The state of human rights in Saudi Arabia remains extremely limited as authorities arbitrarily restrict the rights of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly through draconian laws, as well as the arrest and imprisonment of government critics, political opposition leaders, students, and professors. In recent years, detainees have faced torture and other mistreatment, and courts have handed down death and lengthy prison sentences after unfair mass trials.

The repression of academics who are government critics and/or human rights advocates is among the foremost obstacles to academic freedom in Saudi Arabia. In the past two decades, many such individuals have received lengthy prison sentences for their expression, under charges such as terrorism or collaboration with foreign entities; meanwhile, others have spent years in prison without any disclosed charges. According to ALQST for Human Rights, a Saudi human rights advocacy organization based in London, United Kingdom, there are at least 20 academics currently imprisoned for political reasons in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Awad ibn Muhammed al-Qarni is one such academic, an Islamic legal scholar who has been in prison since 2017 on domestic terrorism charges over his social media activity and his alleged membership in the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2023, Saudi state prosecutors sought a death sentence for Dr. al-Qarni, which was condemned by the Middle East Studies Association in an open letter in March 2023. The same year, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention identified his imprisonment as a case of arbitrary detention. Another case is that of Salma al-Shehab, an activist and PhD candidate at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, who was similarly arrested in August 2022 over her social media posts about political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. Initially sentenced to a staggering 34 years in prison as well as a 34-year travel ban, al-Shehab’s sentence was reduced to four years in September 2024 in a retrial, and she was subsequently released in February 2025.

Political activity for academics, especially directed towards human rights and democratic reform in Saudi Arabia, is especially dangerous. Many academics are still serving 20 to 30-year prison sentences received in retaliation for their political activity. Examples include Saud al-Hashimi, a medical doctor and former faculty member at the King Abdulaziz University, who has been serving a 30-year prison sentence given in 2010, following three years of pre-trial detention. Mohammed Fahad al-Qahtani, an economics professor and co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), an organization for advancing human rights in Saudi Arabia, which is now banned, was released from prison on January 7, 2025, after almost 13 years in prison, despite having been sentenced to 10 years. Following his release, Dr. al-Qahtani is currently subject to a 10-year travel ban. Another academic and co-founder of ACPRA, Abdulkarim al-Khodr, a former professor of Comparative Jurisprudence at Qassim University in Saudi Arabia, is serving a travel ban after having been released in 2023 following a ten-year prison sentence.

An additional issue that is dangerous for Saudi academics to talk about is the issue of women’s rights. In 2018 and 2019, a wave of arrests targeted academics such as Dr. Eman Al Nafjan, Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi, and Anas al-Mazrouee for publicly advocating for the advancement of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Such measures of intimidation can have chilling effects on academic freedom, restricting the scope of “acceptable” academic expression for several years and even decades to come.

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Endangered Scholars Worldwide condemns the unjustified punishment of academics in Saudi Arabia as retaliation for their expression and political activism on issues such as the rule of law, civil rights and liberties and women’s rights. We call on the Saudi government to release all political prisoners and bring an end to unfair trial practices such as the mistreatment of prisoners and forced disappearences. We invite the global community to join our call.

(Last updated: August 06, 2026)

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Please send appeals to the following:

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Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nasseriya Street 
Riyadh 11124 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Fax: +966 1 403 0645 

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Walid bin Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Samaani
Minister of Justice
PO Box 58889, Bldg. 373 
King Fahad Road 
Riyadh 11515 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Fax: +966 1 4612061

Dr. Abdulaziz Alwasil

Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia to the UN

809 United Nations Plaza #10

New York, NY 10017

United States of America

+1 (212) 557-1525