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Since 2016, Saudi Arabia has begun implementing death sentences issued by the Specialized Criminal Court officially declared to be specialized in terrorism-related cases. However, it has become apparent that, indiscriminately and without standards, these included cases related to expression of opinion and participation in protests that were criminalized as terrorism.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights tracked 229 executions carried out by Saudi Arabia from the beginning of January 2016 until the end of February 2024, with sentences issued by the specialized court and in mass executions. It conducted a statistical study based on the available information. The analysis of the information revealed that 93 executions, approximately 40% of the total, targeted individuals from Al-Qatif, in the context of the events witnessed by the province. the General Authority for Statistics, the population of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reached 32,175,000 by the end of 2023, of which 552,000 are residents of Al-Qatif, approximately 1.7% of the total population.
For years, the Al-Qatif Governorate in Saudi Arabia has borne the burden of legitimate movements advocating for civil, political, and social rights, within the context of various movements across the country, coinciding with the Arab Spring. The violations against many residents of this governorate have ranged from arbitrary arrests to torture, mistreatment, harassment, and even extrajudicial killings, under the pretext of death sentences.
:Background:
In February 2011, amidst protests witnessed across most countries in the region, some cities in Saudi Arabia saw gatherings and demonstrations calling for human rights, social justice, and the release of detainees without trials. As the situation escalated in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia intervened to suppress pro-democracy protests, protests in Al-Qatif widened, including demands for the withdrawal of the Peninsula Shield Forces from Bahrain.
The Saudi government initially responded to the protests with tightening measures, later resorting to suppression and using weapons to disperse and confront the demonstrators, resulting in the deaths of several protesters. During the last months of 2011, Saudi security forces killed the first protesters, Ali Al-Felfel and Nasser Al-Muhaishi, and by the end of the year, they had killed 5 protesters, 4 by gunfire and one by running over.
In December 2011, Saudi Arabia began pursuing protesters and citizens, launching campaigns of arrests and raids using weapons and armored vehicles, escalating violence resulting in clashes.
In January 2012, the Saudi Ministry of Interior announced a list of 23 wanted individuals, at least 15 of whom were associated with the peaceful protests witnessed in Al-Qatif. In 2016, another list of wanted individuals was announced. During this period, hundreds were arbitrarily arrested and subjected to mistreatment and torture, which sometimes led to death in prison.
The town of Awamiyah is among the most prominent towns that witnessed the beginning of the protests. In 2017, Saudi Arabia disregarded the concerns of the United Nations and initiated a military assault on the Al-Musawara neighborhood in the town, citing reasons including reconstruction and the presence of wanted individuals, resulting in the killing and injuring of dozens and the forced displacement of thousands.
During these years, Saudi Arabia extrajudicially killed 75 people in relation to the events, along with 14 who died in prisons under torture and suspicious circumstances, with no possibility of verifying the circumstances of their deaths.
These practices have led to a complete loss of trust in official institutions, including security forces, judiciary, and prisons, as information leaked from inside the detention centers about bloody torture, amid enforced disappearance of many detainees that lasted for months and deprivation of basic rights, including adequate self-defense.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia blatantly utilized the judiciary in confronting the popular movement witnessed in the city, beginning to employ the Specialized Criminal Court, supposedly designated to counter terrorism, to target protesters and activists.
:The Public Prosecution and Judiciary:
In July 2012, security forces violently arrested Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr due to his involvement in the protests and his expressed opinions. Upon his arrest, Sheikh Nimr was shot without warning and subsequently subjected to mistreatment for months. In March 2013, the Public Prosecution demanded the death penalty for Sheikh Nimr based on 30 charges related to expression of opinion, citing his sermons and words.
The requests from the Public Prosecution continued thereafter, with demands over the years following the protests to execute at least 200 individuals linked to the demonstrations and events.
In June 2017, King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued a royal decree amending the name of the Investigation and Public Prosecution Authority in Saudi Arabia to "Public Prosecution" and appointing a public prosecutor. The royal decree directly linked the Public Prosecution to the King and Crown Prince, after it had been previously affiliated with the Ministry of Interior.
The demands from the Public Prosecution for executions persisted thereafter, especially following trials before the Specialized Criminal Court under the Anti-Terrorism Law. The Public Prosecution blurred the lines between cases, grouping together protesters and others accused of criminal charges. However, tracking the cases of detainees related to the protests and events revealed common charges, including: inciting public opinion, sowing discord, raising slogans against the state, participating in unlawful gatherings, and other charges related to participation in protests, which do not constitute the gravest offenses under international law.
The demands from the Public Prosecution, revealing its role in repression and violations, relied on confessions extracted from detainees under torture during interrogation. Follow-ups on trials and testimonies from detainees and their families revealed a pattern of torture and mistreatment often used to extract confessions utilized in trials.
Despite detainees affirming that their confessions were extracted under torture, the Saudi judiciary proceeded to issue death sentences against them based on these confessions. Most of the death sentences issued against detainees involved in the protests were punitive judgments, based on the judge's discretion for punishment and thus not explicitly prescribed in Sharia law or legal statutes.
In July 2017, a royal decree was issued to establish the Presidency of State Security, which includes the General Directorate of Investigation, Special Security Forces, Special Emergency Forces, Security Aviation, General Directorate of Technical Affairs, National Information Center, Counterterrorism and Financing Investigations.
As a result of these changes, all official institutions came under the control of the King and Crown Prince without any role for the Ministry of Interior. However, this did not alter the reality of violations by these institutions; rather, it exacerbated them. Requests, issuance, and execution of death sentences against detainees continued. Consequently, the King and Crown Prince were not only responsible for signing off on the execution of judgments but also directly accountable for all stages of arrest, interrogation, and trial.
:The Executions
In January 2016, Saudi Arabia carried out the first death sentences against detainees who faced charges related to the popular movement and protests in Al-Qatif. The executions were part of a mass execution of 47 detainees on various charges, including demands for social justice, targeting Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the minor protester Ali Sa'id al-Rabah, Muhammad Faisal al-Shayoukh, and Muhammad al-Suweimal.
The executions provoked an angry and condemnatory international reaction, especially since the United Nations, along with several organizations and embassies, had called for halting the execution of Nimr due to serious violations in his arrest and trial related to his stances and expression of his opinions.
In July 2017, Saudi Arabia carried out its second mass execution of detainees related to the movement, including Yusuf al-Mushaikhis, Amjad al-Muaibid, Zaheer al-Basri, and Muhammad al-Sayegh. ESOHR had documented violations in their trials, including torture and mistreatment.
In April 2019, Saudi Arabia executed a group of 37 individuals, 22 of whom were from Al-Qatif and faced charges related to the movement and protests. Among them were Ahmed Hassan Al-Rabee, Ahmed Hussain Al-Aradi, Ahmed Faisal Al-Darwish, Jaber Zuhair Al-Murhoun, Hussain Hassan Al-Rabee, Hussain Mohammed Al-Muslim, Haider Mohammed Al-Leif, Saeed Mohammed Al-Sakafi, Salman Amin Al-Quraishi, Abdulaziz Hassan Al-Suhai, Abdul Kareem Mohammed Al-Hawaj, Abdullah Salman Al-Asrih, Abdullah Adel Al-Owjan, Abdullah Hani Al-Turif, Fadel Hassan Labad, Mujtaba Nader Al-Suwait, Mohammed Saeed Al-Khatim, Mohammed Mansour Al-Nasser, Mustafa Ahmed Darwish, Montasser Ali Al-Sabaiti, Munir Abdullah Al-Adam, and Hadi Youssef Al-Hazeem.
The documentation of ESOHR indicates that among their charges, there were criminalization of legitimate practices, such as participating in protests and chanting slogans opposing the government. Additionally, other charges related to violence were found, and all of them were presented to a flawed and non-independent judicial system, significantly diverging from the conditions of fair trials. Furthermore, they were coerced into signing under the impact of torture..
Among these youths were six minors, distributed among those who were minors at the time of detention, or whose alleged charges related to acts committed before reaching the age of 18: Abdul Kareem Al-Hawaj, Saeed Al-Sakafi, Salman Al-Quraishi, Mujtaba Al-Suwait, Abdlah Al Sareeh, and Abdulaziz Suhai. All of them were subjected to numerous violations, including torture and mistreatment.
Later, it was revealed that the young man Jaber Zaheer Al-Murhoun, who was killed in the mass execution, had been arrested in 2016 and placed in the Prison of Events, hence he was also a minor.
In June 2021, Saudi Arabia executed the minor Mustafa Al-Darwish on charges related to participating in protests, marking the first sentence after the issuance of the Events Law, which was supposed to protect minors from capital punishment. Mustafa was arrested in May 2015 and sentenced on charges related to his participation in protests, many of which occurred when he was 17 years old. He was placed in solitary confinement and subjected to torture to the extent that he lost consciousness several times.
In the same year, Saudi Arabia carried out consecutive executions targeting individuals from Al-Qatif. In August, Ahmed Al-Janabi was executed, in September, Saeed Adnan Al-Sharifa was executed, in October, Muslim Al-Muhsen was executed, and in November, Maki Al-Ubaid was executed.
On March 12, 2022, Saudi Arabia executed a mass execution, the largest one involving 81 individuals, 41 of whom were from Al-Qatif. ESOHR documented some cases of these victims, while it couldn't monitor other cases due to the lack of transparency in the official handling of execution cases, and the intimidation and threats against families and civil society. The organization's documentation of several cases confirmed that the charges did not include any serious offenses, some of which were related to participation in protests demanding justice and human rights.
While the Ministry of Interior claimed in its statement that the accused were prosecuted before a "specialized court and were provided with guarantees and all rights ensured by the regulations in the Kingdom," the organization documented blatant violations of fair trial standards, including the denial of access to legal counsel, exposure to torture, and deprivation of communication with the outside world.
Furthermore, the United Nations, through its various mechanisms, had been engaging with the Saudi government regarding the cases of several individuals who were executed, including Asad Shabir and Mohammed Al-Shakhouri. They affirmed that their trials were marred by several violations, including torture and insufficient access to the right to adequate defense.
In March 2023, Saudi Arabia executed the young man Haider Al-Tahifa from Al-Qatif, who faced charges related to the popular movement. In May 2023, Manal Al-Rabeh was executed on similar charges. Later in May, Saudi Arabia executed three individuals collectively under punitive death sentences. In June, four young men from Al-Qatif were executed without facing charges of the utmost severity according to Ministry of Interior data withdrawal. In July 2023, two young men were executed on similar charges.
In January 2024, Saudi Arabia executed Awn Abu Abdullah on loosely defined charges under the terrorism law, charges the kingdom has continuously employed against citizens since 2011.
Since the first political execution following the events in Al-Qatif in 2016, Saudi Arabia has adopted a new approach in handling the bodies of individuals killed outside the scope of the judiciary or through summary procedures and death sentences. As of February 2024, the number of bodies detained in Saudi Arabia has reached 146, most of whom were killed due to the popular movement. This practice constitutes a blatant violation of international laws, adding to the series of violations suffered by citizens, as it represents ongoing psychological torture for families.
Current Situation
Despite 13 years passing since the popular movement and events witnessed by the city of Al-Qatif, most of its events, retaliatory policies against citizens and residents in this region continue, and official government bodies remain a prominent tool of this policy. Despite the decline in demonstrations and movements on the ground, death sentences have emerged as a means of intimidation and fear-mongering, preventing citizens from expressing their opinions or fears.
Intimidating citizens and preventing any civil society activity has made it difficult to access numbers and facts about the violations occurring, especially regarding detainees and convicts. Intimidation adds to the lack of transparency in making the death penalty surrounded by secrecy, where the cases documented by human rights organizations do not constitute more than 3% before the execution of the judgment in previous years.
However, the European Saudi Organization is currently monitoring 69 cases in which detainees face death sentences at various stages, and based on previous execution figures, it expects the number to be much higher. Fifty-nine of the cases monitored by the organization involve citizens from Al-Qatif, most of whom face charges related to the movement and events that followed, in addition to expressing their opinions. Among those facing Taazir death sentences, eight are minors:
- Abdullah Aldarazi: Aldarazi faced several charges including participation in protests and marches, involvement in the funeral processions of victims, distributing water during protests, in addition to participating in forming a terrorist cell and assaulting public property. Among the charges leveled against Aldarazi, several were incurred when he was under the age of 18. He has been sentenced definitively and may be executed at any moment.
- Jalal Albadd: Jalal has been subjected to horrific detention conditions since day one, including isolation from the outside world in solitary confinement for nine and a half months, deprivation of his right to legal representation, and severe torture and other forms of inhumane treatment. After two years and five months of his detention, Albadd's trial began before the specialized criminal court. The public prosecution has charged him with a series of offenses, including participating in protests when he was 15 years old, and participating in the funeral processions of victims killed by government forces, and he is currently sentenced to death definitively.
- Yousef Almanasif: He was subjected to severe physical torture during the period of detention, which led to him losing consciousness and being admitted to the hospital. The torture also caused him health complications and back pain. The public prosecution has leveled several charges against him, most of which occurred during his childhood. Among them: participating in the funerals of some individuals who were killed by security forces' bullets in protests and raids, one when he was 15 years old, and another when he was 16 years old, in addition to participating in riots, chanting slogans, and raising anti-state slogans.
- Hassan Zaki Al-Faraj: Since the moment of his arrest, Al-Faraj has been subjected to severe torture, including beating and electric shocks, leading to his transfer to the hospital several times. He continues to suffer from foot pain to this day due to the torture and was forced to sign confessions. Al-Faraj has been charged with multiple offenses, including charges dating back to his adolescence, such as joining groups through phone applications and possessing prohibited images, possession of weapons, joining a terrorist organization, harboring wanted individuals, and aiding the injured.
- Ali Al-Mubayouq: He faced numerous charges, including offenses committed when he was a minor. Among the charges are joining an armed terrorist organization, firing shots at security personnel multiple times, surveillance, planning, and targeting government security headquarters, participating in riots, harboring security wanted individuals, and calling for and participating in sit-ins and protests.
- Jawad Qureiris: Qureiris has been subjected to torture since the moment of his arrest and during interrogation in order to extract confessions from him - through brutal beatings and severe psychological torture, he remained in solitary confinement for 270 days. The public prosecution has charged him with several offenses, including those committed when he was under the age of 18. Among the charges leveled against him are following pages on Facebook, communicating with a wanted individual, training in the use of weapons and firearms. Additionally, among the charges against him is the accusation of burning oil pipelines.
- Ali Hassan Al-Subaiti: He spent 9 months in solitary confinement during which he was subjected to torture. Charges were filed against him, including those incurred when he was 12 years old. Among the charges are participating in protests and communicating with wanted individuals.
In addition to minors, monitoring cases of individuals from the Al-Qatif Governorate currently facing death sentences reveals the connection of the charges to the movements and events witnessed since March 2011.
Among those sentenced to death, Saud Al-Faraj is one. Al-Faraj has been subjected to numerous violations since his arrest during a raid on his farm with his wife and child. The details of the charges he faces reveal their connection to the movements and events, with the most prominent being his advocacy for, participation in, and promotion of protests and sit-ins, as well as his communication with human rights organizations. Additionally, there is widespread use of vague charges and anti-terrorism laws to label individuals, with repeated use of charges appearing in court documents, such as belonging to a terrorist organization and training in weapons and training others in them.
Also, among those sentenced to death is Ali Al-Rabie. Among the charges brought against him by the public prosecution, which sought his execution based on them, are participating in protests and participating in the funeral procession of his cousin (Khalid Al-Labbad) who was killed by Saudi forces, chanting the slogan "retribution, retribution for those who fired the bullets," in addition to possessing three Kalashnikov rifles and participating in firing at the Al-Awamiyah police station.
Additionally, Mohammed Abdullah Al-Faraj faces the death penalty, with charges including raising anti-state slogans, burning tires, and providing medical support to wanted individuals. Furthermore, he is charged with seeking to destabilize social cohesion through advocating, participating in, promoting, and inciting protests, sit-ins, funerals, and joining groups on social media. Added to these charges are allegations related to firing bullets without details or evidence other than confessions.
In this context, the court sentenced Ali Al-Safwani to death, although the public prosecution did not request a death sentence. This highlights the extent of arbitrariness in the judgments. Among the charges faced by Al-Safwani is the use of social media programs to communicate with wanted individuals.
According to the ESOHR's tracking, Saudi Arabia also resorts to mass trials, where sentences of death were handed down to individuals such as Radwan Al-Shaib, Zuhair Al-Samghan, Abdullah Ghazawi, Mohammed Al-Tahnoon, Mohammed Abdul Razzaq Al-Musbah, and Mustafa Abu Shahin. Among the charges they faced were: being influenced by the sermons of Sheikh Nimr, endorsing his ideas, and seeking to destabilize national cohesion, alongside other vague charges related to terrorism.
Conclusion
Since the beginning of 2016 and until the beginning of February 2024, Saudi Arabia has executed more than 93 people on charges related to the movements and events witnessed in Al-Qatif. And until today, the lives of dozens are still threatened with death.
The nature of the charges and the course of the trials, alongside the violations accompanying arrests and interrogations, clearly show that Saudi Arabia has used the death penalty over these years as a retaliatory method, aiming to intimidate and frighten the society.
Bin Salman made promises that were supposed to prevent the political use of the death penalty, the latest of which was in March 2022 in an interview with The Atlantic, he stated, "The death penalty is now limited to cases where one person kills another, and therefore the victim's family has the right to go to court or pardon him." This promise did not materialize in reality and certainly did not include citizens who were charged with political and arbitrary charges by the public prosecution.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights sees the number of victims of executions and those threatened, on political grounds, as a glaring indication of Saudi Arabia's insistence on using the death penalty vindictively and using counter terrorism laws to criminalize any activity that does not align with its directives.
ESOHR considers Al-Qatif to be the forefront of repression, where the events it has witnessed have shown that Saudi Arabia does not hesitate to use killing outside the scope of the judiciary, including execution and murder in prisons under torture, to suppress any form of dissent and political and social activism.