UN demands Saudi Arabia abolish the death penalty

Executions carried out daily where Saudi authorities lifted 21-month unofficial moratorium, UN High Commissioner

The United Nations (UN) and human rights organizations have called on Saudi authorities to abolish the death penalty for drug-related crimes in Saudi Arabia.

International rights organizations have expressed concern over the Saudi government’s decision to impose the death penalty for drug crimes and have called it a very regrettable step.

It has been pointed out that the death penalty for drugs and other charges has resumed just days after the United Nations General Assembly called for a halt to the death penalty around the world in the majority of countries.

A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death penalty for crimes such as drugs was inconsistent with international norms and standards.

Since November 10, so far 17 suspects including three Pakistani nationals have been sentenced to death in drug cases. Gulzar Khan who was arrested for smuggling heroin among three Pakistanis was finally executed. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed on November 22.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell said executions were carried out every day in Saudi Arabia where Saudi authorities lifted a 21-month unofficial moratorium on the death penalty for drug-related crimes this month.

Those executed included 4 Syrians, 3 Jordanians, 7 Saudis and 3 Pakistanis.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights did not confirm how many suspects were currently on the death row list. However, Pakistan has never protested against the death penalty while Amnesty International has strongly reacted to the death penalty calling such a move an attack on the right to life.

“This is the 1st execution of Pakistani nationals for drug-related offences since the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced a ban on the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences in January 2021,” the spokesman said.

Source: minutemirror.com.pk, Staff, November 29, 2022

UK condemns ‘abhorrent’ torture of death row inmate in Saudi Arabia

Foreign Office minister says case of Hussein Abo al-Kheir raised ‘at highest level’ and demands end to executions

The British government has condemned as “abhorrent” what it said was the clear torture of a Jordanian national on death row in Saudi Arabia for drug offences, and demanded an end to a sudden spate of executions in the Gulf monarchy.

It was the 1st time the British government has made the allegation.

After growing pressure to comment on the issue, Foreign Office minister David Rutley told parliament that London had raised Hussein Abo al-Kheir’s case “at the highest level”.

The kingdom had previously given a commitment it would not impose the death penalty for drug offences, but has suddenly resumed executions.

Responding to questions from members of parliament from both his own party and the opposition, Rutley acknowledged that the impending execution did “not sit comfortably with what has previously been said by the Saudi government”.

Kheir, who is represented by the campaign group Reprieve, was moved to a death row cell more than a week ago.

He was arrested in 2014 for smuggling narcotics when crossing the Jordan border into Saudi, and says he only confessed when he was tortured, including being suspended from his feet and beaten on his stomach and legs. A UN working group on arbitrary detention in October said his arrest has been arbitrary, and he should be released immediately.

“We have already expressed our concerns, particularly about Mr al-Kheir’s case, in which clearly torture was used,” Rutley said. “We find that abhorrent.”

Former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis wrote to the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, and the Saudi ambassador in the UK last week to ask them to intervene in the case. Davis raised an urgent question in parliament on Monday.

Rutley added: “The Saudi authorities have executed around 150 individuals in 2022, a marked increase on the 67 executions last year. On 12 March 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in a single day, and the British ambassador raised UK concerns with Saudi authorities at both ministerial and senior official level in Riyadh on 14 March.”

Source: The Guardian, Staff, November 29, 2022

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