Saleh al-Ashwan
Saleh al-Ashwan | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Saudi |
| Occupation | Member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association |
| Known for | Advocating for the release of political prisoners and greater respect for human rights in Saudi Arabia |
| Criminal charge | Defending women's rights |
| Criminal penalty | Five years in prison and a five-year ban on travel abroad |
| Criminal status | Currently held in Al-Ha’ir prison south of Riyadh |
Saleh al-Ashwan (Arabic: صالح الأشوان) is a member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, an organization that has advocated for the release of political prisoners and greater respect for human rights in Saudi Arabia and that was banned in March 2013. Saudi authorities arrested al-Ashwan in July 2012 for defending women's rights and held him without trial or access to lawyers for nearly four years, while confiscating his electronic devices. During his first two months of detention he was held incommunicado and Saudi activists allege that he was tortured, beaten, as well as stripped and suspended by his limbs from the ceiling of an interrogation room. In 2016 a Saudi court sentenced al-Ashwan to five years in prison and a five-year ban on travel abroad. He is currently held in al-Ha’ir prison south of Riyadh.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Due to these abuses, he is considered to be a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "Update: Saudi Arabia: Systematic targeting of members of ACPRA continues". www.gc4hr.org. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia: Intensified Repression of Writers, Activists". Human Rights Watch. 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia: Imprisoned Activist Earns Human Rights Award". Human Rights Watch. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia tries to 'silence' main rights group - Amnesty". BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
- ^ Fisk, Robert (19 October 2016). "Saudi Arabia cannot go on throwing every decent person who speaks out on human rights into jail". The Independent. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
- ^ Sow, El Hadji Malick; La Rue, Frank; Kiai, Maina; Sekaggya, Margaret (12 July 2012). "Mandates of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders" (PDF). Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. United Nations. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
- ^ "Muzzling dissent: Saudi Arabia's efforts to choke civil society". Amnesty International. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2017.