The SANAD Organization for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch urged Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to end the mistreatment and medical neglect of elderly prisoners following Saudi authorities’ refusal to permit a UN expert access to older prisoners during an April visit.

Samer Alshumrani, the operations manager at SANAD, expressed concerns over the situation in Saudi prisons:

We are sounding the alarm over the danger facing older prisoners and we call on the Saudi authorities to immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and provide urgent and adequate medical care to all prisoners.

The UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older people, Claudia Mahler, visited Al-Ha’ir Prison and emphasized that denial of her access to elderly inmates was inconsistent with the “Terms of Reference for country visits by Special Procedures,” while expressing concerns over the well-being of detainees. In particular, the Terms of Reference stipulate the rights of UN mandate holders to have “confidential and unsupervised contact with…persons deprived of their liberty” when it is necessary for the mandate holders to fulfill their duty.

There have long been numerous reports of ill-treatment and medical neglect in Saudi prisons, with older prisoners particularly at risk due to their fragile condition. During the UN visit, 70-year-old prisoner Qasim al-Qathrdi, an academic and preacher, died due to “apparent deliberate medical neglect.” Other prisoners are thought to have also died due to willful neglect, including Abdullah al-Hamid, 69, professor, political reformist, and cofounder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), and Musa al-Qarni, 67, a political reformist.

Mahler acknowledged that she could not verify the allegations of medical neglect of elderly prisoners due to the denial of access to the prisoners. She additionally commended the availability of advanced equipment, staff and healthcare services offered to many prisoners in Al-Ha’ir Prison.

Saudi Arabia also recently came under scrutiny over “a dramatic increase in executions for drug-related offenses,” with at least 88 individuals executed since January. On June 10, Morris Tidball-Binz, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, called on the Saudi authorities to halt the imminent execution of 26 Egyptian nationals. Human rights groups jointly urged the Saudi authorities on Monday to abolish the kafala system, and grant migrant workers equal protection.