PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 23/003/2009

23 January 2009

UA 21/09 Death Penalty/ Fear of Imminent execution

SAUDI ARABIA Mohammad Abdul Amir (m), aged 34, married with children, Iraqi national

Mohammad Abdul Amir is at imminent risk of execution. He was sentenced to death for murder. The children of the murdered victim have recently reached the age of majority and have provided their agreement for the sentence of death to be carried out.

Mohammad Abdul Amir was arrested in 1995 and charged with murder. He confessed to the crime after being interrogated for three months, during which he was allegedly beaten and suspended by his feet. During the interrogations, he is reported to have sustained a broken rib as a result of torture and was hospitalized for a month. A criminal court in Arar sentenced him to death after a summary and secret trial. He has not been allowed any access to lawyers or other legal assistance.

The death sentence has not yet been carried out as the children of the murdered victim were too young to be consulted on whether Mohammad Abdul Amir was to be pardoned or executed. The children have now reached the age of majority and are reported to have informed the court which tried him that they want him to be executed. Prisoners under sentence of death may be executed without a scheduled date for execution having been made known to them or their families beforehand.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences. Court proceedings fall far short of international standards for fair trial. Defendants are rarely allowed formal representation by a lawyer, and in many cases are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them. They may be convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress or deception.

In a recent report on the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International highlighted the extensive use of the death penalty as well as the disproportionately high number of executions of foreign nationals from poor and developing countries. For further information please see Saudi Arabia: Affront to Justice: Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia (Index: MDE 23/027/2008), issued on 14 October 2008: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/saudi-arabia-executions-target-foreign-nationals-20081014

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Arabic and English or your own language:

- urging the King, as the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, to halt the execution of Mohammad Abdul Amir;

- calling on the King to commute the death sentences and those of all others under sentence of death in Saudi Arabia as a matter of urgency, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

APPEALS TO:

His Majesty King ‘Abdullah Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud

The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques

Office of His Majesty the King

Royal Court

Riyadh

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)

Salutation: Your Majesty

His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud

Minister of the Interior

Ministry of the Interior

P.O. Box 2933

Airport Road

Riyadh 11134

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: +966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)

Salutation: Your Royal Highness

His Royal Highness Prince Saud al-Faisal bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Nasseriya Street

Riyadh 11124

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: +966 1 403 0645

Salutation: Your Royal Highness

COPIES TO:

Turki bin Khaled Al-Sudairy

President

Human Rights Commission

P.O. Box 58889

King Fahad Road, Building No. 373

Riyadh 11515

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: +966 1 4612061

and to diplomatic representatives of Saudi Arabia accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 06 March 2009.