Amnesty condemns Saudi executions

From: www.bbc.uk.co

By Christian Fraser BBC Middle East correspondent

Riyadh's Justice Square witnesses public beheadings
Executions in Saudi Arabia are being carried at an average rate of more than two a week, according to a new report by Amnesty International.

The human rights group says the rate of executions in the Kingdom has increased markedly in recent years.

In their report, they say foreign nationals bear the brunt of executions.
Saudi Arabia is also one of the few remaining countries to execute people for crimes they committed while under the age of 18.
On Friday in downtown Riyadh the crowds gather at Justice Square, outside the grand mosque. It is a place Westerners have dubbed "Chop Chop Square".

On the stage, awaiting the blade of the scimitar, stands the condemned. The punishment for death in Saudi Arabia is beheading under the law of the sharia.
'Secret trials'

Although the Kingdom refuses to provide official statistics on how many people it kills each year, Amnesty International has recorded at least 1,695 executions between 1985 and May 2008.
Of these, 830 were foreign nationals - a highly disproportionate figure since foreigners only make up about a quarter of the country's population.

The rate of execution has increased, says the charity in its report "Affront to justice: Death penalty in Saudi Arabia", following an extension of the death penalty to crimes for drugs offences and corruption.


According to the report, the trials are often held secretly, foreigners would be unable to understand the proceedings because routinely they are denied access to a lawyer and, in some cases, they have no idea they have even been convicted.
Six Somalis beheaded this year were only told they were to be killed on the morning of their execution.

Confessions are usually extracted through torture, ranging from cigarette burns, to electric shocks, nail-pulling, beatings and threats to family members, Amnesty says.
It adds that, while pardons are sometimes granted, Saudi nationals are eight times more likely to escape execution through the payment of a diya or "blood money".

Blogger comment:

1- Saudi the Magic Kingdom is full of wanders. They are in both sides of war on terror.

2- They have to keep their secrecy since you really should not know how much the King and his corrupted family own and how they get their money.

3- The American government is blinding their eye for the personal relation between the King and some politicians in America.

4- I heared from a friend of mine that if I to come to the Saudi they will put me in trial. This is really exciting since if they will see me in the media they will know their control and oppression will be a thing of the past.

5- They think the American government will protect them forever, a lot of politicians in America had it with them. A lot of Saudi people who read my blog are fed up with them. However I am willing to negotiate with them to see how they can peacefully take off and let the Saudi people govern themselves. The problem is they do not know that Al Mahdi coming is imminent many of them are hypocrites.