2024-07-22 03:52:07
“I want freedom and justice, for which I have been fighting for three years,” Saudi citizen Abdulrahman al-Khalidi told DV. Since 2021, he has been living in the detention center in Busmantsi, and the State Agency for Refugees refuses to grant him protection. The man fears that he will be subjected to repression if he is returned to his native country, but this does not seem to affect the Bulgarian authorities, who, in response to an inquiry by DV, categorically answer that “he does not meet the requirements according to international and legal documents ” to grant protection and “there is no reasonable likelihood that he will suffer persecution or serious harm if he is returned to his country of origin”.
“I will recall the case of Hassan Al Rabieh (extradited from Morocco in early 2023 – AD) and many others who disappeared after being returned to Saudi Arabia. There is much evidence of the use of torture to extract confessions and an unprecedented increase in executions for political reasons – death and long sentences are the only punishment for people like me in Saudi Arabia,” says Al-Khalidi. The court has already overturned and overturned the State Refugee Agency’s refusal to grant him protection. Al-Khalidi is now awaiting the next court decisions – against his detention order in Busmantsi, which will be heard at the end of July, and against the order for his expulsion, on which a hearing has been scheduled for September 20. The insecurity and the vicious circle in which it has been spinning for nearly three years forced Al-Khalidi to go on hunger strike.
The activist was born in 1993 in Saudi Arabia. “According to reliable sources, Mr. al-Khalidi was one of a number of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia in the period 2011-2013, who on social media called for democratic reforms, as well as through peace campaigns, including in defense of the rights of political prisoners,” Mary Lawler, UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders, told DV. In 2013, he left his native country. According to Human Rights Watch, this is a period in which there has been an increase in “arrests and trials of peaceful dissidents” in the country, resulting in “thousands falling victim to unfair trials and arbitrary detention”, reports Deutsche Welle.
“He settled in Turkey, where he continued to work for human rights in exile, including participating in an online movement created to counter Saudi government propaganda. In 2021, he left Turkey and entered Bulgaria to seek asylum.” recalls Lawler. “I have reason to believe that he would be in danger if he returned to Saudi Arabia,” she said categorically. And that is why he is calling for him to be granted protection in Bulgaria. Similar calls have been made by a number of non-governmental organizations such as “Amnesty International” and “Freedom House”.
“The obligation of non-refoulement under international human rights law prohibits the return of any person – human rights defender or not – to a country where he or she would be at risk of persecution or torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, enforced disappearance and other irreparable harms such as deprivation of life or denial of justice,” the UN Special Rapporteur emphasizes.
DV sent questions to the State Agency for Refugees (SDA) and State Agency “National Security” about the reasons for the refusal of Abdulrahman al-Khalidi to receive protection in Bulgaria. The DAB answered our questions in detail. In their letter we read: “The procedure for international protection is (…) carried out in full compliance with all fundamental and key international and European legal acts”, as “the criteria for granting (…) are the same for all applicants for protection, regardless of any personal or country-of-origin elements”.
What are the grounds for refusing him protection? In the DAB’s response, we see a two-pronged argumentation. According to the first, he “does not meet the requirements according to international and European legal documents”, as “the applicant’s general credibility is not considered established, given the contradictory and implausible refugee history and the lack of a satisfactory explanation for the failure to present all elements relevant to his application.” The agency emphasizes that given the data it has, “it cannot be assumed that Khalidi is a political oppositionist (dissident)” and “that Khalidi has any sympathy with (Jamal) Khashoggi and/or his associates.”
Both Mary Lawler and a number of human rights organizations and activists disagree with this assessment. Among them is Viktor Lilov, who has been following the case for a long time. “There are elements of xenophobia and racism, as well as institutional incompetence. But much more unpleasant conclusions can be drawn about the behavior of some of the bodies that observe the rights and order in the state. They are related to DANS,” he says. “One of the processes in which DANS plays a role is the assessment of the extent to which refugees pose a threat to national security. There is a lack of any civil and political control over this body. I do not have access to the opinion of DANS, but I have received secondary information about what it contains regarding Abdulrahman. They are associated with the suggestion that he is a radicalized Islamist. Anyone who knows him knows that this has nothing to do with the truth,” Lilov said.
In its letter to DV DAB also mentions the opinion of DANS: “According to the opinion of DANS, the Saudi citizen “represents a threat to public order and endangers the national security of the Republic of Bulgaria”, the Agency writes. This is also the second direction of the argument why he was denied protection. “When it comes to national security, according to the legal framework, the DAB at the Ministry of Justice and the National Security Agency act in a position of bounded competence, and more specifically, the DAB at the Ministry of Justice cannot grant protection to a person for whom the opinion of the National Security Agency is that “represents threat to public order and endangers the national security of the Republic of Bulgaria”, even if the person in question meets the legal criteria”. According to the DAB, this is not the case either.
“If you’re Saudi, you’re a radical, if you’re from Gaza, you’re from Hamas, if you’re Shia, you’re from Hezbollah, without facts or reasons. This old way of security, based on canned categories, is the only way for administrations to impose coercive measures,” Al-Khalidi believes. “For more than a decade I have actively contributed to constitutional monarchy in my country, prisoners’ rights, civil rights and liberties,” he says.
According to Viktor Lilov, Al-Khalidi is facing an “invisible wall”. “There is no explanation for it and we have to resort to some theories – including conspiratorial ones,” the activist continues. He recalls the case of businessman Abdullah Buyuk, who was extradited to Turkey, because of which Bulgaria drew serious criticism, including that it gave in to the so-called transnational repression. “The way in which the authorities in Saudi Arabia and Mohammed Bin Salman want to consolidate their power is related to the systematic harassment of any opposition figures, regardless of where they are. One of the closest associates of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi – Omar Abdulaziz is with a threat to his life and constant security. He is one of the witnesses in Abdulrahman’s case, who testified in his favor,” emphasizes Lilov. The DAB responded that “the violations of human rights in Saudi Arabia and the repression against the opposition (…) are notorious facts”, but according to them, “any relevance to the refugee story of Abdulrahman al-Khalidi” is missing. DV tried to contact Omar Abdulaziz, but by the time this material was published, he had not received a response to the inquiries he sent.
“As long as I keep fighting, I’m fine,” says Abdulrahman al-Khalidi. “Despite some psychological and physical damage because of the situation. Of course, this damage affects my family and children mostly because I am away from them,” adds the man. He has a wife and two children in Turkey. “My son gradually began to lose his sight and needs urgent medical attention. I can’t say that their condition is particularly good because I am the only one supporting them.”
“The case with Abdulrahman is a unique chance that is provided to us as a country and as a people,” believes the musician Gergan Tsenov. “His release and his provision of political asylum by the state, as well as his acceptance by the Bulgarians themselves as our equal brother and fellow citizen, are two steps that would show Europe and the world unequivocally that Bulgaria is a European country in which they comply with European principles and laws,” he adds.
Tsenov has lived in the US for 25 years, but he closely follows the case with the Saudi activist, writes letters, tries to draw attention to him. And he says he is most outraged by the apathy in society. “Or rather his inability to recognize in the person of Abdulrahman al-Khalidi and his cause the image and cause of a number of our great national heroes who, like Abdulrahman, were persecuted and threatened by our own oppressive regimes and who, like him, sought political asylum abroad,” says the man. And he gives specific examples – from the revolutionaries during the Renaissance to the dissidents during socialism. “Just imagine how our native Revival would have developed if countries like Russia, Romania or Serbia had not opened their arms to so many of our revivalists,” emphasizes the musician.
And for Abdulrahman al-Khalidi, who has been on hunger strike for almost two weeks, he remains to wait. “It is expected that, if the deadline is met, by the end of August there will be some decision by the court for his detention in Busmantsi, which is a single-instance. If things develop negatively, I expect that in September we will proceed with measures in the European Court of Human Rights” , explains Viktor Lilov.
Lilov is just one of the people with whom the Saudi makes friends in Bulgaria. “I met many friends – Bulgarians, Europeans, Arabs and people of different nationalities,” says the man. While imprisoned in Busmantsi, he has time to read and study about Bulgaria, where he hopes one day to live freely: “I read a lot about Bulgarian history and the rich local culture, which is very interesting, especially during the struggle for freedom, and I hope to see this culture up close and learn more about it in freedom with my Bulgarian friends.”