Abdulkareem al-Hawaj

Abdulkareem al-Hawaj

was a child at the time of his alleged offenses and arrest. Born in November 1995, he was arrested in January 2014 while he was walking home from work and subsequently forcibly disappeared. The men who arrested him wore civilian clothing and were possibly linked to the General Directorate of Investigation, which supervises the domestic intelligence service—the mabahith. Officials disappeared him for five months, during which time he was placed in solitary confinement. Authorities also tortured him into confessing to crimes officials accused him of committing. Authorities did not allow him to contact a lawyer for two years. Even after Abdulkareem received a lawyer, officials harassed the lawyer, and the court did not respond to his lawyer’s requests for information. On 27 July 2016, Saudi Arabia’s anti-terror Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) issues its initial judgement against Abdulkareem. It sentenced him to death on accusations related to charges dating to when he was 16-years old.

Personal information

Name: Abdulkareem al-Hawaj

Name in Arabic: عبد الكريم الحواج

Date of Birth: Unknown

Gender: Male

Marital status: Single

Profession: Unknown

Place of residence: Unknown

Arrest and jail information

Date of arrest:1 January 2014

Manner of arrest: Unknown

Where held: Dammam Al-Mabaheth (General Investigations Directorate)

Trial information

Alleged crimes: Unknown

Victim's charges: Al-Hawaj was charged with some of the following accusations which are related to the exercise of freedom of expression while being a miner:

Participating in demonstrations.
Sharing Photos/Videos of protest in Qatif and Bahrain on social media.
Burning tires on the streets
Throwing two in cendiary bottles at the General Court of Qatif.
Showing sympathy with the protesters in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Court: Unknown

Verdict: Unknown

Date of verdict: Unknown

Updates on trial: Unknown

Previous arrests:

Human Rights Violations

Violations: Arbitrary arrest/ detention, Denied access to a lawyer , Denied contact with family, Enforced disappearance, Held in Solitary confinement, Torture and ill-treatment

Violation details: physically and psychologically tortured and abused by unidentified Saudi Soldiers whom were hiding their faces.

References

Reference 1: https://www.esohr.org/en/?p=2974

Reference 2: https://www.esohr.org/en/?p=1266

Reference 3: https://www.adhrb.org/2016/09/facing-death-sentence-saudi-arabia-alleged-crimes-committed-minors/

Reference 4: None

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