An investigation by human rights charity Amnesty International found that a group of activists detained in the country since last May had reported being tortured and abused repeatedly. Testimonies collected by Amnesty revealed a total of ten human rights campaigners were tortured by Saudi authorities. reported incidents of torture and sexual abuse. While several reported being sexually abused in the first three months of their incarceration as they were held in an informal detention facility in an unknown location.
In one case, an activist was allegedly told by an investigator his family had died and allowed to believe the lie for over a month. Another pair of demonstrators were reportedly forced to kiss one another while their interrogators watched. The activists also reported severe torture methods such as waterboarding and electric shocks.
It comes after similar reports in November last year of a group of women being repeatedly tortured by Saudi officials using electricity and flogging - leaving some unable to walk. After Amnesty and others reported on the claims of torture and sexual harassment in November, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Media dismissed the claims as 'baseless'.
