A leading Saudi Arabia Human Rights advocate and political reform movement member, Dr. Abdullah al-Hamid, died on Friday in Prison while serving his Jailed Term.
The scholar who was sentenced because of his activism had suffered a stroke on April 9.
Dr. Abdullah had been in a coma in the intensive care unit at al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh.
He has suffered hypertension. Three months ago, Doctor told him that he needed heart surgery.
However, prison authorities threaten him that if he revealed his health condition to his family, they could cut them communication between him and family.
Amnesty International Middle East Research Director, Lynn Maalouf, who responded to his said:
“We are devastated to learn of Dr. Abdullah al-Hamid’s passing while he remained in detention for his peaceful activism.
“Dr al-Hamid was a fearless champion for human rights in Saudi Arabia, who was determined to build a better world for all. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, who for the past eight years had been deprived of his presence as a result of the state’s inhumane repression.
“As a prominent human rights campaigner, Dr al-Hamid’s important work continues to resonate throughout the region. He, and all other prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia, should never have been in jail in the first place.
“We again call on the Saudi Arabian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those still imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their human rights.”
Brief Background of His Arrest
According to Alaraby, Dr al-Hamid was a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) and spent years advocating for and promoting rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
He published 15 books and seven collections of poetry. He wrote many articles about civil reform and challenged the kingdom’s monopoly on Islam.
As a human rights defender, writer, and academic, he had written extensively on human rights and the independence of the judiciary. He was a professor of contemporary literature at al-Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh before being dismissed for his activism.
Dr al-Hamid was prosecuted repeatedly for his peaceful work. He was first arrested in 1993 after he founded a group with other academics who advocated for the kingdom to recognize and implement key human rights.
In March 2012, he and Mohammad al-Qahtani, a fellow ACPRA founding member, were arrested and interrogated regarding their work with ACPRA and their peaceful activism.
In March 2013, they were sentenced to 11 and 10 years in prison respectively, on charges of “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, “questioning the integrity of officials”, “seeking to disrupt security and inciting disorder by calling for demonstrations”, and “instigating international organizations against the Kingdom”.
His two brothers Issa and Abdulrahman al-Hamid are currently imprisoned for their activism.
He is survived by his wife and eight children.
