The 10th of October 2021 marks today the World Day Against the Death Penalty around the world. This day comes along the collapse of the claimed “improvements” image promoted by the Saudi Arabia during 2020 with regards to the reforms on death penalty, and the dark image for the future awaiting. In 2021, Saudi Arabia multiplied the number of the executed judgements so far, knowing that this year isn’t over yet! Tens of lives are threatened, among of which are children and prisoners of conscience, within a total absence of judicial justice.
World Day Against the Death Penalty 2021
World Day Against the Death Penalty 2021 is devoted this year for the women who are at risk of death penalties judgements against them, the women who were already executed, as well as the women who were declared innocent or were pardoned, because “their stories remain invisible facts”.
Saudi Arabia carries on executions frequently. It executed 29 women since 2011, of various nationalities: 8 of which were Saudis who represent 27% of the total women executions. The remaining nationalities included: 3 Indonesians, 6 Ethiopians, 3 Filipino, 3 Kenyans, 2 Yemenis, and one woman from each of the following nationalities: Egyptian, Sri Lankan, Nepalian, Syrian, Nigerian.
The death penalties carried for the different women nationalities during the last ten years show that around 72% of the judgements were against foreign labor women immigrants. Within the violations against the immigrants workers in Saudi Arabia, in particular absence of their rights in litigation, fears of violations against them are thereby assured. Also, within the lack of any transparency in the way Saudi Arabia deals with death penalties file, including those which involve the foreigners, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights couldn’t document any of the cases where executions were carried against women. However, following on similar cases and taking into consideration the nature of judicial system outweighs such violations. The violations which specifically foreigners are subject to include: preventing any communication with the outer world for varying periods, not providing a translator, not providing an attorney often or sometimes appointing an attorney at advanced stages in the case, being subject to torture, in addition to other systematic violations carried on by Saudi Arabia.
Currently, due to the impossibility to obtain accurate official records, there is a difficulty in monitoring the number of women at death row nowadays. However, and according the information received by the European Saudi Organization, a number of women immigrants workers are still at risk of death penalty.
In addition, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights documented the case of the human rights defender Israa Al-Ghamgham, who was threatened with death penalty before the Public Prosecution dropped the execution order, only after endless criticisms, in which Al-Ghamgham was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
2021: Truth about the reforms claims
In addition to the women executions violations, the numbers of death penalties and their type show the false claims of Saudi Arabia with regards to dealing with death penalties, as it has given respective promises on the issue.
In January 2021, the Saudi Human Rights Commission issued a statement declaring that the reason behind the decrease in executed death penalties in 2020 is due to the reforms carried in the criminal justice system, as well as to the moratorium of death penalties in drug crimes.
On the 8th of February 2021, the Crown-Prince Mohammad Bin Salman declared legislative regulations which he said that it shall contribute to the progress of the legislative environment as well as the stability of the regulative authorities, which may limit the individualism in issuing the judgements and provides the possibility to predict them. These regulations include the civil status affairs regulation, the civil transactions regulation, the criminal regulation on Ta’azir sanctions, and the Verification regulation.
In March 2020, a Royal decree was issued which the official Human Rights Commission claimed it completely halts the death penalties for the minors.
Year 2021 was preceded by other promises, the most important were declared by Mohammad Bin Salman in April 2018 when he stated that they are working on decreasing the number of the death penalties judgements to the minimum as possible. Also, official Saudi media circulated information in June 2020 debates on moratorium of Ta’azir executions.
All of these promises gone with the wind as 2021 year took off. The executed death penalties during 2020 decreased by 85% compared to 2019, however it increased again with the beginning of 2021, and multiplied until the 10th of October 2021, the date of issuing this article, in which 56 executions were carried on so far.
Among the executions since the beginning of 2021, there were 7 Ta’azir executions. Ta’azir means the death judgements which the judge has a discretionary authority in judging, since there are no sanctions stated in the extremist Islamic version which Saudi Arabia adopts in its judicial system. The remaining judgements were either according to the prescribed Islamic punishments (Hudud) or retribution punishment (Qisas) in unreliable trials.
In June 2021, Saudi Arabia executed the minor Mustapha Al-Darwish surprisingly, in which his family was waiting his weekly phone call, but was shocked to hear the news published by the official news agency on his killing. The execution of Al-Darwish confirmed the continuity of minor executions by Saudi Arabia, in addition to the violations which occurred in his case among of which was torture and hideously ignoring his attempts to defend himself.
On the 3rd of August 2021, a Ta’azir execution was carried against the young man Ahmad Bin Said Al-Janbi. According to the official statement issued by the Ministry of Interior Affairs on the judgement, Al-Janbi wasn’t accused by any charges which include homicide or shedding blood, but most of his charges were related to protesting. This was followed by another execution against the young man Adnan Bin Mustafa Al-Shurfa on the 6th of September 2021.
On the 5th of October, Saudi Arabia executed the young man Muslim Al-Mohsen according to Ta’azir punishment. This occurred despite several violations in his case which included: lack of evidence, forcible confessions by torture and others. When he was first arrested, he was accused of being a killer. And after it failed to prove this accusation, it replaced it with another charge, and stated that he was driving a motorcycle and the killer was another person who rode with him. Despite everything, it insisted on executing him, without any proofs or evidences.
Individuals currently at death row
Saudi Arabia lacks any transparency in dealing with the death penalties file. This hinders an accurate documentation for the risky status of a number of individuals who are facing death penalties. This occurs within terrorizing their families and community to prevent them from providing any information. During 2021, the European Saudi Organization monitored the execution of several individuals who were charged for different accusations including protesting, however it didn’t have any information about them or on the death penalty which threatens them. This confirms the hypothesis of having several cases which are unidentified yet, and thus executions may be carried on at any moment.
Despite this reality, the European Saudi Organization statements mention that there are around 40 cases where the detainees face death penalties in different litigation stages, among them are 5 minors at least. The minors include Abdallah Al-Huwaiti who is at risk of being executed upon the ratification of the judgement by the court of Appeal. The European Saudi Organization documented the violations he was subject to since the very moment he was arrested when he was only 14 years only. Also, the Public Prosecution requests the execution for each of Jalal Al-Labbad, Hasan Zaki Al-Faraj, Youssef Al-Manassef, and Sajed Al-Yassin.
Moreover, the Specialized Criminal Court (Court on Terrorism Cases) issued new judgements in 2021, among them were judgements against the young man Mohamad Al-Shakhouri who is accused of many charges including protesting. The European Saudi Organization monitored several violations during the trial of Al-Shakhouri which included being subject to severe torture and depriving him the right to defend himself.
Also, several trials for prisoners of conscience are still going on, and the Public Prosecution still requests the Ta’azir execution for each of Sheikh Salman Al-Ouda, Sheikh Hasan Al-Maliki, Ali Al-Oumari and others, within procrastination and lack of justice.
Lack of accountability
The Saudi government breaches international laws and its commitments through issuing and executing arbitrary death penalties judgements, in particular the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as it remains issuing execution judgements against minors, despite the allegations of torture.
The European Saudi Organization monitored the adopted measures and the trials related to death penalties and the political cases, and it revealed that the General Investigations department, which fall under the Presidency of State’s Security, which is linked directly to the King and his son, is systematically crushing all the rights of the accused guaranteed by the local regulations.
The accused, directly upon his arrest is deprived from communicating with his family and is isolated in solitary confinement for a long period during investigation, along with being tortured both physically and mentally. Some cases may involve sadism and end up with killing him or even affecting his physical health. Also, he is prohibited from assigning an attorney before the mock trial, which is a bold breach for the local criminal procedures regulation. In addition, the lack of independently functioning departments prevents any sort of questioning or accountability for these violations, and encourages the authorities in charge for them to keep on doing them, even after the judgements are implemented. The Saudi government still holds the bodies of 90 at least persons it killed, despite that their families demanded them, in a clear violation for the international laws and families rights.
Conclusion
On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights believes that Saudi Arabia is still using this sanction against all society categories, especially the most vulnerable, as women, immigrants workers, and children. It appears that there are no serious efforts currently to change this fact.
The organization noted that Saudi Arabia attempted to absorb the criticisms it faced in the past years, through adopting some changes in the way it applies the sanction. So, instead of carrying on mass executions as in 2016 and 2019, it shifted to individual executions. In addition, it promoted misleading and unrealistic information before the international commissions like the Human Rights Council. Nevertheless, the bloody image for executions in Saudi Arabia still overwhelms, especially with the escalating course of the number of executed judgements in 2021 compared to 2020, and the continuation of violations for the international commitments and false promises of reforms.