Saudi Arabia to behead, crucify rapist

A Saudi court has ratified the beheading and crucifixion of a young man who raped 5 children, among them a 3-year-old boy left to die in the desert, a newspaper reported on Monday.

An appeal court in Riyadh approved the death sentence handed down in June by a lower court in Hail, where the convicted 22-year-old man carried out his crimes, Okaz newspaper said.

The man was arrested several weeks ago, the paper said, as he tried to seize another youth after offering him a ride home from school.

Saudi Arabia has executed 56 people this year under laws that allow the death penalty for rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.

In extreme cases, the convict is executed and his body crucified in public.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Nov. 3, 2009

Amnesty's Press Release:

Saudi Arabia’s Court of Cassation has confirmed that a 22-year-old man, Muhammad Basheer al-Ramaly, is sentenced to death by beheading, with his body then to be crucified. His sentence should be passed to the Supreme Judicial Council, headed by the King. Muhammad Basheer al-Ramaly could be executed at any time if the Council approves his sentence.

The Supreme Judicial Council can approve death sentences or send them back to the Court of Cassation for review. However, according to a report by Okaz, a Saudi Arabian newspaper, the authorities in the northern city of Hail where Muhammad Basheer al-Ramaly is held, have begun to prepare for the execution.

Muhammad Basheer al-Ramaly was convicted by the General Court in Hail of the kidnapping and rape of four people, which took place in February 2009.

Very little is known about Muhammad Basheer al-Ramaly’s trial, but death sentences are invariably imposed and carried out after unfair trials carried out in secret. He did not have access to a lawyer during his trial, and there are reports that he may be suffering from a psychological disorder. If this is the case, sentencing him to death would be in defiance of UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2004/67, which urges states that still maintain the death penalty “not to impose the death penalty on a person suffering from any form of mental disorder or to execute any such person”.

Muhammad Basheer al-Ramaly has been sentenced to crucifixion of his body, in addition to the death sentence. Crucifixions in Saudi Arabia take place after the beheading; the body along with the separated head are placed on a pole in a public square to act as a deterrent.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

At least 158 people were executed in 2007, and at least 102 in 2008. Since the beginning of 2009, a further 44 people are known to have been executed.

Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offenses, including some with no lethal consequences. Court proceedings fall far short of international standards for fair trial. Defendants are rarely allowed formal representation by a lawyer, and in many cases are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them. They may be convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress or deception.

For further information please see Saudi Arabia: Affront to Justice: Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia, 14 October 2008: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/saudi-arabia-executions-target-foreign-nationals-20081014

Saudi Arabia’s latest execution and crucifixion of the body took place on 29 May 2009. See Amnesty International web feature: Man beheaded and crucified in Saudi Arabia, published on 1 June 2009, at http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/man-beheaded-and-crucified-saudi-arabia-20090601

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