NEOM Files - Part 1
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He filmed himself refusing to leave. He predicted they would kill him. On April 13 2020 they did. His family is still paying.
Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti was a 43-year-old Saudi Ministry of Finance employee and member of the Huwaitat tribe. His home in al-Khuraybah was inside the 26,500 square kilometre NEOM zone declared in 2017. He posted videos online refusing to leave and predicting that authorities would plant weapons to incriminate him. A former Saudi intelligence officer told the BBC in 2024 that he had been ordered to clear the area and authorised to use lethal force. Al-Huwaiti was killed at his home on April 13 2020. Three of his family members were subsequently sentenced to death. A 19-year-old was sentenced to 20 years for a tweet.
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Tabuk province · Huwaitat tribe · 26,500km2 NEOM zone · Declared 201702 / 07
The Huwaitat tribe lived in Tabuk province for centuries before the Saudi state existed. When NEOM was declared in 2017, their land was inside the zone.
The NEOM zone covers approximately 26,500 square kilometres of Tabuk province in the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia. The Huwaitat are an indigenous tribe of approximately 20,000 people whose presence in the mountains and coastal plains of Tabuk predates the Saudi state. The Saudi government declared the NEOM project in 2017, placing the entire tribal territory within the development zone without documented consultation with the communities living there.
The village of al-Khuraybah, where Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti and his family lived, sat within the footprint earmarked for NEOM. The broader displacement affected multiple Huwaitat communities. Tribal leaders subsequently appealed to the United Nations requesting an investigation into the forceful displacement and abuse of tribal members. That appeal is documented by ALQST for Human Rights.
Source: ALQST for Human Rights, NEOM displacement documentation · Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia reporting 2020 · Al Jazeera, NEOM investigation 2020
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Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti · 43 years old · Ministry of Finance · Filmed his refusal · Killed April 13 202003 / 07
He was not an activist. He was a civil servant. He filmed himself saying he would not leave his home. He named it. On April 13 2020 they killed him.
Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti was a 43-year-old government employee at the Saudi Ministry of Finance. He posted a series of videos on social media refusing to vacate his home in al-Khuraybah and stating that he would not comply with the eviction order. In his final video he predicted that the authorities would plant weapons in his house to incriminate him. He was killed by Saudi security forces at his home on April 13 2020. State Security stated he had opened fire and was a wanted man. His family and human rights organisations rejected that account.
Colonel Rabih Alenezi, a former Saudi intelligence officer who sought asylum in the United Kingdom, told the BBC in an investigation published in May 2024 that he had been ordered to evict Huwaitat tribe members from al-Khuraybah and had been authorised to use lethal force against anyone who remained. He stated the April 2020 order described the tribe as containing many rebels. His testimony was the first documented account from inside the security apparatus involved in the operation. On August 10 2020, UN mandate holders issued formal communication AL SAU 11/2020 expressing grave concern and requesting information from Saudi Arabia. The response has not been made public.
Source: ALQST for Human Rights, April 2020 · BBC News investigation, May 2024 · Al Jazeera, April 2020 · UN mandate holders, AL SAU 11/2020
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ALQST · UN AL SAU 11/2020 · Formal complaint · Grave concern · No public response from Saudi Arabia04 / 07
ALQST submitted a formal complaint. UN mandate holders issued AL SAU 11/2020 on August 10 2020. Saudi Arabia has not responded publicly.
ALQST for Human Rights, a UK-based Saudi human rights organisation, documented the killing and the forced displacement of Huwaitat communities in detail and submitted a formal complaint to the relevant UN mechanisms. The documentation included video evidence of al-Huwaiti's final statements, witness testimony from displaced community members and a record of the pattern of forced evictions across the NEOM zone.
On August 10 2020, UN mandate holders issued communication AL SAU 11/2020, formally expressing grave concern about the killing of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti and requesting that Saudi Arabia provide information on the circumstances of his death, the legal basis for the forced evictions, and the measures taken to protect the rights of the Huwaitat community. The document is in the public record. Saudi Arabia's substantive response, if any, has not been made public.
Source: ALQST for Human Rights, NEOM documentation 2020 · UN mandate holders, AL SAU 11/2020, August 10 2020
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Specialised Criminal Court · Shadli, Ibrahim, Ataullah al-Huwaiti · Death sentences 2022 · Upheld 2023 · OHCHR alarm05 / 07
Three tribe members sentenced to death for opposing the eviction. Upheld on appeal January 2023. A 19-year-old received 20 years for a tweet.
On October 2 2022, Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court sentenced Shadli, Ibrahim and Ataullah al-Huwaiti to death. Shadli al-Huwaiti is the brother of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti. The SCC was established in 2008 to try terrorism cases and has been documented by human rights organisations as a court increasingly used to prosecute political dissent. The death sentences were upheld by the Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal on January 23 2023. Three other tribe members were sentenced to 27, 35 and 50 years in prison. A 19-year-old university student was sentenced to 20 years for a tweet expressing sympathy for the resistance to the evictions, on charges of disrupting national cohesion.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a press release in May 2023 expressing alarm at the imminent executions linked to the NEOM project. The OHCHR stated that under international law the death penalty may only be imposed for the most serious crimes involving intentional killing. The charges, which included forming a terrorist cell and undermining national unity through online posts opposing the NEOM evictions, do not meet that threshold. Amnesty International called for the immediate release of all those sentenced in connection with the NEOM displacement.
Source: ALQST for Human Rights, October 2022 · OHCHR press release, May 3 2023 · Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia documentation · ECDHR, "The Cost of Opposing NEOM," 2025
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International law · Death penalty threshold · Non-lethal political speech · Charges: undermining national unity06 / 07
The charges were online posts opposing a construction project. The OHCHR: death penalty cannot apply to non-lethal political offences.
The Specialised Criminal Court charged the three men with forming a terrorist cell and undermining national unity. The specific acts cited were their opposition to the NEOM evictions, expressed through public statements and social media posts. The SCC, which was designed to handle terrorism cases, has been documented by the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights as having been "weaponised" to prosecute critics of state-backed projects including NEOM. Its use in these cases represents an application of counter-terrorism law to non-violent political opposition to a real estate development.
The OHCHR's May 2023 statement was direct: under international human rights law, states that have not abolished the death penalty may only impose it for the most serious crimes, specifically those involving intentional killing. The charges against the three men involve no such acts. The men remain on death row. Their names are in the public record: Shadli Ahmad Mahmoud Abou Taqiqa al-Huwaiti, Ibrahim Salih Ahmad Abou Khalil al-Huwaiti and Atallah Moussa Mohammed al-Huwaiti.
Source: OHCHR press release, May 3 2023 · ECDHR, "The Cost of Opposing NEOM: Arbitrary Detention and Unjust Sentences," 2025 · Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia
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The question. Not a claim.07 / 07
One man killed for refusing to leave. Three sentenced to death for opposing the eviction. A 19-year-old given 20 years for a tweet. What is being built on this land, what it has cost, and who is now negotiating to put data centres there.
Tomorrow: the project. 50 billion dollars spent. 2.4 kilometres of foundation built out of 170. Construction suspended in September 2025. The Wall Street Journal internal audit: full completion by 2080 at a cost of 8.8 trillion dollars. Bloomberg: Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud in advanced negotiations for data centres on the same land. The displacement was not a condition of the project. It was the beginning of it.
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