This year marks ten years since Saudi Arabia imprisoned Waleed Abu al-Khair, one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers, for peacefully speaking out in defense of justice and dignity. He was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to 15 years in prison after an unfair trial before the Specialised Criminal Court, which used anti-terrorism legislation to criminalize his peaceful activism. A decade later, he remains behind bars, with no sign of early release, in a country where repression continues to deepen.
Abu al-Khair was one of the first lawyers in the Kingdom to publicly defend political detainees. He founded the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA), represented reformist figures like Raif Badawi, and consistently spoke out against torture, arbitrary arrests, and crackdowns on freedom of expression. His trial was riddled with violations: no access to legal counsel during interrogation, no opportunity to prepare a proper defense, and a sentence that punished him for “disobeying the ruler,” “harming the reputation of the state,” and “insulting the judiciary”
His case is far from isolated. In June 2025, journalist Turki al-Jasser was executed following seven years of arbitrary detention on vague terrorism charges. Al-Jasser had long criticized the Saudi government’s repression and corruption, both publicly and anonymously. His execution, the first of a journalist under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, illustrates how the state’s Anti-Terrorism Law is now systematically used to label peaceful dissent as a threat to national security. Even after serving their sentences, former prisoners continue to face state persecution. As documented by ADHRB, Saudi authorities impose post-release restrictions including arbitrary travel bans, asset freezes, and digital surveillance. These measures aim to permanently silence critics and prevent any return to activism, showing that repression does not end at the prison gate.
Others, like religious scholar Abdulrahman al-Dowaish, are subjected to enforced disappearance. In 2016, al-Dowaish was abducted after reportedly criticizing the royal family. For nearly eight years, his family received no official information about his fate. His case is emblematic of how Saudi authorities use disappearance to intimidate and eliminate dissent outside the judicial process entirely.
Meanwhile, the death penalty has become a central tool in the Kingdom’s repression machine. In just the first four months of 2025, Saudi Arabia executed 100 people, many for non-lethal offenses such as drug crimes or political charges. Among those at risk are minors and foreign nationals, who are frequently denied due process. As of mid-June, 154 executions had already been confirmed, raising fears that 2025 may surpass the record-breaking figures of 2024. Far from promoting justice, the judicial system has been repurposed as a tool to uphold impunity and eliminate dissent.
Despite repeated reform pledges under Vision 2030, the Saudi government continues to equate criticism with terrorism, hide abuse behind national security rhetoric, and use capital punishment to silence the vulnerable. As long as voices like Waleed Abu al-Khair remain imprisoned, al-Jasser is executed, and al-Dowaish remains disappeared, these claims of modernization ring hollow.
The international community must speak out. It must demand the release of Waleed Abu al-Khair and all those unjustly detained, disappeared, or silenced. And it must reject the illusion of reform that masks a brutal campaign of repression. Without sustained pressure and accountability, the cycle of abuse will continue—and the cost will be paid by those with the courage to speak.
