Human Organization for Rights and Freedoms strongly condemns the horrific crime involving the targeting by Saudi warplanes of the Central Correctional Facility in the city of Al Hazm, Al Jawf Governorate, on Monday, September 7, 2026. The attack struck a detention facility housing detainees, staff members, and visitors and, according to preliminary information, resulted in the killing of 14 people and the injury of dozens more, including a child and a woman. Rescue and recovery operations to retrieve victims from beneath the rubble are still ongoing.

The organization emphasizes that targeting a correctional facility containing persons deprived of their liberty, as well as staff members and visitors, constitutes an extremely serious incident and raises grave concerns regarding compliance with the rules of international humanitarian law, particularly the principle of distinction between civilian objects and military objectives, the principle of proportionality, and the obligation to take all necessary precautions to spare civilians from the effects of attacks.

The organization stresses that detainees are entitled to the protection afforded to them under international humanitarian law and may not be targeted merely because they are present inside a detention facility. Visitors and staff members likewise remain protected persons under international law.

The organization reiterates that targeting the correctional facility constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and may amount to a war crime, making it imperative to investigate the circumstances of the incident and identify those responsible.

The organization calls on the United Nations and the relevant international bodies to launch an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the incident, document the victims and damage caused, and take the necessary measures to ensure accountability and prevent those responsible for this crime from escaping punishment.

Human Organization for Rights and Freedoms warns that attacks against civilian facilities and protected persons must not go uninvestigated or unpunished, and that the absence of accountability for serious violations only encourages their recurrence. It calls on the international community to fulfill its responsibility to protect civilians and hold accountable all those found responsible for this crime.