Families of Saudi detainees await Biden

RIYADH: Malik al-Dowaish was arrested this month following years of campaigning for the release of his father, who was himself detained in 2016 after he gave a sermon seen as critical of the Saudi Arabian royal family, two sources familiar with the matter said.

“I really don’t know the secret behind my father’s arrest,” Dowaish said, in a video that he recorded before his arrest and seen by Reuters. “But it is very strange that he has not been tried so that a court could look at any charges that have been brought against him.”

Dowaish’s relatives are among hundreds of Saudis who want US President Joe Biden to lobby for the release of loved ones jailed in a crackdown on dissent when he visits Washington’s most important Arab ally this week.

But some relatives of detained Saudis said they fear human rights will not be on the top of his agenda when he meets Saudi leaders.

In a July 9 Washington Post commentary, Biden wrote that fundamental freedoms are always “on the agenda” when he travels abroad.

Saudi officials say the kingdom does not have political prisoners. They deny human right abuses and say they are only fighting extremism, corruption and safeguarding the kingdom’s national security.

Dowaish’s plight is part of a crackdown on dissent that has been driven by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman even as he has championed reforms like allowing women to drive and pushed projects to create jobs.

Lina al-Hathloul, sister of Loujain al-Hathloul, a women’s rights activist who served a prison sentence and remains under a travel ban, doubts Saudi leaders will soften their positions in the wake of Biden’s visit. “Loujain is in another prison, she is monitored and she feels isolated because people are scared to be seen with her. It’s a state that cannot be called freedom,” she said.

Bader al-Ibrahim, an epidemiologist and journalist, and Salah al-Haidar, a media commentator whose mother Aziza al-Yousef is a women’s rights campaigner, will be among the Saudi cases closely watched during Biden’s trip. Both are US citizens, who were freed from jail but still banned from travel.