HRW urges Saudi Arabia to reveal whereabouts of Saudi-Qatari national

RIYADH: Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday urged Saudi authorities to disclose the whereabouts of a Saudi man with dual Qatari nationality whom Kuwait said it had deported to Saudi Arabia on May 12 at the kingdom’s request.

Nawaf al-Rasheed, a resident of Qatar, was in Kuwait on a visit. Kuwait’s Interior Ministry provided no further details of the case. Saudi authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism — charges Qatar denies.

HRW quoted a relative as describing Rasheed as a poet and academic who was “not political at all”

Last month, UN human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell urged Saudi authorities to say whether Rasheed had been detained and why.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a number of economic and social reforms to open up the kingdom. But there have also been a wave of arrests in recent weeks of people accused of communicating with organisations opposed to the kingdom.

Human rights groups have identified many of them as campaigners for women’s rights. Activists and diplomats have speculated that the arrests may be aimed at appeasing some elements opposed to social “reforms”.