I'm normally skeptical about email chains, but this checks out. See, for example, http://www.cnn.com/... . I've edited the email (below) for readability and brevity, but not for content. The "Arab Committee for Human Rights" could mean the "Arab Commission for Human Rights," or the "Arab Committee for Human Rights," or the correct name of a group with no internet presence [help needed on this]. There was a brief flurry of news media attention to this in late May, but the only follow-up comes from an apparent Saudi blogger on June 3. Perhaps we can induce the government to be more forthcoming.
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"This is a human call from the King Saud University, Political Science Department to all Political Science departments and all civil society organizations in the United States."
Dr. Matrook Al-Faleh, Professor of Political Science at King Saud University, has been kidnapped.
Dr. Al-Faleh is a member of the Arab Committee for Human Rights and an advocate of civil society and constitutional reform in Saudi Arabia. His family last saw him on May 19, when he left home to go to his office. Al-Faleh's family and the Arab Committee for Human Rights tried calling his cell phone to no avail. When his family went to his office, they found only his car in the University parking lot. They then concluded that he had been kidnapped by the Saudi Secret Police.
Before his imprisonment, Dr. Al-Faleh had issued a statement on torture and other human right abuses in Buraidah regional prison. This came after his recent visit to his jailed colleague, Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamed.
In May 5, 2005 a Saudi court sentenced Dr. Al-Faleh six years in prison, along with Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamed, Abdul Rahman Al-laem and Al-Al Dumini. They were pardoned by the king after serving two years of their sentence, but were banned from traveling abroad and their passports were revoked by the Ministry of Interior, the king's brother, prince Naief bin Abdulaziz. Since their imprisonment, not one Saudi broadcast station has mentioned this news.
Dr. Al-Faleh has published several works on civil society and constitutional reform in Saudi Arabia. He is an active member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Committee for Human Rights, the Board of Trustees of the Centre for Arab Unity Studies, and is a strong defender of political abuse victims in the Arab world in general and Saudi Arabia in particular. The Arab Committee for Human Rights is taking the lead in defending Dr. Al-Faleh, and is joined by more than 120 non-governmental organizations throughout the world.
The Arab Committee for Human Rights is calling upon the Saudi authorities to release Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamed, Dr. Matrook Al Falih, Dr. Issa Hamed, and other political conscious prisoners being held in Saudi jails without trials. We hope from all political science departments and civil society organization to exert all their pressure upon the Saudi government to release these prisoners.
"For more information, please call the Political Science Department at
King Saud University:
The Chairman of department 00966 4674208
The Secretary of department 00966 4674209 or 00966 4674201
The Fax of department 00966 4674207"
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Some additional info:
Contact info for the Saudi Embassy
Prof. Al-Faleh's Dean
Prof. Al-Faleh's webpage at King Saud University
Al-Faleh's webpages are partly in English, and you can use an online translator to get a general sense of the Arabic content. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas: M.A. 1981 and Ph. D. 1987, both in political science. So you Jayhawks out there, spread the word and save your alum!
Given what's been happening to oil prices, the Saudis are probably more conscious of their global reputation now and more likely to respond to expressions of concern from abroad. Aside from the usual suspects, let Jayhawk alums know about this, too.