A/HRC/45/36 23. Saudi Arabia 108. The case of Mr. Abdullah Al Hamid, 68 of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), which filed local lawsuits against the Ministry of Interior and reported human rights violations to the Human Rights Council and to special procedures (SAU 5/2013), was included in the 2013 report of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/24/29, para. 32). Mr. Al Hamid died in custody on 24 April 2020, while serving a six-year sentence of imprisonment for, inter-alia, “disseminating false information to foreign groups” (A/HRC/WGAD/2015/38, para. 75). The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had found his detention arbitrary69 and urged his release.70 109. According to information reported to OHCHR, on 9 April 2020, Mr. Al Hamid suffered a stroke in Al Ha’ir prison, entered a coma, and was moved to King Saud Medical City, where he remained in critical condition. The stroke reportedly resulted from poor detention conditions and the systematic denial of adequate medical care by the prison authorities. Mr. Al Hamid was reportedly denied phone calls and visits on several occasions, and the prison authorities refused to let him inform anyone outside the prison about his declining health. In January 2020, a doctor advised Mr. Al Hamid that he urgently needed a heart catheterization operation, but the prison administration delayed the operation by several months, and he was not allowed to remain in hospital while awaiting the operation that had been projected for mid-2020. 110. The case of Ms. Loujain Al-Hathloul, who had been arrested after engaging with CEDAW, was included in the 2019 report of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/42/30, para. 73 and Annex I, paras. 91–93).71 On 27 September 2019, special procedures mandate holders urged Saudi Arabia to release Ms. Al-Hathloul, whose arrest 500 days prior they noted was partly based on her engagement with CEDAW. They also stated that “it is shockingly hypocritical that Ms. Al-Hathloul remains in prison for campaigning to change laws which have since been amended.”72 On 6 December 2019, the CEDAW Chair and Committee Focal Point on Reprisals again wrote a confidential letter to the Government 73 and on 28 February 2020, the Committee publicly urged Saudi Arabia to release her from prolonged pre-trial detention, and ensure without further delay her right to a fair trial.74 111. On 13 August 2019, it was reported in the media that Saudi state security had visited her in prison in order to negotiate a deal, whereby Ms. Al-Hathloul would be released from prison in return for making a video statement denying that she was tortured, but that she rejected this proposal. Ms. Al Hathloul has reportedly been placed in solitary confinement and had only limited access to her family. She appeared before the Criminal Court in Riyadh on 30 January 2020 and 12 February 2020, but further hearing dates have reportedly been indefinitely postponed, initially related to the COVID-19 outbreak. Prosecutors are reportedly calling for the maximum penalty under article 6 of the Cybercrime Law and pursuing the following charges: “undermining public order, religious values, good morals 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 72 Also spelled al-Hamid. Opinion No. 38/2015 adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its seventy-third session, concerning Abdullah al-Hamid (Saudi Arabia), 31 August-4 September 2015, para. 69. OHCHR, “One year on: UN group renews call for Saudi Arabia to release human rights activists,” (17 November 2016), https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20886&LangID=E. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=34611. OHCHR, “Saudi Arabia: UN experts urge freedom for Loujain Al-Hathloul after 500 days in prison,” (27 September 2019), https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25074&LangID=E. Previous letters from CEDAW: 25 May 2018, 20 July 2018, 7 August 2018, 13 November 2018, and 20 November 2018. OHCHR, “Saudi Arabia: UN women’s rights committee urges Loujain Al-Hathloul’s release from detention,” (28 February 2020), https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25635&LangID=E. See also CEDAW statement, INT_CEDAW_STA_9045_E (27 February 2020), https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT/CEDAW/ STA/9045&Lang=en.