RIYADH – Several Saudi Arabian activists, including a number of women, whohave been arbitrarily detained without charge since May 2018 in SaudiArabia’s Dhahban Prison, have reportedly faced sexual harassment, tortureand other forms of ill-treatment during interrogation, AmnestyInternational said today.
According to three separate testimonies obtained by the organization, theactivists were repeatedly tortured by electrocution and flogging, leavingsome unable to walk or stand properly. In one reported instance, one of theactivists was made to hang from the ceiling, and according to anothertestimony, one of the detained women was reportedly subjected to sexualharassment, by interrogators wearing face masks.
Only a few weeks after the ruthless killing of Jamal Khashoggi, theseshocking reports of torture, sexual harassment and other forms ofill-treatment, if verified, expose further outrageous human rightsviolations by the Saudi authorities
“Only a few weeks after the ruthless killing of Jamal Khashoggi, theseshocking reports of torture, sexual harassment and other forms ofill-treatment, if verified, expose further outrageous human rightsviolations by the Saudi authorities” said Lynn Maalouf, AmnestyInternational’s Middle East research director.
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“Saudi authorities are directly responsible for the wellbeing of thesewomen and men in detention. Not only have they been deprived them of theirliberty for months now, simply for peacefully expressing their views, theyare also subjecting them to horrendous physical suffering”.
According to the testimonies obtained, the human rights defenders wereunable to walk or stand properly, had uncontrolled shaking of the hands,and marks on the body. One of the activists reportedly attempted to takeher own life repeatedly inside the prison.
