Waleed Mohammed Al Smani
Minister of Jus ceRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Postal Code 11472, P.O.Box 7775
Email: minister-o ce@moj.gov.sa
Your Excellency,
I am distressed to learn that a er a period more than ve months of enforced disappearance,
Manahel al-Otaibi called her family to inform them that she is being held in solitary con nement in alMalaz Prison with a broken leg a er being brutally beaten, and without access to medical care. Saudi
authori es forcibly disappeared the 29-year-old tness instructor between 5 November 2023 and 14April 2024. Before her enforced disappearance, she had already been detained for a year since 16November 2022 and charged with viola ng the An -Cyber Crime Law for twee ng hashtags in supportof women’s rights and pos ng photos on Snapchat of herself at the mall wearing “immodest”
clothing. She awaits trial before the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), a court set up to try terrorismrelated crimes.
Shortly before her family lost contact with her on 5 November 2023, Manahel al-Otaibi told them that
she had been beaten violently by a fellow prisoner. Manahel al-Otaibi told her family in a brief phone
call sounding distressed on 14 April that she had been subjected to further brutal bea ngs by anotherperson, who she was unable to iden fy as a prisoner or a guard, and she believes her solitarycon nement is in retalia on for her sister Fawzia al-Otaibi’s campaigning to release her from prison.
Her sister Fawzia al-Otaibi told Amnesty Interna onal that she believes the only reason Manahel alOtaibi was nally permi ed a phone call was in order to convey a message to her family to stop being
publicly outspoken about her imprisonment. Her family alleged that Manahel al-Otaibi spent“months” in solitary con nement, based on informa on provided to them by former detainees who
had been held in the same prison. Prolonged solitary con nement for more than 15 days is a viola onof the absolute prohibi on of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
According to court documents reviewed by Amnesty Interna onal, Manahel al-Otaibi was charged
with “publishing and spreading content that contains commi ng public sins and inci ng individuals
and girls in society to renounce religious principles and social values and to violate public order andpublic morals on her Twi er account,” in viola on of the An -Cybercrime Law. The charges against her
are based on her social media posts which were “opposed to regula ons and laws that relate towomen,” including through calling to #EndMaleGuardianship. The prosecutor also referred to reports
from 2018 and 2019 by the Commi ee for the Promo on of Virtue and the Preven on of Vice, also
known as the religious police, who accused her of tarnishing the reputa on of the Kingdom and goingto the mall without wearing an abaya, promo ng the removal of the hijab and pos ng photos of thatou ng on Snapchat.
I urge you to order the immediate and uncondi onal release of Manahel al-Otaibi, as she is being
held solely for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression. Pending her release, shemust be granted immediate access to medical care, and her allega ons of torture and other illtreatment must be impar ally inves gated.

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Yours sincerely,