill-treatment they faced on 5 June, coupled with the collection of their passports raise fears that the authorities are preparing for their deportation to Sudan, where they would be at risk of additional arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment.
Elgassim Seed Ahmed and Elwaleed Imam have been detained without charge in al-Ha’ir Prison since their arrest on 21 December 2016. They were interrogated around eight times mostly about their social media activism following their support of the civil disobedience protest in Sudan in December 2016 on Facebook.
[1] TAKE ACTION Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
Calling on the Saudi Arabian authorities to release Elgassim Seed Ahmed and Elwaleed Imam immediately and unconditionally, as they are prisoners of conscience detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression;
Urging them, in accordance with their obligations under international law, to not deport the two men to Sudan, where there is a real risk they would be subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.
Contact these two officials by 20 July, 2017:
Ambassador Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave.
NW Washington DC 20037
Fax: 1 202 944 5983 Phone:
1 202 342 3800
Email: info@saudiembassy.net
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
************
King and Prime Minister His Majesty Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King Royal Court, Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Fax: +966 11 403 3125
Twitter: @KingSalman
Salutation: Your Majesty
2) ) LET US KNOW YOU TOOK ACTION Click here to let us know if you took action on this case! This is Urgent Action 9.17 Here’s why it is so important to report your actions: we record the actions taken on each case—letters, emails, calls and tweets—and use that information in our advocacy.
—
Eric Reeves, Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights
Twitter@SudanReeves
About Eric Reeves: http://sudanreeves.org/about-eric-reeves
Philanthropy: http://ericreeves-woodturner.com/woodturnings-available-for-purchase-dire