Yahya Al-Assiri

Cases

Relevant SG report

From Country

Country Geolocation

Latitude: 23.885942

Longitude: 45.079162

From Region

Individual's/organization's activity: director of the Saudi human rights organization AlQST, which reports on the human rights situation of detainees and activists in Saudi Arabia

Type of rights defended

Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?: No

Reported trigger of reprisal: In March 2019, delivered a statement on behalf of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) during the UPR adoption of Saudi Arabia, and spoke as a panellist at a side event on Saudi Arabia organised by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)

Engagement with UN body

Type of attempted engagement

Reprisal information: As a result of his engagement, Al-Assiri reportedly received threats on social media. Some of the women human rights defenders detained in 2018 were reportedly interrogated about Mr. Al-Assiri, including explicitly regarding his engagement with the UN Human Rights Council.

Types of reprisals suffered

Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?: No

Which State raised the case at the UN and when?: In June 2019, BENELUX raised the case at the 41st session of the Human Rights Council under item 5: 'We would like to draw your attention on specific allegations of intimidation and reprisals that have been reported in a recent past and which are a source of concern for our countries. It relates notably to NGO representatives who contributed to the UPR process, such as among others Dora Mesa, Executive Director of ACDEI and Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna Coordinator of the CIR in Cuba; Rizal Rozhan and Numan Afifi who are members of a coalition of Malaysian NGO's; and Yahya Al Assiri, the director of the Saudi NGO AIQST.'

Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?: No

Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?: No

Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?: No

Follow up information provided in SG report 0

The case of Mr. Yahya Al-Assiri, of the Saudi human rights organization ALQST, was included in the 2019 report of the Secretary-General on allegations of death threats and on-line harassment for his statement during the UPR adoption in March 2019 (A/HRC/42/30, para. 74 and Annex I, para. 95). Some of the women human rights defenders detained in 2018 77 were reportedly subsequently interrogated about Mr. Al-Assiri, including explicitly regarding his engagement with the Human Rights Council, and have been questioned about information they may have provided to him. During this reporting period, OHCHR received information that Mr. Al-Assiri’s name appeared on the charge sheets of the cases of Ms. Al- Hathloul, Ms. Badawi and other women’s rights activists, who are currently being held because of their cooperation with the UN (see Annex II, above).