Between December 2024 and February 2025, Saudi Arabia released about 44 prisoners. Many of these are human rights activists or people arrested in the wake of restrictions on the right to expression in the country. As much as this event may seem a step forward for Saudi Arabia, another aspect must be considered – many times, released people are still subjected to restrictions that lengthen their sentence outside prison.
The Saudi government imposes different types of restrictions on recently released persons. The most used restrictions are travel bans, often extended to their family members. The use of this measure appears worrying as it is used arbitrarily. Moreover, even when these travel bans expire, they are still not removed, and any attempt by people to appeal this is blocked.
This happened to Loujain al-Hathloul, a women’s rights activist, on whom a travel ban has been imposed since her release in February 2021. Her ban was scheduled to expire in November 2023, but was not lifted. In December 2023, she filed a complaint against the Presidency of State Security, demanding that her travel restrictions be removed. Nine months later, her case came before the Diwan al-Mazalem (an administrative court), which could not address the case. When questioned about al-Hathloul’s complaint, State Security stated that it had not received the documents relating to the case. The judge, therefore, declared himself incompetent and dropped the case. To this day, al-Hathloul continues to be subjected to this measure.
Saudi Arabia’s use of travel bans is, however, controversial. The Arab Charter on Human Rights, to which Saudi Arabia is a party, states in Art. 27: “No one may be arbitrarily or unlawfully prevented from leaving any country, including his own […]” Furthermore, the Saudi Travel Document Law also states in Art. 6 that a travel ban can only be imposed for specific security reasons and only for a limited period. Therefore, the way this type of restriction is used shows how arbitrary its application is. Indeed, it serves more as a means to control critical government voices and restrict their activities.
Travel restrictions are not the only means used by the Saudi government against recently released persons. Some had to sign pledges prohibiting them from discussing public affairs, especially online. Some were also banned from receiving home visits. Many former inmates were also required to wear an electronic bracelet to monitor their movements. Others were threatened with re-arrest if they talked about the conditions in which they lived in prison.
This type of restrictive measure places newly released persons in a new restrictive condition. As if this were not enough, such measures indirectly, and sometimes directly, affect their families. This can lead many families to live in great insecurity and fear. Moreover, the use of certain restrictions does not help the reintegration of former prisoners into society, leading them to drift away from it.
Saudi Arabia is a country that wants to appear more open and progressive. For this reason, such an arbitrary use of restrictive measures on recently released persons is controversial. A country should help these people reintegrate into society and protect them, not impose further restrictions on them. The way the Saudi government silences dissidents and activists even after they have served their sentences is worrying. Therefore, these kinds of cases must be brought to light because this is the only way to keep the Saudi government accountable. This would also support all those activists and dissidents who must be free to express their opinions without fear of retaliatory acts.
