Abdulaziz Al-Shubaili

Background and Work

Abdulaziz Al-Shubaili, born in 1985, is a Saudi lawyer and a principal member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, known by its Arabic acronym ACPRA. The association was established in 2009 to monitor and document human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and to advocate for constitutional reform, an independent judiciary, and respect for civil and political rights.

Al-Shubaili participated in the legal defence of several ACPRA colleagues who were prosecuted for their work. He used platforms including Twitter to call for reform, criticise judicial practices, and speak publicly about rights and freedoms. His advocacy made him a target of sustained official scrutiny.

Harassment and Arrest

Between November and December 2013, Al-Shubaili was summoned four times by the Interrogation and Prosecution Department in Al Qassim province. Each summons was an act of intimidation, signalling that the state was preparing a case against him.

On 10 January 2017, the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced him to eight years in prison. The court also imposed an eight-year ban on writing on social media, to begin immediately, and an eight-year travel ban to commence after his release. Despite the sentence, authorities did not detain him at that time.

On 17 September 2017, security forces arrested Al-Shubaili in Al Qassim province. He was transferred to Onayza Prison, where he remains held.

Charges and Legal Proceedings

The charges against Al-Shubaili included publishing a statement calling for demonstrations, accusing judges of dishonesty and human rights violations, preparing and transmitting data deemed harmful to public order, communicating with foreign organisations, and participating in an unlicensed association—ACPRA.

On 14 August 2017, a month before his arrest, the Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal in Riyadh upheld the full sentence issued in January. The appeals process offered no substantive review of the evidence or the charges, both of which are rooted in the exercise of rights protected under international law.

Detention Conditions

Al-Shubaili has been subjected to punitive treatment during his imprisonment. In 2019, he was placed in a filthy cell for two months and denied access to fresh air and sunlight. The conditions amounted to a form of solitary confinement designed to cause psychological and physical harm.

He remains in Onayza Prison in Al-Qassim province, serving the remainder of his sentence under restrictive conditions.

Context and Pattern

Al-Shubaili's prosecution is part of a broader campaign to dismantle ACPRA. Saudi authorities arrested and imprisoned nearly all of the organisation's founding members, including Dr. Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamid, and Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Hamid, among others. The organisation was formally dissolved by the state, and its members sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges that criminalise peaceful advocacy.

The Saudi government has used the Specialised Criminal Court, originally established to try terrorism cases, to prosecute human rights defenders, lawyers, and writers. Trials in this court routinely fail to meet international fair trial standards, and sentences are used to silence dissent and deter others from speaking out.