In a June 21 statement, Egypt’s Reform and Development Party called for the release of 10 Egyptian Nubian nationals who have been detained in Saudi Arabia since their arrest in July 2020 in relation to a community event they held back in 2019 dubbed “Egyptian Nubian, the Heroes of the October 6th War.”

The party’s head, Mohammed Anwar al-Sadat, said in the statement published on the party’s official website, “The rules and regulations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia prohibit the establishment of associations or entities belonging to the different communities residing on Saudi land, according to what was mentioned in the Egyptian Consulate statement on Oct. 29, 2020. But there was no bad faith, criminal offense or any harm intended to the kingdom by the Nubian Association in Riyadh [when it held the event].”

Sadat added, “There are many international agreements that grant this right to foreign minorities in different countries, which can preserve their cultural, religious and linguistic identity. This is something very common in all countries of the world, where no state has imposed sanctions or detained any person or group of people for establishing civil associations.”

“Moreover, Saudi Arabia had agreed since the 1990s to the establishment of a Nubian association on its land,” he said, stressing that the detention is an unjustified measure by Saudi authorities.