URGENT APPEAL for Rizana Nafeek, a 22-year-old Sri Lankan domestic worker, and a Sudanese man sentenced to death for sorcery at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia

Public execution in Saudi Arabia

Jan. 9, 2013 UPDATE - Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek executed in Saudi Arabia

A woman and a man who have exhausted all their appeals are at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia, where recent weeks have seen a significant increase in executions. At least 27 people have been executed so far this year, 15 of whom were executed in May alone.

Rizana Nafeek, a 22-year-old Sri Lankan domestic worker, had her death sentence upheld by the Supreme Court in Riyadh in October 2010 for a crime she allegedly committed while under the age of 18. She was arrested in May 2005 on charges of murdering an infant in her care. She was 17 years old at the time and had no access to lawyers either during her pre-trial interrogation or at her first trial (see UA 175/07, MDE 23/026/2007, 5 July 2007, and follow-ups).

'Abdul Hamid bin Hussain bin Moustafa al-Fakki, a Sudanese man who is around 36 years of age, was sentenced to death by the General Court in Madina on 27 March 2007 for sorcery. He had no legal assistance and very little is known about his trial proceedings as they were held in secret. He is still being held in Madina Prison and could be at imminent risk of execution. He was arrested on 8 December 2005 in Madina by members of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), also known as the religious police. He was accused of practicing sorcery, after a man working for the CPVPV asked him to produce a spell that would lead to the man’s father leaving his second wife. It was alleged that 'Abdul Hamid al-Fakki said he would do this in exchange for 6,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (approximately US$1,600). Following his arrest, he was questioned and reportedly beaten, and is believed to have been coerced to confess to carrying out acts of sorcery (see UA 114/10, MDE 23/009/2010, 17 August 2010, and follow-ups).

Rizana Nafeek and 'Abdul Hamid bin Hussain bin Moustafa al-Fakki are at risk of imminent execution because they have exhausted all appeals against their death sentences.

Despite a decrease in executions in the last few years, there has been a marked increase in executions this year with no less than 15 people executed in May alone. So far this year, 27 people have been executed, the same as the total number of people executed in the whole of 2010. Amnesty International is seriously concerned about over 100 prisoners who are currently known to be under sentence of death in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

At least 158 people, including 76 foreign nationals, were executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities in 2007, and at least 102 people, including almost 40 foreign nationals, were executed in 2008. In 2009, at least 69 people are known to have been executed, including 19 foreign nationals and in 2010, at least 27 people were executed including six foreign nationals. Since the beginning of this year at least 27 people have been executed including five foreign nationals.

Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offenses. 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.

Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which prohibits the use of evidence extracted under torture or other ill-treatment. Article 15 states: "Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made."

Saudi Arabia is also a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which expressly prohibits the execution of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18. However, Saudi Arabia does execute juvenile offenders in breach of their obligations under the CRC.

In a report published in 2008 on the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International highlighted the extensive use of the death penalty as well as the disproportionately high number of executions of foreign nationals from developing countries. For further information please see Saudi Arabia: Affront to Justice: Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia (Index: MDE 23/027/2008), 14 October 2008: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/saudi-arabia-executions-target-foreign-nationals-20081014

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

- Urging the King to grant clemency to both Rizana Nafeek and 'Abdul Hamid bin Hussain bin Moustafa al-Fakki and commute their death sentences;

- Express concerning at the recent rise in executions in Saudi Arabia and urging the authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on executions and to commute all death sentences.

APPEALS TO:

King

His Majesty King 'Abdullah Bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud

The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques

Office of His Majesty the King

Royal Court, Riyadh

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) 011 966 1 403 3125 (please keep trying)

Salutation: Your Majesty

Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior

His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud,

Ministry of the Interior,

P.O. Box 2933, Airport Road

Riyadh 11134

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Fax: 011 966 1 403 3125 (please keep trying)

Salutation: Your Royal Highness

COPIES TO:

President, Human Rights Commission

Bandar Mohammed 'Abdullah al-Aiban

Human Rights Commission

P.O. Box 58889, King Fahad Road, Building No. 373,

Riyadh 11515

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Email: hrc@haq-ksa.org

Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia

601 New Hampshire Ave. NW

Washington DC 20037

Fax: 1 202 944 5983

Email: info@saudiembassy.net

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

_________________________

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