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A group of 20 human rights organizations said on Monday that Bulgarian authorities should suspend plans to deport Saudi human rights defender Abdulrahman al-Khalidi to Saudi Arabia and allow his resettlement to a third country.
Al-Khalidi has been a human rights defender and prisoners’ rights advocate for over a decade. After fleeing Saudi Arabia in 2013 fearing persecution, he continued criticizing the Saudi government by writing articles and participating in the online movement “Bees Army,” founded by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. When Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, al-Khalidi sought asylum in Bulgaria.
In May 2022, Bulgaria’s State Agency for Refugees rejected al-Khalidi’s asylum application, denying his claim of being at risk of persecution in Saudi Arabia, which was appealed by al-Khalidi to the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria twice.
The National Security Agency of Bulgaria issued an expulsion order against al-Khalidi in February 2024, which was subsequently confirmed by the Sofia Administrative Court in October 2024. However, the order cannot be executed unless all parallel asylum appeals are exhausted.
Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, warned that Bulgaria risked violating the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents countries from deporting foreign nationals to countries where they may face harm.
Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment prohibits any state party from expelling, returning, or extraditing a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture. Furthermore, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits torture and “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” This protection is also applicable under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and customary international law. Additionally, Article 33 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees prohibits returning refugees to territories where they may face persecution.
Human rights organizations have previously documented Saudi authorities‘ targeting of dissidents under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including the execution of 81 men in March 2022 in the country’s largest mass execution in decades despite promises to curtail capital punishment.
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Al-Khalidi has been a human rights defender and prisoners’ rights advocate for over a decade. After fleeing Saudi Arabia in 2013 fearing persecution, he continued criticizing the Saudi government by writing articles and participating in the online movement “Bees Army,” founded by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. When Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, al-Khalidi sought asylum in Bulgaria.
In May 2022, Bulgaria’s State Agency for Refugees rejected al-Khalidi’s asylum application, denying his claim of being at risk of persecution in Saudi Arabia, which was appealed by al-Khalidi to the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria twice.
The National Security Agency of Bulgaria issued an expulsion order against al-Khalidi in February 2024, which was subsequently confirmed by the Sofia Administrative Court in October 2024. However, the order cannot be executed unless all parallel asylum appeals are exhausted.
Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, warned that Bulgaria risked violating the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents countries from deporting foreign nationals to countries where they may face harm.
Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment prohibits any state party from expelling, returning, or extraditing a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture. Furthermore, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits torture and “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” This protection is also applicable under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and customary international law. Additionally, Article 33 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees prohibits returning refugees to territories where they may face persecution.
Human rights organizations have previously documented Saudi authorities‘ targeting of dissidents under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including the execution of 81 men in March 2022 in the country’s largest mass execution in decades despite promises to curtail capital punishment.
The post Rights organizations call on Bulgaria to not deport activist to Saudi Arabia 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.