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“Underneath worldwide regulation, States that haven’t but abolished the dying penalty could solely impose it for the ‘most critical crimes’, involving intentional killing”, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed consultants mentioned in an announcement, persevering with to induce the Saudi Authorities to “abolish the dying penalty for drug convictions”.
Hussein Abo al-Kheir was arrested on the Saudi border in 2014 whereas driving throughout from Jordan.
Underneath the 2005 Legislation on Management of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances, he was sentenced to dying for alleged drug trafficking in 2015.
Use of drive
If Mr. Abo-al-Kheir’s execution is carried out, he can be the twenty first individual to be executed in Saudi Arabia for the reason that starting of November.
The consultants mentioned that whereas in pre-trial detention, he was reportedly tortured, held incommunicado, forcibly disappeared and finally coerced into signing a false confession.
Furthermore, he was allegedly denied authorized counsel and entry to consular info after his arrest.
Though Mr. Abo al-Kheir’s allegations of torture throughout his detention in Tabouk Central Jail since 2015 had been reportedly not investigated, he has apparently been denied medical help regardless of deteriorating psychological and bodily well being and near-blindness, the consultants mentioned.
“Using proof and confessions extracted beneath torture serving to convict people on dying row, not solely violates the prohibition in opposition to torture however can also be in battle with the fitting to truthful trial beneath worldwide regulation”, underscored the consultants.
‘Discriminatory remedy’
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has discovered the deprivation of liberty of Mr. Abo al-Kheir to be arbitrary and with out authorized foundation and has referred to as for his launch.
Final Friday, he was instructed that he can be transferred to a “dying cell” in Tabouk Central Jail.
Since 10 November, 20 people, together with 12 international nationals, have been executed by Saudi authorities.
“We’re involved {that a} disproportionate variety of these being sentenced to dying for drug-related offences are migrants”, the consultants mentioned.
“The observe quantities to discriminatory remedy of non-nationals.”
The consultants mentioned they had been alarmed that executions occur with out warning and are solely confirmed after they happen in Saudi Arabia.
“The failure to offer people on dying row well timed notification in regards to the date of their execution constitutes a type of ill-treatment”, they mentioned.
Proper to life
Alarmed additionally by Saudi Arabia’s choice to finish its 21-month unofficial moratorium, the consultants mentioned that any measures to abolish the dying penalty must be seen as progress in direction of the belief of the fitting to life.
By extension, the resumption of executions leads to much less safety of the fitting to life.
“We respectfully reiterate our name to the Authorities of Saudi Arabia to contemplate establishing an official moratorium on all executions with a view to completely abolish the dying penalty and to commute the dying sentences of people on dying row for drug offences to imprisonment in keeping with worldwide human rights regulation”, the UN consultants mentioned.
The consultants
Click on right here for the names of those that participated within the assertion.
Particular Rapporteurs and impartial consultants are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to look at and report again on a selected human rights theme or a rustic state of affairs. The positions are honorary and the consultants aren’t paid for his or her work.
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