Saturday, October 8, 2011
Executions have resumed in Saudi Arabia at an alarming rate since Ramadan.
© Amnesty International
7 October 2011
Eight Bangladeshi men have been executed in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Friday.
The migrant workers, who were beheaded in public, were sentenced to death for the alleged murder of an Egyptian man in April 2007.
Since the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, executions have resumed in Saudi Arabia at an alarming rate.
“Court proceedings in Saudi Arabia fall far short of international standards for fair trial and news of these recent multiple executions is deeply disturbing,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa.
“The Saudi authorities appear to have increased the number of executions in recent months, a move that puts the country at odds with the worldwide trend against the death penalty.”
“The government must establish an immediate moratorium on executions in the Kingdom and commute all death sentences, with a view to abolishing the death penalty completely,” she added.
The beheadings bring the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 58, more than double than the 2010 figures. Twenty of those executed in 2011 were foreign nationals.
The Bangladeshi men who were executed are Ma'mun Abdul Mannan, Faruq Jamal, Sumon Miah, Mohammed Sumon, Shafiq al-Islam, Mas'ud Shamsul Haque, Abu al-Hussain Ahmed, Mutir al-Rahman.
According to reports, the Egyptian man was killed during a clash between the Bangladeshi workers and a group of men who allegedly were stealing electric cable from a building complex where the Bangladeshis worked.
Three other Bangladeshis were sentenced to prison terms and flogging.
Two other Saudi nationals were executed in the northern city of Tabuk, bringing the total number of executions on Friday to ten.
Many of those executed in Saudi Arabia in recent years have been foreign nationals, mostly migrant workers from poor and developing countries.
Defendants often have no defence lawyer and are unable to follow court proceedings in Arabic. They are also rarely allowed formal representation by a lawyer, and in many cases are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them.
They, and many of the Saudi Arabians who are executed, also have no access to influential figures such as government authorities or heads of tribes, nor to money, both crucial factors in paying blood money or securing a pardon in murder cases.
Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences.
They may be convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress or deception.
At least 158 people, including 76 foreign nationals, were executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities in 2007. In 2008 some 102 people, including almost 40 foreign nationals, were executed.
In 2009, at least 69 people are known to have been executed, including 19 foreign nationals and in 2010, at least 27 people were executed including six foreign nationals.
The migrant workers, who were beheaded in public, were sentenced to death for the alleged murder of an Egyptian man in April 2007.
Since the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, executions have resumed in Saudi Arabia at an alarming rate.
“Court proceedings in Saudi Arabia fall far short of international standards for fair trial and news of these recent multiple executions is deeply disturbing,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa.
“The Saudi authorities appear to have increased the number of executions in recent months, a move that puts the country at odds with the worldwide trend against the death penalty.”
“The government must establish an immediate moratorium on executions in the Kingdom and commute all death sentences, with a view to abolishing the death penalty completely,” she added.
The beheadings bring the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 58, more than double than the 2010 figures. Twenty of those executed in 2011 were foreign nationals.
The Bangladeshi men who were executed are Ma'mun Abdul Mannan, Faruq Jamal, Sumon Miah, Mohammed Sumon, Shafiq al-Islam, Mas'ud Shamsul Haque, Abu al-Hussain Ahmed, Mutir al-Rahman.
According to reports, the Egyptian man was killed during a clash between the Bangladeshi workers and a group of men who allegedly were stealing electric cable from a building complex where the Bangladeshis worked.
Three other Bangladeshis were sentenced to prison terms and flogging.
Two other Saudi nationals were executed in the northern city of Tabuk, bringing the total number of executions on Friday to ten.
Many of those executed in Saudi Arabia in recent years have been foreign nationals, mostly migrant workers from poor and developing countries.
Defendants often have no defence lawyer and are unable to follow court proceedings in Arabic. They are also rarely allowed formal representation by a lawyer, and in many cases are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them.
They, and many of the Saudi Arabians who are executed, also have no access to influential figures such as government authorities or heads of tribes, nor to money, both crucial factors in paying blood money or securing a pardon in murder cases.
Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences.
They may be convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress or deception.
At least 158 people, including 76 foreign nationals, were executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities in 2007. In 2008 some 102 people, including almost 40 foreign nationals, were executed.
In 2009, at least 69 people are known to have been executed, including 19 foreign nationals and in 2010, at least 27 people were executed including six foreign nationals.
Pakistani journalist killed in Lahore
The body of Faisal Qureshi, 28, an editor for the London Post,
was discovered about 2 a.m. by his brother, Zahid Qureshi, after family
members found bloodstains outside the journalist's house, Zahid told
Pakistani daily The Express Tribune. Police reports described the body as showing signs of torture, with the throat slit, The Express Tribune reported. The English-language daily The News ran
a similar story, quoting police as saying, "Some unknown outlaws
entered his house and killed him with a sharp-edged instrument."
Another brother of the journalist, Shahid, who lives in London, told CPJ that the killers had taken Faisal's laptop and telephone.
Shahid Qureshi, who has also written for the London Post, told CPJ that he and his brother had recently received death threats from men who claimed they were from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party. The London Post has run a series of stories on MQM leader Altan Hussain, describing his alleged flight to South Africa from England, where he is living in self-imposed exile, and has also, in an editorial, accused former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari of amassing overseas wealth of more than $8 billion by stealing U.S. foreign aid to the country. It was not immediately clear whether Sharif or Zardari responded publicly to the allegations.
"CPJ is concerned by the emerging details of this case, which is being watched closely by the international community. Given the circumstances, we call for the appointment of an independent committee to investigate this murder," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "Pakistan has a record of impunity which they must overcome."
MQM is Pakistan's third-largest political party, and is considered the country's largest secular political party, with Karachi and the Sindh region as its power base.
Pakistan was the deadliest country in the world in 2010, according to CPJ data. The country also ranked 10th on CPJ's global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are regularly slain and authorities fail to solve the crimes. If Qureshi's death turns out to be due to his work as a journalist, he will be the fourth journalist to die this year in a targeted killing.
Another brother of the journalist, Shahid, who lives in London, told CPJ that the killers had taken Faisal's laptop and telephone.
Shahid Qureshi, who has also written for the London Post, told CPJ that he and his brother had recently received death threats from men who claimed they were from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party. The London Post has run a series of stories on MQM leader Altan Hussain, describing his alleged flight to South Africa from England, where he is living in self-imposed exile, and has also, in an editorial, accused former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari of amassing overseas wealth of more than $8 billion by stealing U.S. foreign aid to the country. It was not immediately clear whether Sharif or Zardari responded publicly to the allegations.
"CPJ is concerned by the emerging details of this case, which is being watched closely by the international community. Given the circumstances, we call for the appointment of an independent committee to investigate this murder," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "Pakistan has a record of impunity which they must overcome."
MQM is Pakistan's third-largest political party, and is considered the country's largest secular political party, with Karachi and the Sindh region as its power base.
Pakistan was the deadliest country in the world in 2010, according to CPJ data. The country also ranked 10th on CPJ's global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are regularly slain and authorities fail to solve the crimes. If Qureshi's death turns out to be due to his work as a journalist, he will be the fourth journalist to die this year in a targeted killing.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
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