Dozens of Palestinians disappear in Saudi Arabia, families testify to group

Dozens of Palestinians have forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia and their fates remain unknown, according to testimonies by their families given to a Swiss-based rights group.

The Euro-Mediterranean for Human Rights Monitor, an independent, nonprofit rights organization, announced the information in a statement on Saturday.

It said it was unable to give the exact number of the Palestinians who have forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia but said it had the names of some 60 Palestinians who had met that fate.

The Palestinian community in Saudi Arabia believes that the real number of the abductees is far higher.

The Euro-Med said the Palestinians in question — among whom are students, residents, businessmen, and academics — have been completely isolated from the outside world without any indictments against them.

They have not been brought before public prosecution, nor allowed to communicate with their relatives or lawyers, it added.

“The campaign in Saudi Arabia of arresting Palestinians is but one in a long series of human rights violations in the country,” Selin Yasar, Euro-Med’s communication and media officer, said.

“The Euro-Med considered the practices of the Saudi authorities a flagrant violation of the requirements of justice, which guaranteed everyone the right to a fair trial including knowing charges against them, the right to defense and access to a lawyer,” the statement said.

The rights group called on Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to order executive authorities to immediately reveal the fate of the Palestinians who have disappeared.

SS