(Twenty-three) as designated by the residents of Qatif in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia, are a group of Qatif youth who gathered together in one list by the Ministry of Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Their names were listed suddenly to them and their families by the Ministry of Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The names, according to the Interior Ministry statement issued on the January 02, 2012 were;
- Ahmad Sharaf Hassan Alsadah
- Bashir Jafar Hassan Almotleq
- Hassan Jafar Hassan Almotleq
- Hussein Hassan Ali Al Rabae
- Hussein Ali Abdullah Albraki
- Khaled Abdul Karim Al Labbad
- Radwan Jaafar Mohammed Al Radwan
- Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah Al-Jamal
- Salman Ali Salman Alfaraj
- Shah Isa Al Shawkan
- Abbas Ali Mohamed Almuzarae
- Abdullah Salman Saleh Al Soraih
- Ali Hassan Ahmed Al Zayed
- Ali Mohammed Mahdi Al Khalfan
- Fadel Hassan Abdullah Safwani
- Mohamed Hassan Ahmed Al Zayed
- Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Alzunadi
- Muhammad Ali Abdulrahim Alfaraj
- Mohammed Easa Saleh Al Labbad
- Mohammed Kathem Jaafar Alshakhuri
- Morsi Ali Ibrahim Al-Rubh
- Montadher Ali Saleh Alsubaiti
- Mosa Jafar Mohammad Almabuiq
The Interior Ministry statement
The political movement in Qatif started after a series of popular movements in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring, where people who feel injustice and persecution are looking for a better political reality. The events of Qatif began in early 2011.
And with the continuing popular protests led often by youth, the Saudi authorities proceeded with various actions to reduce the spread of these protests to other regions.
(One of them was the announcement of the wanted-list (twenty three), where Saudi authorities described them as rioters who engage in indecent acts via demagoguery, according to the statement. The following is the translation of the statement of the Ministry of Interior: (An official source at the Interior Ministry stated that in light of the abuses carried out from time to time and over the last few months by limited number of rioters in one of the provinces of the eastern region, whose shameful gatherings were demagoguery, blocking traffic within neighborhoods, and destroying public and private property and possession of firearms illegally, and opening fire on citizens and security men, taking innocent citizens as human-shields and try to drag them into absurdity confrontations with security forces in implementation of foreign agendas. In dealing with these events it became clear that these outlaws are a few and do not represent the honorable residents of the area who are fed up with their actions, especially as a number of them have criminal past, and after fulfilling all the procedures validation and recognition has been requested these defendants to appear before the competent authorities in accordance with the requirements of the statutory procedures, and given the lack of response from them; and after the completion of the period of order for those proceedings, arrest warrants have been issued for those wanted. The security apparatus will do what their duty dictates and will take all measures vested in them to pursue and arrest them at home and abroad and bring them to justice in accordance to legal system, and the Interior Ministry will continue to announce the names of who act like them, after the completion of verification procedures against them).)[1].
Saudi authorities by announcing this list, it sent a message to the effect: it will not allow its citizens to bypass the red lines drawn by the authority, among these lines to object to the State’s policy and to go out in the popular demonstrations. And in doing so, it violates Article 19 in the list of Human Rights Declaration : (each person has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek information and ideas, receive and impart any media and regardless of frontiers).
The right to peaceful demonstration of the legitimate, humanitarian and legal rights falls within the international conventions signed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
On this basis, the charge by the Ministry of the Interior on the wanted that their wrong doing was to participate in (gatherings demagoguery) – as they said – contrary to the law under Article 19 and also Article 20 in the first item, which states that: (Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association) . The rest of the charges they need proof and evidence and then to a fair trial so the accused can defend himself.
The dangerous aspect in the above statement
The effects and harms of the Interior Ministry statementSaudi society in general and Qatif in particular, who got accustomed to these statements, did not believe the accusations fabricated by the Ministry of Interior. The community responded in rejection to this statement, the known cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr condemned the statement in a Friday speech on January 6, 2012, and said that the most wanted were wronged, and asked them to live a normal life without fear, and asked the community to stand by them.However, the security escalation by the armed forces, made the wanted to fear for their lives, where they were being followed and had faced assassination attempts.
- A group of the wanted surrendered after hearing the news and they are Mosa Jafar Mohammed Almabiuq, Hussein Ali Abdullah Albraki, and Ali Mohammed Mahdi Al Khalfan. They were tortured before being released.
- The Ministry of the Interior followed the wanted to tighten and crippled their movement. This led to the permanent discontinuity out of their jobs and their studies, which clearly impact their standard of living. Add to that, their sense of permanent surveillance through wiretapping, and continuous monitoring by spies who are usually employed by the Ministry of Interior in order to follow the movements of the wanted. This led to the arrest of Bashir Jafar Hassan Almotleq in city of Jeddah in the western region, Saudi Arabia.
- The Ministry of Interior used live bullets in clear assassination attempts. This illustrated the desire of the Ministry of Interior to arrest the wanted men alive or dead and it became very obvious. This seemed evident in the assassination attempt on activist Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Al Zunadi, where he was followed and gunned down after leaving one of the hair salons, and when people gathered around him security forces left the scene and left him bleeding in the street. However, when he could not be cured at home, he was forced to go to the hospital and was arrested on the spot there before receiving treatment. As well as the wanted Mohammad Kazem Jaafar Alshakhuri was lured to one of the places after the end of one of the peaceful demonstrations, and then shot at heavily, before being arrested. The way Hussein Hassan Ali Al-Rabae was arrest was not different. He was lured into a place vie some nark and was arrested after being shot with live ammunition and injured. In the same context, Radwan Jaafar Mohammed Al Radwan was arrested from his home. The activist Abdullah Salman Saleh Al Suraih was chased in a blatant and disregard of laws. As he was chased, they used machine-gun and fired in the middle of slums and dilapidated neighborhood that resulted in his injury and some of those who accompanied him and then he was accused of arm smuggling. Moreover, activist Morsi Ali Ibrahim Al-Rubh was not in the house when it was raided by the armed forces, and when he returned he found the devastation caused by the armed forces. Then few months later he was gunned down and killed in an attack on 21/06/2013. And last but not least, Abbas Ali Mohammed Almuzarae’s house was raided. And due to heavy firing, the ground floor and the first floor of the house was burnt as well as most cars belonging to his family members and damaged other property next to his home. Abbas was arrested from his home, along with six of his brothers. The women of the house were detained and taken to the police station before being released without notifying their relatives to come and take them, which made them to return to the house on foot.
- To shed light on the assassination attempts, the Ministry of Interior implemented the executions in the streets method with real live bullets and in some cases with silencers. Where activist Khalid Abdul Karim Al Labbad was sitting with some of his friends and relatives outside his house and was surprised by armed security forces in civilian vehicle opening heavy fire on them, which led to his death, with two of his companions, Mohammed Habib Manasif (16 years old) and Hassan Zahri. On the other hand, activist Morsi Ali Ibrahim Al-Rubh was participating in the decorations of the street in preparation for the birth of Imam Mahdi, he was shot with a silencer which led to his fall immediately.
This explains the meaning of the statement by the Interior Ministry: (the security apparatus will do what their duty dictates and will take all measures vested in them to pursue and arrest them at home and abroad) to arrest the wanted men alive or dead, which is a flagrant violation of human rights signed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and has vowed to abide by them.
Violation of the laws
Article five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: (No one shall be subjected to torture or to sanctions or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment). Unfortunately, this Universal Declaration of Human Rights has not been applied to all detainees in Saudi Arabia, especially members of the list of twenty-three. Where they were subjected to the most types of torture and this is what the family of Hussein Hassan Ali Al Rabae reported to us. They have been prevented from communicating with Hussein during his stay in the hospital, the center reports subjected to severe types of torture which is in very bad health condition. There are reports and news mentioned that he faced several types of tortures and he is in very bad health condition.
The Article nine of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly indicates that: (No person may be arrested any person, or arbitrary detention or exile). Saudi security forces tried to pursuit and arrest the twenty-three in the roads, in their homes, and other places. But also has used live bullets and direction towards the fatal places, as did with Morsi Ali Ibrahim Al-Rubh, and Khaled Abdul Karim Al Labbad. As well as during the arrest of detainees Abbas Ali Mohamed Almuzarae, Abdullah Salman Saleh Al Soraih, Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Alzunadi, and Mohammed Kathem Jaafar Alshakhuri.
In addition, Saudi Arabian government has taken a serious political and security actions included a raid of homes and firing live bullets and the arrest of individuals to prevent any demonstration in Eastern province or other parts in the kingdom which is a clear violation of the first item of Article eleven, which states that: (every person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense).
There are many reasons besides the silence guided the Saudi forces to execute some of the innocents listed in the twenty-three list. The execution by firing live bullets without a fair prosecution is considered a flagrant violation of human rights law and international conventions committed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia itself. Article ten indicate that (Everyone is entitled in full equality with others, to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial court of a fair and public determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him). Unfortunately, until the moment of preparing this report many prisoners, especially members of the twenty-three list who went to arrest some of them for nearly two years did not provide fair trials or even had a chance to talk to lawyer.
The list of the twenty three and the media
لم يكن أفراد قائمة الثلاثة والعشرين يتوقعون أن يتم الإعلان عن أسمائهم بهذا الشكل ووقوف القنوات الإعلامية بجانب وزارة الداخلية وعدم السماح لهم بالدفاع عن أنفسهم. وهذا ما دعاهم لتسجيل مقاطع استنكار وشجب ورفعها على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي المعروف “يوتيوب”.
Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Alzunadi rejected and denounced the statement of the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia. He wondered about the reason for the listed his name in the list of the twenty three. He said we only participated in the peaceful demonstrations and rejected injustice! Ha also challenged the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia to prove their accusations that he had shot somebody. This accusation and others are the prepared reasons for any one participated in any demonstration.[3].
As for Abdullah Salman Saleh Al Sareeh, he photographed his house; Which reflects the state of poverty that he and his family live in, before he denies the charges against him in whole and in detail. [4] .
Khaled Abdul Karim Al Labbad, who later killed, has denied all charges leveled by the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia said that he came out in demonstrations for justice and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. [5].
وبعد أن قام المطلوبون بعرض هذه التصريحات لإثبات براءتهم، لم تلتفت لها السلطات السعودية بل قامت بإجراءات تصعيدية فيما بعد، حيث قامت بنشر أسماء أفراد القائمة على الشرطة الدولية “الانتربول” لكي يتم ملاحقتهم دولياً، وهذا مانشره موقع ميدل ايست اونلاين في تاريخ 0582012 تحت عنوان: (الانتربول يعرض أسماء 23 مطلوباً شيعياً للسعودية)[6].
Some of the violations of the Saudi security forces
- The violation of human rights by preventing peaceful demonstrations and freedom of expression
- Arrest wanted in public places using live bullets
- Raiding homes and tampering with private property
- The use of live bullets during the arrest, stalking
- The use of weapons Occlusive sounds to kill the protesters
- Providing unfair court to all the prisoners
- Stalking the wanted inside the small villages
- Bypass the period of detention without a lawyer or the detainee before the judiciary
- The detainees do not receive the list of charges in the period specified
The fate of the 23 innocent
The Saudi security forces used live bullets to either arrest or kill the listed innocents. There are eighteen innocents has been killed in Qatif. Two of them were in this list. Also, there are more than one hundred and forty innocents who are in the prison and elven of them were from this list.
The following table illustrates the status of the twenty three wanted and the method that the Saudi security forces used to arrest or kill them.
| Social status | Status | Birth | Name | |
| single | arrested | 13/01/140628/09/1985 | Ahmad Sharaf Hassan Alsadah | 1 |
| Married and has children | arrested | 25/05/139505/06/1975 | Bashir Jafar Hassan Almotleq | 2 |
| single | Supplements | 10/04/141130/10/1990 | Hassan Jafar Hassan Almotleq | 3 |
| single | arrested | 17/01/141318/07/1992 | Hussein Hassan Ali Al Rabae | 4 |
| Married and has children | He was jailed and released | 02/04/139007/06/1970 | Hussein Ali Abdullah Albraki | 5 |
| single | Killed by Saudi force | 08/05/140530/01/1985 | Khaled Abdul Karim Al Labbad | 6 |
| single | arrested | 12/10/140918/05/1989 | Radwan Jaafar Mohammed Al Radwan | 7 |
| Married and has 4 children | Supplements | 10/10/139316/11/1973 | Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah Al-Jamal | 8 |
| Married and has children | Supplements | 14/01/140004/12/1979 | Salman Ali Salman Alfaraj | 9 |
| single | He was jailed and released | 19/11/140416/08/1984 | Shah Isa Al Shawkan | 10 |
| Married and has a daughter | arrested | 07/01/140712/09/1986 | Abbas Ali Mohamed Almuzarae | 11 |
| single | arrested | 29/10/141411/04/1994 | Abdullah Salman Saleh Al Soraih | 12 |
| single | Supplements | 14/04/140418/01/1984 | Ali Hassan Ahmed Al Zayed | 13 |
| single | He was jailed and released | 19/01/140604/10/1985 | Ali Mohammed Mahdi Al Khalfan | 14 |
| single | Supplements | 15/10/140027/08/1980 | Fadel Hassan Abdullah Safwani | 15 |
| single | Supplements | 01/10/141116/04/1991 | Mohamed Hassan Ahmed Al Zayed | 16 |
| single | arrested | 16/10/140117/08/1981 | Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Alzunadi | 17 |
| single | Supplements | 11/06/140326/03/1983 | Muhammad Ali Abdulrahim Alfaraj | 18 |
| Married and has a child | Supplements | 15/08/140328/05/1983 | Mohammed Easa Saleh Al Labbad | 19 |
| single | arrested | 13/09/141424/02/1994 | Mohammed Kathem Jaafar Alshakhuri | 20 |
| single | Killed by Saudi force | 15/01/139617/01/1976 | Morsi Ali Ibrahim Al-Rubh | 21 |
| single | Supplements | 28/03/140701/12/1986 | Montadher Ali Saleh Alsubaiti | 22 |
| single | He was jailed and released | 14/04/140924/11/1988 | Mosa Jafar Mohammad Almabuiq | 23 |