By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Saudi Arabia has imprisoned no fewer than 47 tribesmen of the Howeitat tribe in the northwest of the country for their resistance against displacement aimed at developing the Neom megacity
Human rights organization Alqst disclosed this in a report released on Thursday, 16 February, 2023, titled “The Dark Side of Neom,” providing details about those who have been detained or disappeared for voicing protest to the $500-billion project as well as related human rights abuses.
According to the report, 15 members of the tribe have received sentences between 15 and 50 years and five others have been sentenced to death. No information about the fate of 19 other detainees is available, it said, adding that eight others have been released.
The sentences have been reportedly extended in mid-2022 amid Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to rehabilitate ties with the international community following the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Abdulilah al-Howeiti and his relative Abdullah Dukhail al-Howeiti, members of the Howeitat tribe in northern Saudi Arabia, were each handed a 50-year prison term and 50-year travel ban for supporting their family’s refusal to be forcibly evicted from their homes in the Tabuk province.
The report also added that Saudi authorities also arrested Maha Suleiman al-Qarani al-Huwaiti, the only known woman among those detained, in February 2021 for tweeting about the cost of living and mourning the death of Huwaiti.
“These harsh punishments inflicted on members of the Huwaitat tribe are part of a wider trend that began in the summer of 2022, of individuals being sentenced to lengthy prison terms — of up to 50 years — simply for social media activity calling for social and political reform,” the rights group said in the report.
Shadli, Atallah, and Ibrahim al-Howeiti were arrested in 2020 for opposing the eviction and were handed down death sentences on October 2, 2022, by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC).
The report noted that Saudi authorities had “dramatically increased” the use of the death penalty in 2022, compared to 2021, executing twice as many people.
“These developments, taken together, represent a sharp deterioration in the human rights situation following the normalization of diplomatic relations with Mohammed bin Salman,” Alqst said.
