CAT/C/SAU/CO/2 has the power to order their release nor do they guarantee the right of persons deprived of their liberty to have prompt access to independent medical assistance. The Committee is further concerned at reports that officials do not respect the legal requirements for persons deprived of their liberty to be promptly notified of the reasons for their detention and to receive language assistance such as translation and interpretation. The Committee regrets that the State party has not provided information on investigations into allegations that persons deprived of their liberty were denied the right to access legal counsel, such as in the case of Mohammad Salih al-Bajadi, a human rights defender and co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (art. 2). 15. The State party should ensure both in law and in practice that all persons deprived of their liberty are able to have prompt access to a lawyer of their choice, to confer with their lawyer in confidence and to contact a family member or other person of their choice to inform him or her of their detention and whereabouts from the moment of deprivation of liberty. The State party should repeal provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure that allow investigators to restrict such communication by persons deprived of their liberty, monitor the provision of legal safeguards against torture to persons deprived of their liberty and discipline or prosecute officials who fail to provide these safeguards to detainees in practice. The State party should also ensure that detainees are informed of their rights and that they can exercise their rights to request and receive a medical examination by an independent doctor, preferably of their choice, to receive language assistance such as translation and interpretation and to be presented promptly before a judicial authority who has the power to order release from detention, if necessary. Counter-terrorism law and the Specialized Criminal Court 16. While recognizing the State party’s concern about protecting its population from terrorist attacks, the Committee is concerned that the Penal Law for Crimes of Terrorism and its Financing adopted in 2014 contains an extremely broad definition of terrorism that would enable the criminalization of acts of peaceful expression considered as endangering “national unity” or undermining “the reputation or position of the State”. The Committee is particularly concerned about the decisions of the Specialized Criminal Court that sentenced Alaa Brinji, a journalist, and Abdulkareem al-Khoder, co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, to imprisonment pursuant to this law. The Committee is further concerned that the law allows the authorities to detain individuals for up to 90 days without access to family members or legal counsel, which effectively deprives them of crucial legal safeguards against torture. 17. In addition, the Committee is concerned that the Specialized Criminal Court, which was established in 2008 to try cases of terrorism, is insufficiently independent of the Ministry of the Interior. The Committee notes the reports received that judges of the Court have repeatedly refused to act on claims made by defendants facing terrorism charges that they were subjected to torture or ill-treatment during interrogations for the purpose of compelling a confession, including in the cases of Fadel al-Manasef, Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoun and Abdullah al-Zaher (arts. 2 and 15). 18. The State party should: (a) Consider revising the definition of terrorism in the Penal Law for Crimes of Terrorism and its Financing so that its criminalization provisions are as narrow as possible and cannot serve as a basis for prosecuting individuals engaged in non-violent expression and advocacy, especially in defence of human rights; (b) Revise the law so that it does not facilitate the practice of incommunicado detention and it ensures that all individuals deprived of their liberty 4