Saudi Arabia torturing human-rights activists held in its prisons without charge

Saudi Arabia has been torturing a number of rights defenders, including women, held without charge since May 2018, according to reports by human-rights groups.

Amnesty International obtained three separate testimonies which reveal instances of sexual harassment, electrocution, and flogging while in detention at the country's Dhahban Prison, it reported Tuesday.

Some of the detainees were so badly harmed that they were left unable to walk or stand properly; one repeatedly attempted to take her own life while inside the prison, the report said.

According to testimony cited by Amnesty, one activist was hanged from the ceiling. Another female activist was sexually assaulted by masked interrogators.

Human Rights Watch also reported similar torture at the hands of Saudi authorities.

"Any brutal torture of Saudi women activists would show no limit to the Saudi authorities' campaign of wanton cruelty against critics and human rights activists," Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, wrote Tuesday.

At: https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-human-rights-watch-amnesty-international-activists-reportedly-tortured-2018-11