13 sept 2019
This file picture shows a general view of Ha'er Prison in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian authorities have reportedly arrested dozens of Jordanian nationals on charges of collecting and sending donations to impoverished Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Mustafa al-Assaf, a spokesman for the Reform parliamentary bloc – which represents the opposition in the parliament, told Arabic-language al-Khaleej Online news website on Thursday that officials in the conservative kingdom have conducted the arrest campaign against 60 Jordanians, despite the fact that they have lived in the country for many years without a criminal record or causing any security concerns.
Earlier, former Jordanian parliamentarian Hind al-Fayez and journalist Helmi al-Asmar had broken the news of Saudi authorities arresting 60 Jordanian citizens, including pilgrims, without charge or trial being leaked.
Fayez said the families of the detainees have been staging protests in front of the Saudi embassy in the Jordanian capital city of Amman to demand the immediate release of their loved ones.
“The Reform parliamentary bloc has followed up the issue of Jordanian detainees in Saudi prisons, and addressed the issue to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates several times, and the response was that it communicates with Saudi authorities,” Assaf said.
He added that arrested Jordanian citizens were collecting donations for people in the Gaza Strip with the knowledge and approval of Saudi officials, and were not doing anything other than that.
On Saturday, the Euro-Mediterranean for Human Rights Monitor, an independent, nonprofit rights organization, announced in a statement that dozens of Palestinians have forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia and their fates remain unknown.
The Swiss-based rights group noted that it was unable to give the exact number of the Palestinians who have forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia, but said it had the names of some 60 Palestinians who had met that fate.
The Palestinian community in Saudi Arabia believes that the real number of the abductees is far higher.
The Euro-Med said the Palestinians in question — among whom are students, residents, businessmen, and academics — have been completely isolated from the outside world without any indictments against them.
They have not been brought before public prosecution, nor allowed to communicate with their relatives or lawyers, it added.
Over the past two years, Saudi authorities have deported more than 100 Palestinians from the kingdom, mostly on charges of supporting Hamas resistance movement financially, politically or through social networking sites.
The Riyadh regime has imposed strict control over Palestinian funds in Saudi Arabia since the end of 2017.
All remittances of Palestinian expatriates are being tightly controlled, fearing that these funds could be diverted indirectly and through other countries to Hamas.
Money transfer offices are asking the Palestinians to bring forward strong arguments for conversion, and do not allow the ceiling of one’s money transfer to exceed $3,000.
Saudi Arabian authorities have reportedly arrested dozens of Jordanian nationals on charges of collecting and sending donations to impoverished Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Mustafa al-Assaf, a spokesman for the Reform parliamentary bloc – which represents the opposition in the parliament, told Arabic-language al-Khaleej Online news website on Thursday that officials in the conservative kingdom have conducted the arrest campaign against 60 Jordanians, despite the fact that they have lived in the country for many years without a criminal record or causing any security concerns.
Earlier, former Jordanian parliamentarian Hind al-Fayez and journalist Helmi al-Asmar had broken the news of Saudi authorities arresting 60 Jordanian citizens, including pilgrims, without charge or trial being leaked.
Fayez said the families of the detainees have been staging protests in front of the Saudi embassy in the Jordanian capital city of Amman to demand the immediate release of their loved ones.
“The Reform parliamentary bloc has followed up the issue of Jordanian detainees in Saudi prisons, and addressed the issue to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates several times, and the response was that it communicates with Saudi authorities,” Assaf said.
He added that arrested Jordanian citizens were collecting donations for people in the Gaza Strip with the knowledge and approval of Saudi officials, and were not doing anything other than that.
On Saturday, the Euro-Mediterranean for Human Rights Monitor, an independent, nonprofit rights organization, announced in a statement that dozens of Palestinians have forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia and their fates remain unknown.
The Swiss-based rights group noted that it was unable to give the exact number of the Palestinians who have forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia, but said it had the names of some 60 Palestinians who had met that fate.
The Palestinian community in Saudi Arabia believes that the real number of the abductees is far higher.
The Euro-Med said the Palestinians in question — among whom are students, residents, businessmen, and academics — have been completely isolated from the outside world without any indictments against them.
They have not been brought before public prosecution, nor allowed to communicate with their relatives or lawyers, it added.
Over the past two years, Saudi authorities have deported more than 100 Palestinians from the kingdom, mostly on charges of supporting Hamas resistance movement financially, politically or through social networking sites.
The Riyadh regime has imposed strict control over Palestinian funds in Saudi Arabia since the end of 2017.
All remittances of Palestinian expatriates are being tightly controlled, fearing that these funds could be diverted indirectly and through other countries to Hamas.
Money transfer offices are asking the Palestinians to bring forward strong arguments for conversion, and do not allow the ceiling of one’s money transfer to exceed $3,000.
This photo provided by Saudi embassy in the US shows dual US-Israeli national Joel Rosenberg shaking hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, otherwise known as MbS, has met with an influential pro-Israel delegation of American evangelical Christians in Jeddah.
Photos of the meeting, which was attended by leading American Christian Zionist leaders, including dual US-Israeli national Joel Rosenberg, were published by the Saudi government.
The nine-person delegation of the evangelical Christians also included the Rev. Johnnie Moore, a co-chairman of President Donald Trump's Evangelical Advisory Council; Larry Ross, a former longtime spokesman for one of America's most well-known evangelicals Billy Graham; and Pastor Skip Heitzig, whose Calvary Albuquerque church in New Mexico has more than 15,000 congregants.
A statement later released by the delegation said its members were grateful to have deepening relationships in Saudi Arabia "to talk openly, if sometimes privately, about what we believe must change in the kingdom even as we celebrate the kingdom's progress in so many other areas."
The talks are particularly significant since Riyadh is trying to forge closer ties with an influential electoral base in the US that could be crucial to the 2020 US presidential elections.
The meeting marked the second such visit by American evangelicals, known for their deep-rooted Islamophobia, to the kingdom. The same delegation had met with bin Salman in Riyadh back in November 2018 in line with Saudi Arabia’s growing ties with Tel Aviv.
Many evangelicals in the US support Israel as a core part of their faith.
Bin Salman’s Tuesday meeting with the Zionist delegation was held on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people and caused about $10 billion worth of property and infrastructure damage.
US officials assert that the attacks were carried out by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Lebanon, but many experts have raised questions about the official account.
They believe that rogue elements within the US government, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, orchestrated or at least encouraged the 9/11 attacks in order to accelerate the US war machine and advance the Zionist agenda.
On Thursday, US prosecutors announced that the US Justice Department will reveal the name of an individual believed to be connected to the Saudi government and accused of aiding two of the 9/11 hijackers, in response to a long-running lawsuit which seeks to link the Saudi Arabian government with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The person's identity will remain a closely guarded secret for now, though it will be shared with attorneys representing the families of victims of the attacks who have alleged the government of Saudi Arabia helped to coordinate the terrorists in a lawsuit, CNN reported.
The long-standing lawsuit also revealed sensational details, accusing special Counsel Robert Mueller of helping the Saudis cover up their role in the 9/11 attacks.
Mueller, who was appointed FBI director by former President George W. Bush two months prior to the attack, is accused of obstructing and putting road-blocks in front of his own officers investigating the Saudi connection during the critical few months following the attack.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, otherwise known as MbS, has met with an influential pro-Israel delegation of American evangelical Christians in Jeddah.
Photos of the meeting, which was attended by leading American Christian Zionist leaders, including dual US-Israeli national Joel Rosenberg, were published by the Saudi government.
The nine-person delegation of the evangelical Christians also included the Rev. Johnnie Moore, a co-chairman of President Donald Trump's Evangelical Advisory Council; Larry Ross, a former longtime spokesman for one of America's most well-known evangelicals Billy Graham; and Pastor Skip Heitzig, whose Calvary Albuquerque church in New Mexico has more than 15,000 congregants.
A statement later released by the delegation said its members were grateful to have deepening relationships in Saudi Arabia "to talk openly, if sometimes privately, about what we believe must change in the kingdom even as we celebrate the kingdom's progress in so many other areas."
The talks are particularly significant since Riyadh is trying to forge closer ties with an influential electoral base in the US that could be crucial to the 2020 US presidential elections.
The meeting marked the second such visit by American evangelicals, known for their deep-rooted Islamophobia, to the kingdom. The same delegation had met with bin Salman in Riyadh back in November 2018 in line with Saudi Arabia’s growing ties with Tel Aviv.
Many evangelicals in the US support Israel as a core part of their faith.
Bin Salman’s Tuesday meeting with the Zionist delegation was held on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people and caused about $10 billion worth of property and infrastructure damage.
US officials assert that the attacks were carried out by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Lebanon, but many experts have raised questions about the official account.
They believe that rogue elements within the US government, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, orchestrated or at least encouraged the 9/11 attacks in order to accelerate the US war machine and advance the Zionist agenda.
On Thursday, US prosecutors announced that the US Justice Department will reveal the name of an individual believed to be connected to the Saudi government and accused of aiding two of the 9/11 hijackers, in response to a long-running lawsuit which seeks to link the Saudi Arabian government with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The person's identity will remain a closely guarded secret for now, though it will be shared with attorneys representing the families of victims of the attacks who have alleged the government of Saudi Arabia helped to coordinate the terrorists in a lawsuit, CNN reported.
The long-standing lawsuit also revealed sensational details, accusing special Counsel Robert Mueller of helping the Saudis cover up their role in the 9/11 attacks.
Mueller, who was appointed FBI director by former President George W. Bush two months prior to the attack, is accused of obstructing and putting road-blocks in front of his own officers investigating the Saudi connection during the critical few months following the attack.
10 sept 2019
Nearly five months ago, the Saudi authorities arrested Dr. Mohamed al-Khudari, a senior Hamas official who has been living in Jeddah City for about 30 years, a statement released by the Hamas Movement said.
Hamas strongly denounced the detention of Khudari (Abu Hani) and appealed to the Saudi authorities to release him and other Palestinian detainees who are in jails with no guilt.
Hamas described the detention of Khudari as a strange and reprehensible move and affirmed that he had been in charge of managing the Movement’s relations with Saudi Arabia for two decades and held other important positions.
The Movement expressed regret and dismay that Khudari’s age, which reached 81, his poor health, and his stature as a noted ear, nose and throat consultant did not contribute to interceding with the Saudi authorities for him, describing him as a national figure who provided great services at home and abroad for the Palestinian people and their national cause.
It noted that the Saudi authorities also arrested Khudari’s eldest son, Dr. Hani, with no reason, as part of an arrest campaign that targeted many Palestinians living in the country.
Hamas said it had remained silent for five months to give a chance for diplomatic and mediatory efforts to have him released, but they were to no avail.
Hamas strongly denounced the detention of Khudari (Abu Hani) and appealed to the Saudi authorities to release him and other Palestinian detainees who are in jails with no guilt.
Hamas described the detention of Khudari as a strange and reprehensible move and affirmed that he had been in charge of managing the Movement’s relations with Saudi Arabia for two decades and held other important positions.
The Movement expressed regret and dismay that Khudari’s age, which reached 81, his poor health, and his stature as a noted ear, nose and throat consultant did not contribute to interceding with the Saudi authorities for him, describing him as a national figure who provided great services at home and abroad for the Palestinian people and their national cause.
It noted that the Saudi authorities also arrested Khudari’s eldest son, Dr. Hani, with no reason, as part of an arrest campaign that targeted many Palestinians living in the country.
Hamas said it had remained silent for five months to give a chance for diplomatic and mediatory efforts to have him released, but they were to no avail.
8 sept 2019
The Euro-Mediterranean Monitor for Human Rights urged the Saudi authorities to immediately reveal the fate of dozens of Palestinians who have been subjected to enforced disappearance and to release them.
The Geneva-based group said in a statement that it could not give an exact number of the Palestinian detainees in Saudi Arabia, but it has names of about 60 people, while the Palestinian community in Saudi Arabia says the number far exceeds this.
Euro-Med added that it was able to document testimonies from eleven Palestinian families whose relatives had been arrested or forcibly disappeared in the last few months during their stay or visit to Saudi Arabia, including students, residents, academics and businessmen.
In fact, those people were isolated from the outside world without any specific indictments against them. They were not brought before the public prosecution, nor allowed to communicate with their relatives, or communicate with their lawyers, the group noted.
"The campaign of arrests targeting Palestinians represents a small part of a long series of violations that are added to the Kingdom's horrific human rights record," Selin Yasar, Euro-Med’s communication and media officer, said.
A detainee with an Algerian nationality, who was released recently, has revealed to Euro-Med some of the practices, violations, and methods of torture that the detainees, especially Palestinians, suffer from by interrogators and jailers of the Dhahban Central Prison in Saudi Arabia.
The former detainee, who left Saudi Arabia last week, said those jailers deprived detainees of sleep or access to medical treatment, although some of them were elderly and in need of special care.
He added that food inside the prison was served in a humiliating way and was sometimes offered in bags, and that the jailers kept detainees shackled even while in their prison cells.
The Dhahban Central Prison is located in a small, isolated village off the coast, 20 kilometers outside the borders of Jeddah, where authorities are holding thousands of prisoners.
The Geneva-based group pointed out that the family of engineer (A5), a resident of the occupied West Bank, had lost contact with him early last month, while attending to the Passports Department in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
According to the family's statement, they and his friends, who work for a Saudi company, were prevented from asking about his fate or the place of detention.
"My biggest pain is not knowing anything about my husband. I do not know if he is alive, dead, healthy or tortured, and this made his disappearance more painful for my children, his parents, and his siblings," said A5's wife.
According to Euro-Med, the family of the Palestinian (B7) is another example of enforced disappearance in Saudi Arabia. The family of B7 lost contact with him last July, and has known nothing about him since then despite their repeated appeals to the authorities to reveal his fate or whereabouts.
According to the family, its relative is a former prisoner in Israeli jails and was forcibly deported to Jordan, where he completed his university education, got married and then moved to work for a company in Saudi Arabia.
Euro-Med also said that the Saudi authorities arrested last July a 60-year-old Palestinian businessman, who has been living in Jeddah for decades.
Euro-Med reported that one of the detainee’s sons said that the authorities confiscated his money, threatened his family members to keep silent, and prevented them of leaving Saudi Arabia.
Euro-Med also reported the detention of Palestinian-born people with Arab nationalities while performing pilgrimage this year, but their families remain silent regarding the conditions of their detention in the hope that their nightmare of enforced disappearance would come to an end, and they would return to their normal life.
Among those cases is a family of Palestinian origins with a Jordanian nationality. Their breadwinner left to perform pilgrimage with his wife, but he did not return to Jordan. His wife, who told his children and friends that the authorities in Jeddah had summoned him for an interview on August 9, did. Since then, she has had no idea about his fate or the place of detention.
The wife said that she had submitted the necessary documents to the Saudi embassy in Amman upon her return to Jordan, and had also requested the Jordanian foreign ministry to help collect information about her husband's fate.
Euro-Med described the Saudi authorities' practices against Palestinian citizens and detainees as serious human rights violations and a reflection that the competent authorities in the country do not respect international legal rules that guarantee the simplest litigation rights for any individual.
The human rights group affirmed that under international law, the crime of enforced disappearance could still be valid until the state reveals the fate or whereabouts of the person concerned.
It called upon Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to order the executive authorities to immediately reveal the fate of dozens of Palestinians who have been subjected to enforced disappearance, release others detained without specific indictments, and open an urgent investigation into these cases and prosecute those responsible.
The organization also urged the Saudi King to address the brutal methods used by the Saudi security forces against those forcibly disappeared and subjected to other forms of bad treatment.
It appealed to the international community to put pressure on the Saudi decision-makers to spare Saudi citizens and foreigners the suffering of secret detention and to end the flagrant human rights violations in the country.
The Geneva-based group said in a statement that it could not give an exact number of the Palestinian detainees in Saudi Arabia, but it has names of about 60 people, while the Palestinian community in Saudi Arabia says the number far exceeds this.
Euro-Med added that it was able to document testimonies from eleven Palestinian families whose relatives had been arrested or forcibly disappeared in the last few months during their stay or visit to Saudi Arabia, including students, residents, academics and businessmen.
In fact, those people were isolated from the outside world without any specific indictments against them. They were not brought before the public prosecution, nor allowed to communicate with their relatives, or communicate with their lawyers, the group noted.
"The campaign of arrests targeting Palestinians represents a small part of a long series of violations that are added to the Kingdom's horrific human rights record," Selin Yasar, Euro-Med’s communication and media officer, said.
A detainee with an Algerian nationality, who was released recently, has revealed to Euro-Med some of the practices, violations, and methods of torture that the detainees, especially Palestinians, suffer from by interrogators and jailers of the Dhahban Central Prison in Saudi Arabia.
The former detainee, who left Saudi Arabia last week, said those jailers deprived detainees of sleep or access to medical treatment, although some of them were elderly and in need of special care.
He added that food inside the prison was served in a humiliating way and was sometimes offered in bags, and that the jailers kept detainees shackled even while in their prison cells.
The Dhahban Central Prison is located in a small, isolated village off the coast, 20 kilometers outside the borders of Jeddah, where authorities are holding thousands of prisoners.
The Geneva-based group pointed out that the family of engineer (A5), a resident of the occupied West Bank, had lost contact with him early last month, while attending to the Passports Department in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
According to the family's statement, they and his friends, who work for a Saudi company, were prevented from asking about his fate or the place of detention.
"My biggest pain is not knowing anything about my husband. I do not know if he is alive, dead, healthy or tortured, and this made his disappearance more painful for my children, his parents, and his siblings," said A5's wife.
According to Euro-Med, the family of the Palestinian (B7) is another example of enforced disappearance in Saudi Arabia. The family of B7 lost contact with him last July, and has known nothing about him since then despite their repeated appeals to the authorities to reveal his fate or whereabouts.
According to the family, its relative is a former prisoner in Israeli jails and was forcibly deported to Jordan, where he completed his university education, got married and then moved to work for a company in Saudi Arabia.
Euro-Med also said that the Saudi authorities arrested last July a 60-year-old Palestinian businessman, who has been living in Jeddah for decades.
Euro-Med reported that one of the detainee’s sons said that the authorities confiscated his money, threatened his family members to keep silent, and prevented them of leaving Saudi Arabia.
Euro-Med also reported the detention of Palestinian-born people with Arab nationalities while performing pilgrimage this year, but their families remain silent regarding the conditions of their detention in the hope that their nightmare of enforced disappearance would come to an end, and they would return to their normal life.
Among those cases is a family of Palestinian origins with a Jordanian nationality. Their breadwinner left to perform pilgrimage with his wife, but he did not return to Jordan. His wife, who told his children and friends that the authorities in Jeddah had summoned him for an interview on August 9, did. Since then, she has had no idea about his fate or the place of detention.
The wife said that she had submitted the necessary documents to the Saudi embassy in Amman upon her return to Jordan, and had also requested the Jordanian foreign ministry to help collect information about her husband's fate.
Euro-Med described the Saudi authorities' practices against Palestinian citizens and detainees as serious human rights violations and a reflection that the competent authorities in the country do not respect international legal rules that guarantee the simplest litigation rights for any individual.
The human rights group affirmed that under international law, the crime of enforced disappearance could still be valid until the state reveals the fate or whereabouts of the person concerned.
It called upon Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to order the executive authorities to immediately reveal the fate of dozens of Palestinians who have been subjected to enforced disappearance, release others detained without specific indictments, and open an urgent investigation into these cases and prosecute those responsible.
The organization also urged the Saudi King to address the brutal methods used by the Saudi security forces against those forcibly disappeared and subjected to other forms of bad treatment.
It appealed to the international community to put pressure on the Saudi decision-makers to spare Saudi citizens and foreigners the suffering of secret detention and to end the flagrant human rights violations in the country.