The Foreign Secretary is hosting his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir, in London today, together with representatives from the UAE and United States, with the aim of brokering a peace deal to end the ongoing war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s recent mass execution of 37 people must not go unchallenged at the meeting.
Three of those killed were children when their alleged crimes took place: executing them was a flagrant violation of international law.
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Responding to cross-party calls in the Commons for tough action against the Saudis, Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan described the executions as “a deeply backward step… deplorable and totally unacceptable” but stopped short of saying what the Government will do to prevent the regime killing more young men arrested as teenagers for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Condemnation of the executions has been almost universal, in both houses of Parliament.
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Lord Collins asked: “Will the Government work with our allies to impose some form of sanctions so that the Saudis listen to our concerns over this flagrant breach of international law?”
Reprieve Deputy Director Harriet McCulloch said: “Absent meaningful action, or the threat of it, the Government’s expressions of distaste are just that - empty words. For Jeremy Hunt to look his Saudi counterpart in the eye, without making it clear that there will be consequences if the Kingdom continues to violate international law, would be abject cowardice, and undermine British policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances.”
Source: Reprieve, Staff, April 25, 2019
Saudi Arabia: 37 put to death in shocking execution spree
The execution of 37 people convicted on “terrorism” charges marks an alarming escalation in Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty, said Amnesty International today. Among those put to death was a young man who was convicted of a crime that took place while he was under the age of 18.
“Today’s mass execution is a chilling demonstration of the Saudi Arabian authorities callous disregard for human life. It is also yet another gruesome indication of how the death penalty is being used as a political tool to crush dissent from within the country’s Shi’a minority,” said Lynn Maalouf Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International.
The majority of those executed were Shi’a men who were convicted after sham trials that violated international fair trial standards which relied on confessions extracted through torture.
They include 11 men who were convicted of spying for Iran and sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial. At least 14 others executed were convicted of violent offences related to their participation in anti-government demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a majority Eastern Province between 2011 and 2012. The 14 men were subjected to prolonged pre-trial detention and told the court that they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated during their interrogation in order to have ‘confessions’ extracted from them.
Also among those executed is Abdulkareem al-Hawaj – a young Shi’a man who was arrested at the age of 16 and convicted of offences related to his involvement in anti-government protests. Under international law, the use of the death penalty against people who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime is strictly prohibited.
Amnesty International understands that the families were not informed about the executions in advance and were shocked to learn of the news.
“The use of the death penalty is always appalling but it is even more shocking when it is applied after unfair trials or against people who were under 18 at the time of the crime, in flagrant violation of international law,” said Lynn Maalouf.
All of those executed today were Saudi Arabian nationals. So far this year, at least 104 people have been executed by Saudi Arabia – at least 44 of them are foreign nationals, the majority of whom were convicted of drug-related crimes. In 2018, Saudi Arabia carried out 149 executions during the whole year.
“Instead of stepping up executions at an alarming rate in the name of countering terrorism, Saudi Arabia’s must halt this bloody execution spree immediately and establish an official moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty completely,” said Lynn Maalouf.
Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher, from the Shi’a minority and who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime, remain on death row and at imminent risk of execution.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, regardless of who is accused, the crime, their guilt or innocence or the method of execution.
Source: Amnesty International, Staff, April 23, 2019
Saudi Arabia executes 37 people in a single day – including three juveniles
Saudi Arabia’s official press agency has announced that 37 people were killed today, 23 April 2019, in a mass execution. Most, if not all, were convicted in the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC), the Kingdom’s secretive and widely condemned anti-terrorism tribunal.
At least three of those executed were minors at the time of their alleged offences. This is a flagrant violation of international law, which prohibits sentencing juveniles to death.
Abdulkarim al-Hawaj was charged with participating in demonstrations, incitement via social media and preparing banners with anti-state slogans. He was beaten, tortured with electricity and chained with his hands above his head until he ‘confessed’ to terrorism offences.
Mujtaba al-Sweikat was arrested at King Fahd International Airport, on his way to begin his studies at Western Michigan University. He was severely beaten all over his body, including the soles of his feet, and convicted on the basis of a confession extracted through torture.
Salman Qureish was arrested shortly after his 18th birthday, accused of crimes that took place when he was a juvenile. He was denied basic legal rights and sentenced to death in a mass trial, despite repeated interventions on his behalf by the United Nations.
Many of the others executed were also tortured into signing confessions. Munir al-Adam was beaten so badly he lost the hearing in one ear. Abbas al-Hassan was beaten while blindfolded, forced to stand in stress positions for hours and deprived of sleep.
The Kingdom has executed more than 100 people in the first four months of 2019, and is on track to execute more than 300 this year.
As Reprieve Director Maya Foa said: “This is another egregious display of brutality by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. That the Saudi regime believes it has impunity to carry out such patently illegal executions, without notice, should shock its international partners into action.”
Halt executions in Saudi Arabia
➤ We need to take action now to prevent other juveniles from meeting the same fate. Call on Theresa May to condemn these executions and call for the release of the three remaining young people convicted for “crimes” as children – Ali, Dawood and Abdullah. Sign now
Source: Reprieve, Staff, April 203, 2019
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde