FEATURED POST

As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

Published
Image
President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.
Post a Comment

URGENT APPEAL for two Saudi Arabian brothers Muhammad Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id and Sa'ud Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id at imminent risk of execution

Published
Amnesty International has received information that two Saudi Arabian brothers Muhammad Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id and Sa'ud Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id are at imminent risk of execution.

Muhammad Jaber Shahbah al-Ja’id and Sa’ud Jaber Shahbah al-Ja’id, who are both married and have children, were sentenced to death in late December 1998 by a court in Mecca, for the murder of another man. Their sentences were ratified in late April 2011 by the King and we issued an Urgent Action which urged the King to halt their impending executions. Amnesty International has since received information from Saudi Arabia that both executions may happen imminently, increasing the need for urgent appeals on behalf of the brothers.

The death sentences were imposed following what appear to have been unfair trial proceedings. According to the lawyers who have assisted them after their sentences, neither of the two brothers had access to a lawyer at the original trial and Sa'ud Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id confessed to the murder under duress after the authorities arrested his elderly father to put pressure on him.

The two brothers have spent 14 years in prison in Ta’if waiting for the children of the man who was killed to reach adulthood. This is because, under Saudi Arabian law, the relatives of a murder victim have to reach the age of majority before they can be consulted on whether they wish to seek execution, request diya (compensation) or grant a pardon freely. It is reported that in 2009, after all the children reached the age of majority, they informed the court that they wanted Muhammad Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id and Sa'ud Jaber Sahbah al-Ja'id to be executed.

Please write immediately in Arabic or your own language:
- Urging the King to halt the execution of Muhammad Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id and Sa'ud Jaber Shahbah al-Ja'id;
- Calling on the King to commute the death sentences of the brothers and those of others under sentence of death in Saudi Arabia as a matter of urgency, with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
- Reminding the authorities that they should act in accordance with international standards for fair trial, including the UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, which state that capital punishment may only be imposed after a fair trial in which the defendant is provided with “adequate legal assistance at all stages of the proceedings”.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 7 SEPTEMBER 2011 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

And 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

Also send copies to:
Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC 20037
Fax: 1 202 944 5983

Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the above date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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, 34 people have been executed, more than 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.

At least 158 people were executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities in 2007, and at least 102 people were executed in 2008. In 2009, at least 69 people are known to have been executed.

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.

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

Source: Amnesty International, July 27, 2011
Location: Arabie saoudite
Related content:

Comments

Post a Comment

Constructive and informative comments are welcome. Please note that offensive and pro-death penalty comments will not be published.

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Biden Has 65 Days Left in Office. Here’s What He Can Do on Criminal Justice.

Published
Image
Judicial appointments and the death penalty are among areas where a lame-duck administration can still leave a mark. Donald Trump’s second presidential term will begin on Jan. 20, bringing with it promises to dramatically reshape many aspects of the criminal justice system. The U.S. Senate — with its authority over confirming judicial nominees — will also shift from Democratic to Republican control.
Read more

Alabama executes Carey Dale Grayson, carries out nation's 3rd nitrogen gas execution

Published
Image
ATMORE, Ala. — An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures with his hands shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas. Carey Dale Grayson, 50, was executed at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama. He was one of four teenagers convicted of killing Vickie DeBlieux, 37, as she hitchhiked through the state on the way to her mother's home in Louisiana. The woman was attacked, beaten and thrown off a cliff.
Read more

Singapore executes third drug trafficker in a week

Published
Image
Rosman Abdullah’s execution was the eighth this year in the city state, seven for drug trafficking and one for murder Singapore on Friday hanged a 55-year-old man for drug trafficking, its narcotics enforcement agency said, the city state’s third execution in a week as the United Nations called for a halt. The UN and rights groups say capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect and have called for it to be abolished, but Singaporean officials insist it has helped make the country one of Asia’s safest.
Read more

Indonesia | Bali Nine prisoners to be sent home

Published
Image
The news comes after a request from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The five remaining Bali nine* prisoners currently serving life sentences in Indonesia for drug trafficking are set to return to Australia at the request of Anthony Albanese. The Prime Minister made the plea during talks with new president Prabowo Subianto at the APEC conference in Peru, The Australian reported on Friday.
Read more

As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

Published
Image
President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.
Read more

Singapore | Imminent unlawful execution for drug trafficking

Published
Image
Ahead of the scheduled execution of a man for drug-related offences, in violation of international law and standards, in Singapore on Friday 22 November, Amnesty International’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said:  “The upcoming execution of Rosman bin Abdullah underlines the chilling determination of the Singapore authorities to continue to implement the death penalty. Singapore is among a handful of countries still executing people for drug-related offences, in violation of international human rights law and standards. This must stop immediately. 
Read more

Mary Jane Veloso to return to Philippines after 14-year imprisonment in Indonesia

Published
Image
BACK IN 2010, overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia. She was convicted of drug trafficking after being caught carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin in Yogyakarta. She was then given the death penalty despite pleading innocence – saying that she was only a victim of human trafficking.  Initially, she started working as an OFW to give her children a better life. As per her lawyer Agus Salim, she had gone to Dubai to work as a domestic helper, but returned to Manila before the end of her contract because she was allegedly almost raped.
Read more

USA | Pro-Trump prison warden asks Biden to commute all death sentences before leaving

Published
Image
Ron McAndrew is a former Florida State Penitentiary warden A pro-Trump former Florida prison warden who oversaw executions is urging President Biden to commute all federal and military death sentences before leaving office. "I voted for President Trump in all of his campaigns, and I agree with him on most of his positions, but not the death penalty," Ron McAndrew, former warden of the Florida State Penitentiary, wrote in a letter to the outgoing president. "I have written to President Trump personally to ask him to stop calling for more executions."
Read more