(Beirut) – Saudi Arabia should end the mistreatment of older prisoners and ensure their access to adequate medical care, SANAD Organization for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities denied the United Nations Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons access to older prisoners, including two she had asked to see, during her April visit even though the government had invited her to visit the country.
Qasim al-Qathrdi, a 70-year-old Saudi academic and preacher, died in prison on April 29, 2025, during the visit, said SANAD, a Saudi organization. The group said he was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to eight years in prison followed by an eight-year travel ban on vague charges related to “disrupting public order.”
“Dr. al-Qathrdi’s death, the result of apparent deliberate medical neglect and the denial of release on bail despite his deteriorating health, is not an isolated incident,” said Samer Alshumrani, SANAD operations manager. “We are sounding the alarm over the danger facing older prisoners and we call on the Saudi authorities to immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and provide urgent and adequate medical care to all prisoners.”
The Saudi government invited the UN expert to visit the country from April 20 to 30, the UN said. During her visit to Saudi’s notorious al-Ha’ir prison, she requested access to clerics and the human rights defenders Safar Al-Hawali, 75, and Salman Al-Ouda, 69. Prison authorities rejected her request. Refusing access “violates the terms of reference for country visits” by UN experts, she said.
She urged the Saudi government to allow prisoners access to their families and to independent monitors. Prison authorities did not provide information on the number of older people in maximum-security wards but said that there are no older women prisoners, the UN expert said.
Separately, she expressed concern about the lack of remuneration for prisoners who work in al-Ha’ir and receive benefits like family visits in exchange for work. Prisoners have a right to family visits and the Saudi government should not use it as incentive, SANAD and Human Rights Watch said.
Rights organizations have long documented abysmal detention conditions in Saudi prisons, including ill-treatment and medical neglect. Older prisoners are particularly at risk as many cannot readily climb stairs, walk long distances to meals, or get dressed or use the bathroom without support.
Other older prominent thinkers, academics, and human rights defenders have also died in Saudi prisons, including Abdullah al-Hamid, 69, professor, political reformist, and cofounder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) who died on April 24, 2020; Musa al-Qarni, 67, political reformist who died on October 12, 2021; and Ahmed al-Amari, 69, cleric and former dean of the Quran Faculty in the Islamic University of Medina who died on January 20, 2019.
Other older clerics, human rights defenders, and academics who remain arbitrarily detained on charges based solely on peaceful activism include Safar Al-Hawali,75; Abdullah Al-Yahya, 73; Ibrahim Al-Nasser, 71; Salman Al-Ouda, 69; Zuhair Kutbi, 69; Awad Al-Qarni, 68; Mohammed Dulaim Al-Qahtani, 67; and Aida Al-Ghamdi, 67.
“Saudi Arabia should demonstrate genuine commitment to human rights ahead of hosting World Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup by immediately and unconditionally releasing all arbitrarily held human rights defenders, starting with older people whose health has deteriorated and are in need of urgent medical attention,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch.