23 NGOs, including the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, have called on the Moroccan government to clarify the background to its extradition of Hassan Al Rabie to Saudi Arabia on February 6, 2023.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of Morocco, Aziz Akhannouch, the signatory organizations expressed their deep concern about the fate of Al-Rabea and indicated that he arrived in Morocco in June 2022. On January 14, 2023, he was arrested at Marrakesh airport, following the Arab Interior Ministers Council’s issuance of a provisional arrest request made by Saudi Arabia. He was wanted on charges of “collaboration with terrorists by having them agree and collaborate with him to get him outside of Saudi Arabia in an irregular fashion,” he faces a prison sentence ranging between 10 and 20 years.
The letter indicated that the extradition of Al Rabea took place despite repeated calls by civil society for his release and non-extradition, as he faces risks, including the risk of torture and persecution.
The organisations expressed concern about Morocco's apparent violation of the principle of non-refoulement under international human rights and refugee laws to which Morocco is a party, including the United Nations and African refugee conventions, the Convention against Torture, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The letter emphasised on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record is particularly concerning, with due process violations, arbitrary and secret detention, enforced disappearance, torture and capital punishment.
Furthermore, the organizations asserted that al-Rabea’s extradition may violate the Moroccan Code of Criminal Procedure, particularly article 721, which provides that: “extraditions shall not be granted when there are substantial grounds for believing that an extradition request related to an ordinary offence has in fact been made to prosecute or punish a person on the grounds of his or her race, religion, nationality or political opinion, or may aggravate this person’s situation for any of these reasons.”
The letter made it clear that Hasan's arrest and extradition are likely to be part of Saudi Arabia's reprisals against the Al Rabie family, and that he will likely face serious human rights violations upon his arrival there.
The organisations considered that Al-Rabea’s extradition represents the continuation of a worrying trend: in 2021, Morocco extradited another Saudi national, Osama al-Hasani. Although the UN Committee against Torture requested interim measures by suspending his extradition pending the review of his case.
Signing Organizations:
World Alliance For Citizen Participation (CIVICUS)
Moroccan Collective Against the Death Penalty
Moroccan Collective of Human Rights Instances
Association Marocaine des Droits Humains (AMDH)
AlQST for Human Rights
Freedom Forward
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor
European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Human Rights First
Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (Salam DHR)
Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT-France)
Committee for Justice (CFJ)
Human Rights Watch
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
Freedom Initiative
MENA Rights Group
Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (Salam DHR)
Amnesty International
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement