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Fahd bin Abdul Aziz
Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz
Naef Bin Abdul Aziz
Salman Bin Abdul Aziz
Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 1997 Report
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Hundreds of people, including possible prisoners of
conscience, were detained on political grounds. They included over 200
people arrested in previous years. More than a dozen political prisoners
were reportedly convicted after unfair trials, four of them being
sentenced to death and executed. Reports of torture and ill-treatment of
detainees continued, and the judicial punishment of flogging was
frequently imposed. At least 69 people, including one woman, were executed
and at least three prisoners were on death row at the end of the year. Up
to 20 possible asylum-seekers were forcibly returned to Egypt.
The government of King Fahd bin 'Abdul-'Aziz maintained its ban on
political parties and trade unions. Press censorship continued to be
strictly enforced. Information on human rights remained severely limited
owing to restrictions on access to the country for international
organizations, and lack of communication on these matters by the
government.
Hundreds of people, including possible prisoners of conscience, were
detained during mass arrests, particularly following the bombings of the
Saudi Arabian National Guard training centre in Riyadh, the capital, in
November 1995 and of the us military complex at al-Khobar in June 1996,
which together resulted in 26 deaths. All were denied access to lawyers
and many were not allowed family visits for weeks or months after arrest.
Hundreds of people were arrested and detained without charge or trial
during the first half of the year in the wake of the bombing of the
National Guard's training centre in Riyadh. Those arrested included the
so-called Arab Afghan veterans, who had returned to Saudi Arabia after
taking part in the armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Bosnia; foreign Arab
nationals living in Saudi Arabia; and about a dozen Saudi Arabian
nationals who had been forcibly returned from Pakistan and Yemen. Four of
those arrested were summarily executed in connection with the bombing (see
below). The others were not known to have been charged with any
recognizably criminal offence, and were believed to be detained on
suspicion of membership of illegal organizations with political and
religious links with the armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Bosnia. Most
of them were reportedly held by the al-Mabahith al-'Amma, General
Intelligence, in al-Ruwais Prison in Jeddah.
Shi'a Muslim critics or opponents of the government were targeted for
arrest throughout the year, particularly after the bombing in June of the
us military complex in al-Khobar. The authorities reportedly suspected
that the attack had been planned by a foreign force with links with the
Shi'a community in the Eastern Province. Over 100 people, including more
than a dozen leading Shi'a clerics, were arrested in the Eastern Province.
Among them was Hojatoleslam Sheikh Habib 'Abd al-'Ali Hamada, from al-Qatif,
who was
arrested in March but later released. He was rearrested in August,
together with other clerics, including Sheikh Ja'far 'Ali al-Mubarak, who
had been repeatedly arrested and detained in previous years because of his
criticism of government policies (see Amnesty International Report 1996),
and Shakir Hajlis, who had been detained and subsequently released in
March 1995. Three others arrested with Shakir Hajlis in 1995 _ Zuhair
Hajlis, Ridha al-Huri and Mahdi Hazam _ were believed to have been
released after short periods in detention (see Amnesty International
Report 1996). It was not known if any of the detainees were charged in
connection with the June 1996 bombing, but most were believed to be
detained because of their criticism of government policies, and may have
been prisoners of conscience.
Scores of suspected Sunni Islamist critics of the government were arrested
in various parts of the country and most of them reportedly remained in
detention at the end of the year. In August, four relatives of Mohammad
al-Mas'ari, a government opponent living in exile, were arrested in
Riyadh, including his son, Anmar al-Mas'ari, who had been arrested in 1994
(see Amnesty International Report 1995). The precise reasons for the
arrests were not known. If they were detained because of their kinship
with Muhammad al-Mas'ari, they would be considered prisoners of
conscience.
More than 200 people arrested on political or religious grounds in
previous years continued to be detained without trial. They included
Donato Lama, a Philippine national who was reportedly arrested in October
1995 on suspicion of preaching Christianity and detained in al-Malaz
Prison in Riyadh. However, the majority of those still in detention were
Sunni Islamist critics or opponents of the government. Among them were
Sheikh Salman bin Fahd al-'Awda and Sheikh Safr 'Abd al-Rahman al-Hawali,
held since 1994, and Dr Nasser-'Umr, who was arrested in March 1995 (see
Amnesty International Report 1996). Most were held in al-Hair Prison near
Riyadh.
Dozens of so-called Arab Afghan veterans, who were arrested immediately
after the bombing in Riyadh in November 1995, were also believed to be
still held. It was not known whether Sheikh 'Abdul-Rahman bin Muhammad al-Dakhil,
arrested in July 1995, remained in detention (see Amnesty International
report 1996).
Muhammad al-Fasi, a businessman, whose detention in Saudi Arabia after his
forcible return from Jordan in October 1991 was never acknowledged by the
government, was released in May.
More than a dozen political prisoners were convicted after unfair trials.
They included possible prisoners of conscience such as 'Uthman Bakhash, a
Lebanese national, who was arrested in March 1995 in Riyadh and, with
several others, charged with membership of an illegal organization, the
Hizb al-Tahrir al-'Islami, Islamic Liberation Party. All were tried in
April or May by the Grand Shari'a Court in al-Taif, following summary
proceedings in which they were not allowed access to defence lawyers.
Seven were convicted
and sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight to 30 months. 'Uthman
Bakhash received a 30-month sentence. The eighth defendant, Muhammad al-Ja'bari,
was acquitted but not released until October. Four other political
prisoners were sentenced to death and executed. They had been detained
during the wave of arrests at the beginning of the year targeting the
so-called Arab Afghan veterans (see above). In April, the four gave
televised "confessions" in which they admitted having carried
out the bombing of the National Guard training centre in Riyadh. Forty
days later they were beheaded. Throughout their detention, the four had
had no access to defence lawyers and their trial was held in camera. Their
confessions, believed to have been the main evidence on which they were
convicted, may have been obtained as a result of torture or ill-treatment.
The remaining political prisoners convicted during the year were
reportedly sentenced to prison terms for activities such as distributing
leaflets of opposition organizations.
There were frequent allegations of torture and ill-treatment of political
and criminal detainees. Methods included beatings, the use of shackles and
threats of sexual assault.'Uthman Bakhash (see above) was reportedly
severely beaten while handcuffed and shackled with his arms and legs tied
together behind his back. He was also reported to have been kept in
solitary confinement in an underground cell for over a year. Hojatoleslam
Ehsani, an Iranian clergyman who was detained while on pilgrimage to
Mecca, stated after his release that he had been beaten with sticks. A
former detainee released during the year stated that during his detention
by al-Mabahith al-'Amma in al-Ruwais Prison, he had been threatened with
sexual assault and beaten while shackled and handcuffed.
At least 27 individuals were sentenced to flogging, ranging from 120 to
200 lashes. They included two secondary-school students convicted of
assaulting a teacher and 24 Philippine nationals, possible prisoners of
conscience, who were reportedly sentenced for homosexual behaviour. All
the sentences were believed to have been carried out by the end of the
year. However, it was not known whether the sentence of 4,000 lashes
passed on Mohammad 'Ali al-Sayyid, an Egyptian national, had been
completed by the end of the year (see Amnesty International Report 1996).
At least 69 people were executed, including a woman. All but four (see
above) had been convicted on charges which included murder, rape,
drug-trafficking, robbery and witchcraft.
At least three people sentenced in previous years, two Philippine
nationals and one Kuwaiti national, were reported to be on death row at
the end of the year. They included Sarah Dematera, a Philippine domestic
worker convicted of the murder of her employer in 1992. Her execution was
suspended until the victim's oldest child reaches the age of 18 and
decides whether to accept blood money instead of her execution. New
information came to light that 'Abd al-'Aziz Muhammad Isse, a Somali
national previously reported to be on death row, was serving a five-year
prison term (see Amnesty International Report 1996). No further
information was available concerning the change in his sentence.
Up to 20 Egyptian nationals, possible asylum-seekers living in Saudi
Arabia, were forcibly handed over to the Egyptian authorities. Most of
them were sought by the Egyptian Government, possibly solely for their
non-violent political activity. They were detained on arrival in Egypt,
where they were at risk of torture. They were not known to have been
offered any access to asylum procedures in Saudi Arabia. They included
Nasr Abd al-Salem, a university lecturer.
Amnesty International requested clarification of the reasons for the
arrest and detention of political detainees, and sought assurances that
they were being treated humanely and given access to relatives, lawyers
and medical care. The organization appealed for the immediate and
unconditional release of all political detainees not charged with a
recognizably criminal offence, and for those charged to be given a fair
trial in accordance with international standards. Amnesty International
also called for reports of torture to be investigated and anyone found
responsible to be brought to justice, and for the commutation of all death
sentences.
Following Amnesty International's statements on the summary execution of
the four prisoners after an unfair trial, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to
the United Kingdom stated publicly, "it is regrettable that Amnesty
International should compromise its credibility by expressing anger and
outrage at the punishment of criminals who were found guilty of terrorism
and sentenced in accordance with the law of Saudi Arabia after full due
process", but failed to explain why the case was shrouded in secrecy.
The government did not respond to any of Amnesty International's
communications.
In April, Amnesty International updated its previous submissions for un
review under a procedure established by Economic and Social Council
Resolutions 728f/1503, for confidential consideration of communications
about human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. |
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