The health conditions of three prisoners in Saudi Arabia deteriorate

Three prisoners of conscience face catastrophic conditions due to torture and isolation. One of them is paralyzed.

The Saudi prison authorities continue to harass prisoners of conscience. The authorities intend to torture the prisoners to break them mentally.

One of these is the Saudi detainee Dhaifallah Zaid Al-Saraih Al-Otaibi, who suffers from complete paralysis due to deliberate medical negligence and torture he faced inside prisons.

Al-Otaibi had announced his hunger strike several times in 2019 even though he is paralyzed and has other health conditions.

Saudi authorities arrested Al-Otaibi in March 2008 following his calls to improve the living conditions of the Saudi people.

The human rights organization Sanad says that Al-Otaibi is one of the prominent examples that history cannot forget in terms of his steadfastness and constant challenge to the continuous abuse by the authorities inside prisons.

Meanwhile, Saudi activist Yahya Al-Wadaei is still being detained in the Kingdom’s prisons, despite the end of the unjust sentence imposed on him more than a year ago.

Al-Wadaei has been arrested since 2013 due to his criticism of the crackdowns against activists and his demand for the release of prisoners of conscience in the Kingdom.

He has been in prison since then. Despite his arrest in 2013, the Criminal Court did not rule on him until about two years after his arrest, when the court sentenced him to 6 years in prison.

The plaintiff remains in prison, despite the end of his sentence.

Yahya Al-Wadaei, a young Saudi human rights activist, resorted to the constant call for prisoners of conscience in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which resulted in his imprisonment.

At the same time, Dr Saud Mukhtar Al-Hashemi is being arrested and sentenced to 30 years, paying the price for his activities and reformist stances that he practised in public before his arrest.

The name of Dr Al-Hashemi is associated with the largest group that sought to establish an organization concerned with human rights and aimed at reform. At the time, they were known as reformists in Jeddah, so that they would all be under arrest since 2007.

He knew Al-Hashemi for his strong stances against the regime’s unfair decisions and his daring in expressing his opinion in reform in the country’s affairs and government decisions.

According to the statements of relatives and family members, Al-Hashemi is subjected to constant torture and harassment. He is considered the person who was subjected to the harshest sentence of imprisonment for 30 years.

The doctor had suffered a stroke due to the psychological and physical torture he was subjected to since 2016, inside Dhahban prison in Jeddah.

Al-Hashemi, a doctor specializing in family and community medicine, had a great presence in the media and sought to support reform in various fields.

In September 2017, the Al Saud authorities carried out the most extensive campaign of arrests against dozens of preachers, academics, economists, writers, activists, thinkers, and others, without the authorities clarifying their fate or charging them and holding public trials accordingly.

He described 2017 as the year of arrests and the worst year for human rights in the Kingdom’s history.