My father, the Islamic scholar Salman Alodah, is among the many prisoners of conscience languishing in Saudi jails

The apparent end to the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar and a reconciliation among the states involved prompts the question: when will the Saudi government release the citizens who were caught up in the conflict and imprisoned during the three and a half-year crisis?

In a breakthrough, it was announced on 4 January that Saudi Arabia had opened its land border with Qatar, paving the way for an easing of tensions that had led to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain severing diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in mid-2017. On 5 January, the annual GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) summit took place in Saudi Arabia’s north-western Al-Ula province. And for the first time since the blockade on Qatar was imposed, the Qatari emir attended.

Abdullah Alaoudh is the son of Salman Alodah. He is director of research for the Gulf Region at Democracy for the Arab World Now and co-founder of the Saudi National Assembly party; Abderrahmane Amor is a commentator, academic and former staff member of the Bernie Sanders campaign for president

This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.