Saudi Arabia- Authorities prevent journalist and human rights defender Iman Al-Qahtani from traveling

http://gc4hr.org/news/view/459

20-Jul-13

On 19 July 2013, Saudi authorities stopped journalist and human rights defender Iman Al-Qahtani at the Dammam airport and prevented her from travelling to Istanbul.

Iman Al-Qahtani has worked at several newspapers in Riyadh and has also had articles published with the Guardian Newspaper in the UK. She has reported extensively on human rights activists in detention and has expressed solidarity with their families. She attended the trial of the leaders of the Association of Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA). For further information on their trial please see GCHR appeal dated 11 March 2013 (http://gc4hr.org/news/view/362), where the human rights organization was dissolved and its leaders imprisoned. She has also written on Saudi women and their political role in society. On 10 April 2013, Iman Al-Qahtani closed down her Twitter account (@ImaQh). She has been active on Twitter and had a following of over 80,000 people. It is reported that Iman Al-Qahtani has been subjected to continuous harassment by members of the security forces. They have threatened her with jail and with targeting her family members, including her mother, if she did not stop her human rights activities. As a result she was under significant pressure to stop her on-line postings and to close her account. On 17 July 2013, her husband got a telephone call from officials working for the Ministry of Interior in which they summoned his wife Iman Al-Qahtni to appear before the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIP) in Dammam on 21 July 2013 for interrogation. On 19 July 2013, Iman Al-Qahtani was on her way to take a flight to Istanbul, when the authorities stopped her at the immigration counter at Dammam airport. They informed her that a travel ban had been imposed on her and she was obliged to return home.  The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) believes that journalist and human rights defender Iman Al-Qahtani was prevented from travelling because of her legitimate activities in defence of human rights and is a part of a broader pattern of harassment of human rights defenders by the Saudi authorities. The GCHR further believes that imposing a travel ban on Iman Al-Qahtani constitutes a breach of her freedom of movement and is an attempt to hinder her legitimate and peaceful human rights work. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights urges the authorities in Saudi Arabia to:

1. Carry out an immediate, impartial and thorough investigation into the prevention of Iman Al-Qahtani from leaving the country with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in line with international standards;
2. Ensure that Iman Al-Qahtani is free to travel to and from Saudi Arabia without illegitimate interference by authorities;
3. Guarantee the freedom of expression and opinion to Iman Al-Qahtani  through her social media accounts and through her published article;
4. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

The GCHR respectfully reminds you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. We would particularly draw your attention to Article 5 (c): "For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: (c) To communicate with non-governmental or intergovernmental organizations" and to Article 6 (c): "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters."