Qatari national Mohsen Saleh Saadoun al-Karbi was released from prison in Saudi Arabia after spending over a year incarcerated following an arbitrary arrest.
On April 2018, al-Karbi was forcibly disappeared by Yemeni security forces on the border between Oman and Yemen on his way to visit family. He was prohibited from contacting his family or a lawyer, and his family was unaware of the location of his detention or the alleged charges.
The Doha-based National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has called on Saudi authorities to provide compensation for harm suffered during al-Karbi’s forced disappearance. It has also called for the release of Qatari student Abdulaziz Saeed Abdullah another victim of forced disappearance who remains in prison without trial since July 2018.
Furthermore, the NIHR has called on the UN and international organisations to open investigations into the Saudi authorities’ systematic violations and discriminatory measures used against Qatari nationals.
The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) welcomes Saudi Arabia’s release of Mohsen Saleh Saadoun al-Karbi. However, we call on the government to release Abdulaziz Saeed Abdullah and other Qatari nationals who remain in prison without trial. ECHDR encourages the European Union to take action and push for the release of victims of arbitrary arrest and forced disappearance in Saudi Arabia.