A Martyrdom of citizen in the Custody of al-Mabahith al-`Amma

On 20/06/1998 , al- Mabahith al-`Amma (General Investigations) in al- Dammam in the Eastern Province called the family of Mohammad al-Hayek ,a 24 - year - old , an employee from al-Qatif city. His family was notified of his death without giving the reasons of his death and told that al-Mabahith al-`Amma had already been buried his body at an undisclosed location in Reyadh where al-Hayek was detained at one of the headquarters of al- Mabahith al-`Amma.

The martyr Mohammad al-Hayek was arrested in August 1996 during arbitrary waves of arrest included hundreds of citizens and scholars who some of them are still held in the prisons of Riyadh ,Dammam and al-Madina al-Munwwara.

The Saudi regime wanted to realize two important conditions through burying secretly al-Hayek`s body and refusing his family permission to collect his body

1. The fear of appearance of the horrible marks of severe torture on al-Hayek’s body which he subjected during the period of detention that caused his death. That action is another proof of using torture by Saudi regime against detainees.

2. The fear of public anger and protest which may happen during the laying of al-Hayek’s body to rest.

It is worth mentioning that this case was the second one in the Regime’s record. The first one is the case of the martyr Maithem al-Bahr ,a 21-year - old ,who was deported to the Central Dammam Hospital after the decline of his health at the prison of al-Mabahith al-`Amma in Dammam.

He was died due to the severe torture on December 6 , 1996.

If we take into consideration the reports received to our Committee by learned sources which stated that al-Hayek was died in custody before one and a half year we could conclude that the two crimes were happened nearly in the same period

The Saudi regime delayed the declaration of al-Hayek’s death in order the real cause of death not to be exposed for public.

On one hand, al-Mabahith al-`Amma in Tarout Island in al-Qatif arrested Sayyid Fadhel Sayyid Alawi al-Dirweesh , a 27 - year - old , a teacher from Rabi`yah village of Tarout on 17/06/1998. Al-Dirweesh was arrested by the members of al-Mabahith al-`Amma in a brutal and provocative action when they raided the school where he was teaching during the working hours and arrested him in front of teachers and students.

Some learned persons suggested the causes of his arrest because he was a religious preacher participating in the religious celebrations and holding the sectarian rites as well as his job as a teacher.

On the other hand and within the framework of religious prosecution and in order to prevent people of traveling abroad to pursue their religious studies or visiting the holy shrines in Iraq or Iran, the Saudi regime has confiscated the passports of scholars and citizens, the number of passports that were confiscated in Qatif , Ihsaa and Dammam came to hundreds.