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Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday called for the immediate and unconditional release of ten Egyptian Nubian men who have been held by Saudi authorities for over five years, urging the country to uphold its commitment to socio-economic reforms.
The organization emphasized that the ten individuals were detained solely for expressing their cultural heritage and asserted that they should be released regardless of their original sentences. The detained men were community leaders of the Egyptian Nubian diaspora in Saudi Arabia and all members of the Dahmit Nubian Village Association, a cultural organization in Riyadh dedicated to preserving Nubian heritage.
Authorities arrested the men in July 2020 and held them in prison without formal charges or trial for over a year. In October 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced them to prison terms ranging from ten to 18 years for spreading false information on social media, establishing an unlicensed association, and supporting a terrorist group. In September 2025, the court reduced their sentences to a maximum of nine years.
Despite the reduction in sentences, HRW considered that all ten prisoners remain unjustly detained and reported human rights violations. These included delays in filing formal charges, which occurred more than a year after their arrest, as well as limiting their contact with family to one phone call every two weeks.
Saudi Arabia researcher at HRW, Joey Shea, said: “By continuing to detain peaceful cultural leaders, Saudi authorities are demonstrating that the spate of prisoner releases earlier in 2025 does not indicate a policy shift towards ending the unlawful crackdown on dissent.” Consequently, she urged authorities to demonstrate their commitment to reform and cultural promotion by releasing the arrested Nubian men.
Several human rights groups and international organizations have previously raised concerns about human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, including the mistreatment of prisoners, excessive use of the death penalty, and arrests of rights activists. In September, the UN urged the country’s authorities to halt executions of people for offenses committed as minors.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s promise to promote social and economic reforms through the Vision 2030 strategy, the country has faced criticism for using international cultural events, such as the Riyadh Comedy Festival, to divert the international community’s attention from serious human rights violations. The comedians who participated in the festival were also criticized for failing to support freedom of speech and for remaining silent on the country’s human rights situation.
The post Rights group renews call for Saudi Arabia to release detained Egyptian Nubian men appeared first on JURIST - News.
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The organization emphasized that the ten individuals were detained solely for expressing their cultural heritage and asserted that they should be released regardless of their original sentences. The detained men were community leaders of the Egyptian Nubian diaspora in Saudi Arabia and all members of the Dahmit Nubian Village Association, a cultural organization in Riyadh dedicated to preserving Nubian heritage.
Authorities arrested the men in July 2020 and held them in prison without formal charges or trial for over a year. In October 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced them to prison terms ranging from ten to 18 years for spreading false information on social media, establishing an unlicensed association, and supporting a terrorist group. In September 2025, the court reduced their sentences to a maximum of nine years.
Despite the reduction in sentences, HRW considered that all ten prisoners remain unjustly detained and reported human rights violations. These included delays in filing formal charges, which occurred more than a year after their arrest, as well as limiting their contact with family to one phone call every two weeks.
Saudi Arabia researcher at HRW, Joey Shea, said: “By continuing to detain peaceful cultural leaders, Saudi authorities are demonstrating that the spate of prisoner releases earlier in 2025 does not indicate a policy shift towards ending the unlawful crackdown on dissent.” Consequently, she urged authorities to demonstrate their commitment to reform and cultural promotion by releasing the arrested Nubian men.
Several human rights groups and international organizations have previously raised concerns about human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, including the mistreatment of prisoners, excessive use of the death penalty, and arrests of rights activists. In September, the UN urged the country’s authorities to halt executions of people for offenses committed as minors.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s promise to promote social and economic reforms through the Vision 2030 strategy, the country has faced criticism for using international cultural events, such as the Riyadh Comedy Festival, to divert the international community’s attention from serious human rights violations. The comedians who participated in the festival were also criticized for failing to support freedom of speech and for remaining silent on the country’s human rights situation.
The post Rights group renews call for Saudi Arabia to release detained Egyptian Nubian men appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.