RIYADH, 16 April 2006 — The National Society for Human Rights has urged Amnesty International to take up the case of a Saudi citizen imprisoned without trial in Israel, a spokesman said yesterday.
The Saudi rights watchdog has written to the London-based organization demanding its intervention to uphold the detainee’s rights, NSHR’s deputy president, Mufleh Al-Qahtani, said.
The Saudi prisoner, Abdul Rahman Al-Atwi, “should be either put on trial or released,” Qahtani said.
He said his group had sent the message to Amnesty a couple of days ago and was awaiting a reply. “According to the information we have compiled, he (Al-Atwi) is on hunger strike and has not been treated well for a long time,” Qahtani added.
Mousa Al-Atwi, one of Abdul Rahman’s eight brothers, said Arab members of the Israeli Knesset, accompanied by a Red Crescent delegation, would visit the Saudi in Israel’s Ramleh prison, where he has been held since his arrest a year ago on charges of illegally crossing into Israeli territory.
Al-Atwi, 36, who is divorced with a daughter, hails from the northwestern region of Tabuk. He worked as a civil defense soldier before moving to work for a company in Makkah.
Tabuk Governor Prince Fahd ibn Sultan, who has already provided financial aid to Al-Atwi’s family, has instructed officials in the province to examine the family’s conditions with a view to offering assistance.
Al-Qahtani ruled out contacts with Israeli civil society organizations to secure Al-Atwi’s release, indicating that NSHR will seek the help of only international human rights organizations in this regard.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said on April 4 that Israel was holding the Saudi national and that Riyadh was in contact with UN bodies to secure his repatriation.
