Individuals detained under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s crackdown on dissent, including at least four journalists, are being abused and tortured in Saudi prisons, according to medical assessments prepared for King Salman and leaked to The Guardian.
The medical reports detailed evidence of beatings, burns, and malnourishment on detainees. The journalists named in the report are Zuhair Kutbi, Hatoon al-Fassi, Fahd al-Sunaidi, and Adel Benaimah.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to power has included a broad crackdown on the press, including the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. At least 16 journalists were detained in Saudi Arabia, many of them without charge, at the time of CPJ’s latest prison census.
The Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment on the Guardian report.
Details of the medical assessments and journalists in The Guardian report can be viewed here: