Seven UN experts said that Saudi Arabia is bound by its commitments to ban the death penalty for all crimes committed by people under 18 at the time of the crime.
In a letter they sent to the Saudi government; on February 25, 2022, the special rapporteurs confirmed that Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Saudi Arabia in 1996, obligates it to protect all children from this punishment, and obliges it to treat every person under 18 as a child.
The Special Rapporteurs stressed that children should not be subjected to the death penalty or arbitrary detention, as these practices violate existing rules of customary international law and make the punishment amount to torture.
The letter welcomed the release of Daoud Al-Marhoon, a minor who had previously been arrested and sentenced to death before the sentence changed to 10 years. The rapporteurs indicated that al-Marhoun had confirmed that he was tortured, which must be fully investigated. They also stressed the importance of bringing to justice those responsible for the violations he was subjected to and giving him access to redress, compensation, and rehabilitation.
The rapporteurs hoped that the release of the pledge would help give a push to put an end to the unambiguous and verifiable final practice of the ongoing practice of sentencing minors to death. The rapporteurs called on the Saudi government once again to prohibit the death penalty against children for all crimes, including those punishable by Qisas and Hadd punishments.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights confirms that Saudi Arabia continues to threaten to execute minors with punitive provisions, which it has prohibited under the Juvenile Law; as well as its continued issuance of death sentences with retribution and Hadd punishment, which contravene the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The organization notes that Saudi Arabia is threatening to apply the death penalty against five children, including the minor Abdullah Al-Hwaiti, who is facing a death sentence, while the other four are facing a demand from the Public Prosecution to execute as a punishment. The organization asserts that Saudi Arabia is manipulating the file of the execution of minors, through rulings and manipulation of ages, in an attempt to mislead the international community. The organization also points out the absence of any means of accountability for those responsible for the violations and torture against minors.