Amnesty International

Annual Report  2005 

Covering events from January - December 2004 

  (AI Index: MDE 04/002/2004) 

Saudi Arabia  

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Head of state and government: King Fahd Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud

Death penalty: retentionist

International Criminal Court: not signed

UN Women’s Convention: ratified with reservations

Optional Protocol to UN Women’s Convention: not signed  

Killings by security forces and armed groups escalated, exacerbating the already dire human rights situation in the country. Scores of people, including peaceful critics of the state, were arrested and over two dozen suspected in connection with the “war on terror” were detained following their forcible return by other countries. At least five possible prisoners of conscience were tried following hearings that failed to meet international standards, but the status of others, including the hundreds held from previous years, remained shrouded in secrecy. The debate on discrimination against women, which began in previous years, gained further momentum with a sharp focus on domestic violence and political participation. Allegations of torture were reported and flogging, which constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and may amount to torture, remained a routine practice. At least 33 people were executed. Approximately 600 Iraqi refugees remained as virtual prisoners in Rafha Military Camp. Optimism spread among foreign workers following measures announced by the government to protect their economic and social rights, and the country was deemed to have made progress in the alleviation of poverty. AI continued to be denied access to the country. 

Background 

The government continued to advocate political reform against a background of escalating violence and a dire human rights situation. In March it established the first ever officially sanctioned National Human Rights Association (NHRA) whose 41 members included 10 women. The NHRA’s stated aims include protection of human rights and cooperation with international organizations.  

Preparations for the first national (although partial) municipal elections announced in 2003 were completed. The elections were planned to take place in three stages with municipalities placed into regional groupings. The first stage began with registration of voters in the region of Riyadh where voting was scheduled for February 2005. The other two stages were planned to be completed by April 2005. The voting regulation issued in August stipulated the election of half of the members of each municipality and the appointment of the other half by the government. Women were not allowed to vote or stand for election (see below). 

Killings 

Killings by security forces and armed groups escalated, resulting in dozens of deaths. Most killings by security forces took place in Riyadh, Makkah and Jeddah. Some took place during clashes with armed groups and gunmen wanted by the authorities, such as Abdul Aziz Muqrin, alleged leader of al-Qa’ida in Saudi Arabia, who was killed in June in Riyadh. However, most took place following car or street chases and house raids by security forces. The government invariably announced that those killed were armed gunmen, but due to secrecy it was not possible to assess whether this was accurate.

Dozens of people were killed by armed groups and gunmen in different parts of the country. The killings were carried out during armed attacks and following hostage-taking operations. 

In May, three gunmen entered offices and residential compounds of employees of oil companies in al-Khobar in the Eastern Province and took dozens of people hostage, mainly expatriate workers. They killed some of the hostages allegedly selected as non-Muslims. Security forces stormed the building where the hostages were held. By the end of the operation 22 civilians, seven members of the security forces and one gunman had reportedly been killed. 

In June, Frank Gardner, a UK television journalist, and his cameraman, Simon Cumbers, were attacked by gunmen while filming in Riyadh. Simon Cumbers died in hospital; Frank Gardner was seriously injured.  

Political prisoners and possible prisoners of conscience 

Arrests were carried out throughout the year of suspected members and sympathizers of armed groups and, in some cases, peaceful critics of the state. 

Scores of people were arrested in connection with armed groups, including some whose names appeared on a list of 26 wanted men published by the government in December 2003. The arrests were carried out following armed clashes, street chases, house raids, forcible handover by other countries, or after surrender by the suspects during a one-month amnesty announced by the government on 23 June. The legal status, places of detention and well-being of most of those detained remained shrouded in secrecy, in violation of international standards which prohibit prolonged incommunicado detentions and “disappearances”. 

Some of those arrested as critics of the state were released after a short period in detention. At least five were brought to trial. The legal status of the rest, numbering scores from 2004 and hundreds from previous years, remained unclear. 

Five suspected critics of the state were brought to trial in three separate cases. One case involved two university professors, Dr Matrouk al-Falih and Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, and a writer, Ali al-Damayni. The three were among 11 academics and intellectuals arrested in March for calling for political reform and criticizing the government. Eight were released reportedly after signing an undertaking not to repeat such calls and criticisms. The three reportedly refused to sign the undertaking and remained in detention. In a rare departure from the usual practice of secrecy, the three men were allowed access to families and lawyers and in August were brought before a court whose hearings were scheduled to be public. AI planned to send an observer to the trial but its delegate was not granted a visa. The first session of the trial was held in public but was postponed half way through reportedly on the grounds that members of the public were disruptive. Subsequent court sessions were planned to revert to secret hearings. The other two cases involved Dr Said bin Zu’air and his son, Mubarak, both of whom were arrested in 2004. Dr Said bin Zu’air was convicted of vague charges that included disobeying the country’s ruler, and sentenced to five years in prison. In a separate trial his son Mubarak was sentenced to 10 months in prison on similar charges. The legal status of another son, Sa’d, who was arrested in July 2002, remained unclear. Dr Said bin Zu’air had previously been detained without charge or trial for about eight years for being a critic of the state.

Ahmed Abu ‘Ali, a 24-year-old US national, was arrested in June 2003 at the University of Madinah where he was studying. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reportedly interrogated him or attended his interrogation in relation to a US case – US v Royer – involving 11 people charged with “terrorism”-related offences. Ahmed Abu ‘Ali had connections with one of the defendants, but that defendant was acquitted. Ahmed Abu ‘Ali remained held in Saudi Arabia without charge, trial or access to lawyers. 

Women’s rights 

The debate on women’s rights continued with a strong focus on domestic violence and the right to political participation. Domestic violence attracted national and international attention when in April Rania al-Baz, who had been beaten by her husband, made her ordeal public to raise awareness about violence suffered by women in the home in Saudi Arabia. A television presenter and mother of two, Rania al-Baz was attacked by her husband on 4 April at their home in Jeddah, apparently for having answered the telephone. She suffered 13 fractures to her face. Her husband then put her in his van and reportedly dumped her unconscious at a hospital in Jeddah, claiming that she was a victim of a traffic accident. He went into hiding before surrendering to the police on 19 April. He was reportedly charged with attempted murder but this was later reduced to severe assault for which he was convicted in May. He was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and 300 lashes. Rania al-Baz had the option of a civil action to seek retribution (qisas) in the form of compensation or corporal punishment commensurate with the harm she sustained, but apparently chose to pardon her husband in exchange for divorce and custody of her two sons. The husband served over half of his prison sentence. It was not known if he received the lashes.  

When Rania al-Baz’ disfigured face hit newspaper front pages it forced into the open the many severe forms of discrimination that facilitate and perpetuate violence against women in Saudi Arabia, and the issue of impunity. The case was the first of its kind in the country to proceed under the public eye in a criminal court and result in conviction and punishment. Rania al-Baz revealed that her husband had a history of violence against her but that she could not leave him for fear of losing custody of her children. When she had tried to leave him he prevented her from seeing her children for two months. Divorce in Saudi Arabia is primarily the man’s prerogative. Women’s rights in this regard are so limited that they are almost impossible to exercise. To gain a divorce, women, unlike men, must prove harm or fault by the spouse, be able to pay compensation, face the risk of losing custody of children, and be able to convince an all-male judiciary. The problems are compounded by severe restrictions on women’s movement, total dependency on male relatives and social stigma attached to divorce. Women activists, writers, journalists and lawyers called for legal and judicial changes to end such discrimination and combat the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of violence against women. It was reported in November that the Ministry of Social Affairs had proposed measures to combat domestic violence, which were awaiting approval by the Council of Ministers. 

The government announced in October that women were excluded from participating in the municipal elections in 2005, even though the election regulations introduced in August did not explicitly rule out women’s participation. This decision contradicted steps taken by the government to increase work opportunities for women and reduce the spheres of discrimination against women. 

Torture and ill-treatment 

The strict secrecy surrounding arrests and detention prevented assessment of the scale of torture and ill-treatment of people arrested during or after violent incidents or under the “war on terror” policy. However, there were concerns over televised “confessions” of some of these detainees. There were also reported allegations of torture. 

In September, three detainees were shown on state television as members of an armed group “confessing” details about the group, including its use of pictures of torture of detainees by security forces to recruit members and scare its recruits against surrendering to the police. Confessions of suspects televised in the past had often been obtained under torture, ill-treatment or deception. 

Six Yemenis reportedly alleged that they were subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, and being chained together most of the time. All were reportedly arrested during a visit to the house of their employer in Jeddah where police apparently found weapons. They were reportedly released after 18 days of interrogation and then deported to Yemen in August without having been charged or tried. 

Brian O’Connor, a Christian Indian national aged 36, was allegedly beaten severely by the religious police following his arrest in March in Riyadh, reportedly for possessing a bible and other Christian literature. He was charged with selling alcohol and sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment and 300 lashes. However, in November he was deported to India. 

In May a group of UK nationals who alleged they had been tortured in Saudi Arabia in 2001 appealed in the UK against a 2003 ruling by the UK’s High Court in a case brought by Ron Jones against his alleged torturers in Saudi Arabia. The High Court had dismissed the case on the grounds of sovereign immunity under the UK 1978 Act. In October the Court of Appeal ruled that claimants could sue the individual officials who tortured them but not the government. 

Flogging 

Flogging remained a routine corporal punishment imposed by courts as a main or additional sentence. 

Forty-two youths were reportedly flogged for rioting, destroying cars and harassing women in Makkah in August. The flogging was carried out as an additional sentence to imprisonment and a fine. 

Refugees 

Voluntary repatriation of some 3,500 Iraqi refugees from the Gulf war of 1991 was reportedly suspended in May following deterioration of the security situation in Iraq. Approximately 600 refugees reportedly remained as virtual prisoners in the Rafha Military Camp in the northern desert near the border with Iraq. They were denied the opportunity to seek asylum in Saudi Arabia. 

Death penalty and executions 

At least 33 people, including a Sri Lankan woman and 13 male foreign nationals, were executed. According to the government they were convicted of murder, rape or drug-related offences. The number of prisoners who remained under sentence of death was not known to AI, but they included Sara Jane Dematera, a Filipina, who was convicted in 1993 after a secret and summary trial of murdering her employer. In April she was allowed a visit by her mother. 

Economic and social rights 

Optimism spread among the more than seven million foreign workers about their economic and social rights, and the UN indicated that Saudi Arabia had made progress in the fight against poverty. The government announced plans to reform the labour law that would improve protection of the rights of foreign workers. It also announced that it had taken punitive measures against employment agencies and employers who mistreated workers. It said that it had strengthened labour complaints’ mechanisms and urged abused workers to submit complaints. Some foreign workers reportedly formed associations to assist their compatriots to submit complaints. In one case, the workers were said to have established a refuge for abused female domestic workers.