On June 15, 2021, 14 months after the Human Rights Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced a royal order to end all death sentences against minors, Saudi Arabia executed the minor Mustafa Al Darwish.
The execution of al_Darwish blew up the successive promises that Saudi Arabia had made and showed the lies behind the promotion of the juvenile law, the royal order, and others, thus confirming Saudi Arabia’s continuation in implementing and issuing death sentences as a punishment against minors and in violation of local and international laws.
Executing the Taazir death sentence for Mustafa al_Darwish violates the Juvenile Law issued in 2018, which defines that “if the juvenile is between 15 and 18 years of age, and has committed a crime punishable by death, it is sufficient to place him in a Juvenile Detention Centre for a period not exceeding ten years.”
In addition, the execution violated the royal order announced by the official Human Rights Commission in April 2020 that ordered the suspension of “the implementation of the final judicial rulings issued with the Taazir death penalty for juveniles, which includes all persons who did not reach the age of (eighteen) at the time of committing the crime, Including those sentenced to death for terrorist crimes.”
In addition to domestic laws, the execution of al_Darwish violated the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Treatment ratified by Saudi Arabia in 1997, in which Article 15 states that: 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. ” The execution also violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Saudi Arabia joined in 1995.
In addition, Saudi Arabia ignored a letter sent by United Nations special rapporteurs a few weeks before the execution, which referred to the violations involved in the case, including torture.
Later, the Saudi government claimed that Mustafa was not a minor at the time of the charges brought against him, yet the official papers confirm this. The Saudi response to the international community's criticism showed that the Saudi government can manipulate ages and accusations and use them as a gimmick to proceed with the Taazir death penalty for minors, among other methods.
When it comes to the anticipation of the Saudi government’s steps regarding the execution, especially of minors, killing Mustafa al_Darwish represented a dangerous turning point, as it confirmed the continued threat to the lives of other minors.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights is following the cases of 5 minors who are currently facing the death penalty. However, the lack of transparency in the Saudi government’s handling of the execution file shows the imminent danger of death that the other minors are facing.
He was born on (April 19, 1997) in Qatif. On November 28, 2017, Saudi security forces violently raided his home. Hassan al_Faraj and two of his brothers were arrested during the raid after getting severely beaten. His brothers were released without charges and without an investigation about the torture they were subjected to.
Al_Faraj was subjected to severe torture from the moment of his arrest, including beatings and electric shocks, which led to his transfer to the hospital several times.
Based on confessions extracted under torture, the Public Prosecution requested the death penalty for several charges, including participating in demonstrations, joining and supporting an armed terrorist organization, harboring wanted persons, helping the wounded, joining groups via phone applications, and storing weapons in his home.
Among the charges that were brought against al_Faraj, happened when he was 14 years old.
He was born on April 3, 1995, and was arrested on February 23, 2017, after security forces raided his family's home in the town of Awamiya. The party that carried out the raid did not present an arrest warrant. Jalal Labbad has been subjected to appalling detention conditions from day one, including being kept in solitary confinement for nine and a half months.
The Public Prosecution charged him with several charges, including participating in demonstrations when he was fifteen years old and attending funerals of victims shot by government forces. The Public Prosecution also charged him with assisting in the treatment of several wanted persons by the security services, in the case of the Awqaf and Inheritance Court judge, Sheikh Muhammad al_Abdullah al_Jirani, who was kidnapped and killed. In the latter case, the public prosecutor did not specify Jalal's role in this case. Based on confessions extracted under torture, the prosecution calls for the death penalty against Jalal.
He was born on October 26, 1997, and arrested on August 30, 2017. He faces several charges, including participating in demonstrations, chanting slogans, calling for participation in demonstrations, shooting security men, planning to target the government, and establishing relations with wanted persons.
Among the charges were participating in protests in 2013 and 2014, when Sajjad al_Yassin was 16 years old.
Although the charges are not among the most serious, and even though he was a minor at the time of some of the charges, the Public Prosecution called for the Taazir death penalty for him.
Yusuf Muhammad Al-Manasif:
Born on September 8, 1996, and arrested on April 16, 2017, some of the charges he faced occurred when he was a minor.
Youssef faced several charges, including participating in demonstrations, gatherings, and funerals, joining a terrorist organization, participating in shootings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and distributing drugs. Among the charges against him, according to the Public Prosecution, was his participation in a funeral in 2010 when he was 16 years old. He was tortured to extract confessions from him, and he confirmed this before the judge, but these allegations were not investigated. He did not get a lawyer until after the trial began. Despite these violations and the fact that the crimes are not among the most serious, the Public Prosecution called for a Taazir death sentence for him.
He was arrested in May 2017, when he was 14 years old. He was subjected to numerous violations, including severe torture, to extract confessions out of him. He was charged with armed robbery and murder. He was sentenced to the Hudud death penalty, and after the Supreme Court overturned the ruling due to flaws in the trial, he was again sentenced to Qisas death sentence without investigating the allegations of torture he was subjected to.
ESOHR affirms that Saudi Arabia’s execution of Mustafa Al Darwish showed Saudi Arabia’s insistence to proceed with the execution of minors, including those facing Taazir sentences, in contrast to official statements. The organization notes that the subsequent steps were taken by Saudi Arabia, including stopping the demand for the death penalty in the case of the minor Muhammad Essam Al-Faraj, or the retrial of Ali Al-Nimr, Daoud Al-Marhoon, and Abdullah Al-Zaher, appears to be a propaganda use of the human rights file and the execution of minors, while the practice is still The prevailing disagreement.
ESOHR believes that the detention of Mustafa al_Darwish's body, along with other bodies, indicates the bloodshed, cruelty, and the government's deliberate subjugation of their families with arrogance and stubbornness are still the most prominent characteristics in the Saudi government's handling of the execution file.