Human rights defender Mikhlif Al-Shammari summoned to appear before the District Court in Al-Khobar on 02 July 2013 at 8:30am in relation to a complaint filed against him by the Public Notary who works at the same court.

On 16 February 2013, Bandar Saad, the Al-Khobar Public Notary , made a complaint against the human rights defender at the District Court in Al-Khobar for which he works. He allegedly claimed that a tweet published on the defender’s twitter account (@Mikhlif) on 19 January 2013, had insulted him and damaged his reputation. In his tweet Mikhlif Al-Shammari  criticized the way in which the Public Notary kept his male clients waiting for about an hour and half before processing their applications.

Mikhlif Al-Shammari is a writer and prominent advocate of human rights who advocates for  reform and democratic change in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested in June 2010 and charged with “disturbing others” by  his writings, a charge that the Court of First Instance later dismissed. On  24 February 2012, he was released from prison on bail by the order of the Minister of Interior in Saudi Arabia following twenty months of arbitrary detention.

On 8 April 2012, human rights defender Sheikh Mikhlif Al-Shammari was told by the Department of Immigration, while trying to cross the King Fahd Causeway on his way to Bahrain, that the Ministry of Interior has imposed a 10 year travel ban on him that started with his release from prison in late February 2012.

 The Gulf Centre for Human Rights  believes that Mikhlif Al-Shammari has been targeted as a result of his peaceful and legitimate activities in defence of human rights, in particular his work to promote reforms and democracy in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf centre for Human Rights is concerned that this latest complaint against Mikhlif Al-Shammari before the District Court in Al-Khobar forms part of an ongoing trend of harassment against human rights defenders by the government in Saudi Arabia.

The GCHR calls on the authorities in Saudi Arabia to:

1. Immediately Stop targeting and harassing human rights defender Mikhlif Al-Shammari. The Saudi Government has a responsibility to meet its international obligations to protect human rights defenders in the country;

2. Immediately and unconditionally remove the travel ban imposed on human rights defender Mikhlif Al-Shammari;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment. 

The GCHR respectfully reminds you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. We would particularly draw your attention to Article 5 (c): “For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: (c) To communicate with non-governmental or intergovernmental organizations“ and to Article 6 (c): “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters.“