In early January 2016, Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution, the largest in 36 years, against 47 people. The Saudi government tended to mix several issues to obscure its retaliatory nature and mitigate the international shock it has left. But tracing the names of a number of those involved in the mass execution showed the lack of fair trials, and multiple aspects of violations, reaching to arbitrary killing. Among the individuals who were executed: the demands for rights and social justice Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr, the minor Ali Al-Ribah, Mustafa Al-Shuyoukh and Muhammad Al-soimel.
On the sixth anniversary of the mass execution, Saudi Arabia continues to abuse the victims and their families. In addition to the policy of impunity that protects violators, torturers, and those responsible for unjust sentences, the Saudi government continues to deny families their right to burial, and is still holding the bodies of the victims.
Since the first massacre, until 2021, Saudi Arabia has used the death penalty unfairly and arbitrarily, in violation of its international commitments and the promises of decision-makers, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The organization has documented a number of executions and the abuses involved. In July 2017, Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of 4 young men who faced charges, including participation in demonstrations. In April 2019, a mass execution of 37 people was carried out, including those accused of protesting and on political charges. In 2021, Saudi Arabia executed a number of young men who faced similar charges, including the minor Mustafa Al-Darwish. The documentation of the European-Saudi Organization confirmed the detention of the bodies of the victims of these executions, along with the bodies of individuals who were killed by the Saudi government extrajudicially, while it is likely that the number of detained bodies is much greater.
Victims:
In light of the lack of transparency in the Saudi official dealing with the execution file in general, and with the continued intimidation of the people and the prevention of any activity of civil society and human rights organizations, it is not possible to reach the actual numbers of the bodies held by Saudi Arabia. Despite this, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights documented 91 cases in which the Saudi government did not return the bodies.
According to the information, the Saudi government is holding 44 corpses of individuals who were killed extrajudicially, during raids or shootings that took place between 2016 and 2021. In addition, Saudi Arabia is holding 47 corpses belonging to individuals it executed on death sentences after trials that lacked conditions of justice.
While it is difficult to obtain accurate numbers about the bodies of the detained foreigners, the monitoring of the European-Saudi organization confirms that Saudi Arabia is holding at least the bodies of 3 foreigners, of Bahraini and Egyptian nationalities.
Among the individuals whose corpses are held by the Saudi government, are 9 minors, they are Walid Talal Al-Arayedh, who was extrajudicially killed, Ali Al-Ribh, Saeed Muhammad Al-Skafi, Salman Amin Al Quraish, Abdul Aziz Al Sahwi, Abdullah Salman Al Sareeh, Abdul Karim Muhammad Al-Hawaj, Mojtaba Nader Al-Suwaiket, Mustafa Hashem Al Darwish who were killed after unfair trials.
backgrounds:
The Saudi government did not respond to the questions of the United Nations special rapporteurs regarding this practice, and it constantly ignores the families’ requests for their right to say goodbye to their children and to practice special religious rites at burial, but according to the follow-up of official positions, and the statements of the families of the victims, there are several reasons for holding the bodies.
Several families have demanded the official Saudi authorities, including the Presidency of State Security, the Ministry of Interior and the Prison Administration, for their right to obtain the bodies for burial and farewell. The official agencies procrastinated, and eventually threatened them to force them to stop demanding. While the Saudi government did not provide justifications for a number of families about the reason for refusing to hand over the body, official bodies told one of them, that nobody would be handed over to an individual who "outlawed the state and the rulers." The Saudi government directs this charge against those it considers to oppose its policies or demand civil and political rights.
In addition to taking revenge on individuals and their families for their activism, the family of the Pakistani young man, Muhammad Omran, who was executed in Saudi Arabia in 2019, on drug charges, confirmed that they demanded the body of their son more than once, and that the response of the Pakistani official authorities is that Saudi Arabia does not return the bodies. According to the monitoring of the European Saudi Organization, from 2016 to 2021, Saudi Arabia executed 94 Pakistanis, among the hundreds of foreigners who were executed, and it is likely that their bodies were not returned.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights considers that the mass execution that was carried out in early 2016 and affected the demands for social justice, Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr, along with others, represents a clear title of the reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, which was inaugurated by mass executions. The organization stresses that the policy of detaining the bodies is a violation of international laws and norms and is a form of torture against families. It is a witness to Saudi Arabia's insistence on continuing the policy of abuse and revenge, and not ending the families' pain.
The organization considers that holding the bodies of minors, demonstrators and individuals arbitrarily killed, and ignoring the rights of families to bid farewell and burial, is the true opposite of the campaigns of promotion and whitewashing led by the Saudi government, and it is clear evidence of the falsehood of official statements and promises that have intensified during the past six years regarding the death penalty.