PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 23/051/2008

05 December 2008

UA 334/08 Death Penalty/Fear of imminent execution

SAUDI ARABIA Bahjat Khalid Mas’ud (m) aged 35, Syrian national

At least 37 other Syrian nationals

Bahjat Khalid Mas’ud, a father of five, is one of at least 38 Syrian nationals feared to be at imminent risk of execution. They were all sentenced to death – in Bahjat Khalid Mas’ud’s case, over six years ago – on drug-related charges following secret and summary trial proceedings.

None of the Syrian nationals have been allowed access to lawyers or other legal assistance since their arrests. They are said to have exhausted all appeal procedures available to them and their cases are now pending ratification by the King, as head of the Supreme Judicial Council, before the executions are carried out.

The Syrian nationals are believed to have been held in al-Qurayyat Prison, in the province of al-Jawf, north-western Saudi Arabia, but some are said to have been moved recently to unknown places of detention, raising fears among their relatives and friends in Syria that this may be part of the preparation for their executions.

Since 30 September, the last day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, during which the Saudi Arabian authorities suspended the implementation of death sentences, Amnesty International has recorded at least15 executions, bringing the total number for 2008 to at least 92.

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. Prisoners under sentence of death may be executed without a scheduled date for execution being made known to them or their families.

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, English or your own language:

- urging the King, as the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, not to approve the death sentences against Bahjat Khalid Mas’ud and at least 37 other Syrian nationals and thereby halt their execution;

- calling on the King to commute their 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.