Mohamad al-Bokari (29) declared his support for the rights of homosexuals online – and was arrested on 8 April. Now it has become known that he has to endure humiliating anal examinations and daily beatings. His state of health is said to deteriorate steadily. Human rights activists demand his immediate release.

The blogger had participated in an online question and answer session on 8 April, uploaded the video and declared his support for queer rights. His statement was: “Everyone has rights and should be allowed to exercise them, including homosexuals”. This was enough for the authorities to arrest al-Bokari, who is a Yemeni refugee, that very evening.

Sexual assault and torture

The accusation: with “sexual innuendo” he had “violated public order and morals”, explained Shaker bin Suleiman Al-Tuwaijri, the police spokesman from Riyadh. Al-Bokari is now incarcerated there in al-Malaz prison – according to HRW without access to legal assistance. The organisation refers to sources in contact with the prison who report on the cruel and degrading treatment al-Bokari has suffered in the last two months.

These include a humiliating anal examination by the police – the aim is to test whether the prisoner is gay. An examination that has no medical or scientific basis and is internationally condemned as torture and sexual assault. In addition, the 29-year-old is said to have been repeatedly interrogated by police and beaten up on a daily basis in order to “elicit” a confession about his homosexuality.

Al-Bokari, who suffers from chronic heart disease, told the source that he has difficulty breathing, eating and sleeping and that his mental and physical health is steadily deteriorating. Two months ago, the 29-year-old merely expressed his opinion – and paid dearly for it. Michael Page, Deputy Human Rights Watch Director for the Middle East, takes stock:

“Saudi Arabia’s relentless policing of freedom of expression reveals the hypocrisy of a government that has promised reforms. A government that arrests someone who merely speaks out on sensitive social issues eliminates the space for dialogue and reform.”

He adds that the organisation is deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of Mohamad al-Bokari – whose life could be in danger if he were to be deported to his homeland, Yemen. The young man had only fled the country in June 2019 – it took him 15 days to walk to Riyadh, where he is said to have lived as an unregistered refugee ever since.

Human Rights Watch said it had received further information from the refugee organisation Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality (AFE). According to this, a deportation could be fatal for the blogger: Armed groups from Yemen are said to have threatened al-Bokari with death even before he fled, and afterwards they wrote to him repeatedly in social media, warning him not to ever return to the country – they would find him and they would kill him, the threat said.

Michael Page demands from the government:

“The Saudi authorities should do the right thing and immediately release the young man who only expressed his opinion.”

Scary: Saudi Arabia ranked 199th out of 202 in the Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2020 together with Iran – only Somalia and Chechnya did worse. Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s neighbour, did not do much better: it came in 198th place.

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