During the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Right Livelihood’s Advocacy team delivered a statement on behalf of Abdullah al-Qahtani, Right Livelihood Laureate Mohammad al-Qahtani’s son. The statement brought attention to the Laureate’s nearly two-year enforced disappearance and the Saudi government’s failure to clarify his whereabouts and share truthful information with family and US diplomats.
You can read the entire statement here.
Mohammad al-Qahtani is a pioneering human rights defender from Saudi Arabia and the founding member of the now-dissolved Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA). In 2013, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his human rights work.
Instead of being released upon the completion of his sentence in October 2023, al-Qahtani was forcibly disappeared. His family and loved ones have not heard from him since, with Saudi authorities simultaneously denying his disappearance and refusing to provide any information about his whereabouts.
Speaking on behalf of Abdullah and his family, we called on Saudi Arabia to release Mohammad unconditionally. The statement built upon the #FreeAlQahtani campaign, a joint effort by Right Livelihood, ALQST for Human Rights and MENA Rights Group dedicated to securing the esteemed human rights defender’s release.
We also shared Abdullah’s request for the Council to push Saudi authorities to allow independent experts, including human rights organisations, to visit Saudi prisons.
The Saudi officials’ lack of transparency allows the human rights situation in the country to go unchecked. Recently, the Saudi Commission President lied to US diplomats, asserting that Mohammad had contacted his family and had not disappeared.
Right Livelihood will continue to work with the al-Qahtani family to highlight Mohammad’s wrongful imprisonment and enforced disappearance until he is brought home.
