Victims in Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia 
According to Amnesty International (Report 2003): Hundreds of suspected religious activists and government critics were reportedly arrested in 2003 and the legal status of most of those held from previous years remained secret. About a dozen possible prisoners of conscience were released, but the legal status of scores of others held from previous years remained unclear. The pattern of arrests which began in the wake of 11 September 2001 continued. The government estimated that around 700 people had been questioned and that more than 100 remained in detention at the end of 2002. Opposition sources estimated that several hundred people continued to be held. Most of those held were targeted for arrest by Saudi Arabia's security forces, but some were handed to the government by other countries, including Iran and Yemen. The names of the detainees were kept secret, and except in a few cases where the suspects were allegedly planning violent attacks, the government justified the arrests solely on the basis of vague references to "terrorism" and "suspicion of connection with al-Qa'ida". None of those held was given access to lawyers or was known to have had judicial proceedings brought against them. It was not known if they were allowed family visits. Other people were arrested for trying to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and conscience. - In March 'Abdul Muhsin Musalam, a poet, was reportedly arrested and detained for having written a poem entitled The Corrupt on Earth, which criticized judges in Saudi Arabia. His poem was published in al-Madina newspaper. The editor of al-Madina was subsequently dismissed apparently for allowing publication of the poem. 'Abdul Muhsin Musalam was detained for approximately 14 days before he was released without being charged or tried.
- In April 'Abdul Hamid al-Mubarak, a 47-year-old professor at the University of King Faisal in al-Ihsa, was arrested in Dahran following demonstrations against Israel's military attacks on Palestinians. The Deputy Minister of the Interior reportedly told Okaz newspaper that the professor was being held so that legal proceedings could be brought against him.
- In July Sa'd bin Sa'id Zua'ir, aged 28, was arrested at Riyadh airport. He was apparently planning to travel to Qatar to be interviewed by al-Jazeera television in order to raise awareness of his father's detention in Saudi Arabia. His father, Sa'id bin Zua'ir, a government critic and former head of the department of information at Imam Muhammad Ibn Sa'ud University, had been detained without charge or trial since his arrest in 1995. Both father and son remained held without charge or trial at the end of the year.
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