The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights and Reprieve confirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia openly declared its disregard for international law and all its commitments and obligations through the mass execution carried out on March 12, affecting 81 people.
In a speech before the Human Rights Council at its 49th session under the fourth item, on March 22, 2022, the Legal Adviser at ESOHR, Taha Al-Hajji, confirmed that the documentation of several cases included in the mass execution showed their lack of conditions of justice. He pointed out that the accused were subjected to torture and deprivation of adequate defense for themselves and that many of those who were executed faced charges that were not the most serious.
The two organizations confirmed that among the recent executions, there are cases that the special rapporteurs had addressed in their letters to the Saudi government and pointed out the violations that detainees were experiencing, including torture, ill-treatment, and arbitrary detention.
The speech made it clear that several victims of the recent mass execution and the previous ones were demonstrators and minors. In addition, it shows that Saudi Arabia, contrary to official promises, continues with arbitrary executions. The two organizations indicated that dozens are still on death row, including at least five minors and prisoners of conscience, such as Sheikh Hassan al-Maliki and Sheikh Salman al-Awda.
Al-Hajji concluded that: Saudi Arabia’s disregard for its obligations, especially the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, requires a decisive stance from the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, which proves the failure of the official propaganda led by the Saudi government, and which shows the lies of speeches delivered before the Council during the previous years.