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|---|---|
 Waleed Abu Al-Khair in November 2012 | |
| Born | (1979-06-17) 17 June 1979 (age 45) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer and human rights activist |
| Years active | 2007-present |
| Spouse | Samar Badawi |
Waleed Sami Abu Al-Khair (Template:Lang-ar) is a Saudi Arabian lawyer and human rights activist, and the head of the "Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia" (MHRSA) organization. He was listed by Forbes magazine as one of Top 100 Most Influential Arabs on Twitter.
Early life and education
Abu Al-Khair was born on 17 June 1979, in the coastal city of Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia. He received his bachelor degree in Arabic language from King Abdul Aziz University in 2003. Abu Al-Khair began his career as a lawyer in 2007, when he joined Essam Basrawi's office for law firm and legal consultations. Then he moved to Jordan where he studied for his master's degree in Islamic Law (jurisprudence and its origins) at Yarmouk University, graduating in 2009, the topic of his thesis being Connection and Disconnection In Presumptions, Causes and Judgments supervised by Dr. Abdul Jalil Zauhair Damra. In the same year, after graduation, Abu Al-Khair established his own human rights organization (MHRSA) which he managed to register in Canada in 2012 to became the first registered Saudi human rights organization.
Beginning of activities
In 2007, Abu Al-Khair and other activists released a reform petition titled Parameters of the Constitutional Monarchy in which they have requested from the Saudi royal family to change to current ruling regime (absolute monarchy) into a democratic system to insure the participation of the people through free elections. One year later, he organised a hunger strike for prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia for 48 hours, as the first hunger strike campaign in Saudi Arabia in a human rights case.
Prominence in the community
In 2009, he filed a lawsuit against the Interior Ministry to release the reform activist Abdul Rahman Al Shumari. Additionally, he founded the organization "Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia". Moreover, Abu Al-Khair participated in the Alliance of Youth Movements (AYM) summit in Mexico. While in Yemen, Abu Al-Khair became a Certified Trainer on Human Rights by the Human Rights Information & Training Center (HRITC). Later in that year, he and other youth activists launched a campaign called "Jeddah Save" after the city faced a devastating flood, where they sat up a Facebook page that has been used as a key platform to manage and organize Jeddah saving efforts and actions.
International representation
In 2010, Abu Al-Khair started to build his international reputation as a credible and reliable source to represent Saudi Arabia internationally in human rights causes. He participated in two meetings arranged by Netherlands-based organization "Bridging The Gulf", one in the European Parliament about the human rights situation in the Gulf states, the other in Kuwait about human rights activists in the GCC countries. Moreover, he attended a conference that was organised by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Bahrain. While in Bahrain, Abu Al-Khair was invited by Front Line Defenders to a meeting to discuss issues related to Human Rights in the GCC countries with major European diplomats. Additionally, he attended a workshop in monitoring and documentation of human rights violations, conducted by Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) and the Scandinavian Institute For Human Rights.
Locally, and in the same year, Waleed was appointed by the British Embassy as the dedicated lawyer for a British prisoner.
Samar Badawi case
Samar Badawi is a Saudi woman who was in prison for disobedience under the Saudi Arabian male guardianship system, Abu Al-Khair was her lawyer and defended her in court in addition to initiating an online campaign that created a huge awareness about her case within the Saudi society using different social channels such as Twitter, Facebook and a dedicated blog that was publishing all the documents and updates related to the case. The Free Samar Campaign is considered the first Saudi Twitter campaign that made an effect on reality. Within a few days, it became a public story, and was covered massively by local media. Three weeks later, Badawi was released and Abu Al-Khair won what is called the most important case of women. Later Badawi and Abu Al-Khair were married.
Society movements
Abu Al-Khair was a major player in many movement related to the Saudi society in 2011. He wrote many petitions demanding civil and political rights, the latest one demanding the right of women to drive cars. In judicial precedent, Abu Al-Khair filed a lawsuit against the ban on women's participation in municipal elections. He also launched a campaign for municipal elections with other youth activists, the result was the winning of their candidate. In that year, Forbes Middle East named him as one of the top 100 Arab activists on Twitter with more than 40,000 followers.
International recognition
In 2012, Abu Al-Khair was selected by the U.S. Department of State as a finalist in the Middle East Partnership Initiative’s Leaders for Democracy Fellowship program. Additionally, he joined the Irish Front Line Defenders Foundation for the protection of human rights defenders. Abu Al-Khair was also listed by Portland Communications as one of the top 40 Arabs and the top 10 Saudis on Twitter with more than 53,000 followers. He and Tunisian lawyer Radhia Nasraoui shared the 2012 Swedish Olof Palme Prize. Because of a travel ban, he could not receive the prize himself, so two members of MHRSA went and collected the prize on his behalf, his wife Samar Badawi and Fahad Al Fahad. Abu Al-Khair made a significant step in his human rights path when he registered his organisation Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA) in Canada as an independent human rights organisation, following the refusal of the Saudi authorities to allow the organisation to be registered in the kingdom. MHRSA is now considered the first Saudi human rights organization registered outside Saudi Arabia.
Smood, the weekly saloon
As a reaction to the Saudi authorities decision to shut down "Bridges Café" in Jeddah, which was a meeting point for Saudi youth to talk and discuss several topics, Abu Al-Khair started a weekly gathering in his saloon, hosting a few dozen of people, most of them politically engaged Saudi youth from different backgrounds, topics focuses on political, religious and human rights issues, in addition to cultural and intellectual subjects. The saloon is named “Smood,” an Arabic word that can be translated as “resistance” or “steadfastness.”
Smood was attacked heavily by many conservatives on the social media and on TV. It has been claimed that the saloon is encouraging atheism and skepticism, especially after Hamza Kashgari’s case knowing that he was a personal friend of Abu Al-Khair and many other regular visitors of this saloon. One day, few conservatives visited Smood and secretly recorded the discussion without the attendees permission, on the next day, they tweeted negatively about the topics discussed and the type of people attending Smood. Moreover, they have contacted a TV show and requested from the government and the religious police to take a serious actions toward such meetings. Abu Al-Khair defended his saloon by saying that he is offering the freedom of speech, the freedom of belief and the freedom of expression, which are things that cannot be provided outside the door of his house.
On 1 October 2013, the Saudi investigation department arrested Waleed (as an order from the governor of Makkah Region, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal Al-Saud) and transferred him to Alsharafiya police station in Jeeddah. He was interrogated concerning his weekly saloon. The next day, Waleed was released after he posted bail.
It has been alleged that he is being subjected to inhumane treatment amounting to torture. For example, being exposed to bright lights directly onto his face constantly to deprive him of sleep.
Publications
- Our steadfast pursuit of a freer Saudi Arabia, Washington Post, April 2012.
- Saudis Stymied by Fear, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, July 2011.
Additionally, Abu Al-Khair has published over 300 articles in Saudi newspapers concerning legal reforms and human rights issues.
Media
Many major international journalists have interviewed Abu Al-Khair, for example: Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post; Pierre Prier, Le Figaro; Frank Gardner, BBC; and Jacob Templin, TIME Magazine, Bitte Hammargren for Svenska Dagbladet. Moreover, several media were interested about Waleed’s activities such as CNN, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Al Hiwar, Financial Times and many others.
See also
References
- ar:وليد أبوالخير
- ^ "ارتفاع عدد وفيات سيول جدة إلى 106". The Message of Islam. 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) Template:Ar icon - "Top 100 Most Followed Arabs on Twitter". Forbes Middle East. 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013. Template:Ar icon
- "Saudi Arabian human rights lawyer banned from travelling to US". Amnesty International. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "Photos of مرصد حقوق الإنسان في السعودية : Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi (MHRSA)". Facebook. 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "Saudi Arabia / Sweden - Human Rights Defender Waleed Sami Abu Al-Khair Awarded the 2012 Olof Palme Prize". Gulf Centre for Human Rights. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "Saudi Arabia: Rights Groups Blocked From Operating". Human Rights Watch. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- Templin, Jacob (12 July 2012). "In Saudi Arabia, Activists Speak Out Online and in Private". TIME.com. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "وليد ابوالخير و ديوانيه الصمود ديوانيه الألحاد والكفر". YouTube. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2013. Template:Ar icon
- http://www.hrw.org/ar/news/2013/10/05
- http://www.hrw.org/ar/news/2014/04/17
- http://m.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2014/04/140425_saudi_arabia_samar_badawi_waleed_abulkhair_arrested
- "Our steadfast pursuit of a freer Saudi Arabia". Washington Post. April 20, 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "Saudis Stymied by Fear". Institute for War & Peace Reporting. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/palmepristagaren-later-sig-inte-kuvas_3376924.svd