URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa17507.pdf
Further information on UA: 175/07 (5 July 2007) and updates ( 8 February 2008
and 27 October 2010)
Issue Date: 07 January 2013
Country: Saudi Arabia
SRI LANKAN AT RISK OF EXECUTION IN SAUDI ARABIA
After exhausting all of her appeals, Rizana Nafeek is at imminent risk of
execution in Saudi Arabia
for a crime she allegedly committed while under the age of 18.
Aged only 17 years at the time, Sri Lankan domestic worker Rizana Nafeek was
arrested in May 2005 on
charges of murdering an infant in her care. On 16 June 2007, she was sentenced
to death by a court
in Dawadmi, a town west of the capital Riyadh. The sentence was subsequently
upheld by the Court of
Cassation and sent for ratification by the Supreme Judicial Council. However,
it was sent back to
the lower court for further clarification. The case went back and forth until
on or around 25
October 2010, when the Supreme Court in Riyadh upheld the death sentence. The
case was then sent to
the King for ratification of the death sentence. Recent media reports indicate
that the family of
the infant who died have refused to pardon her and her execution is now
imminent.
Rizana Nafeek had no access to lawyers either during her pre-trial
interrogation or at her first
trial. She initially "confessed" to the murder during interrogation, but has
since retracted this
account. Rizana Nafeek says she was forced to make the "confession" under
duress following a
physical assault. The man who translated her statement was not an officially
recognized translator
and it appears that he may not have been able to adequately translate between
Tamil and Arabic. He
has since left Saudi Arabia.
The passport Rizana Nafeek used to enter Saudi Arabia in May 2005 gives her
date of birth as
February 1982, but her birth certificate states she was born six years later,
making her
17-years-old at the time of the infant’s death. According to Amnesty
International’s information,
she was not allowed to present her birth certificate or other evidence of her
age to the court,
which relied instead on her passport and so considered her to be 23 years old
at the time of the
offense.
Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own language:
-Urging the King of Saudi Arabia to prevent the execution of Rizana Nafeek, who
is believed to have
been under 18 at the time of the crime for which she has been convicted;
-Calling on the King to commute her death sentence, particularly given Saudi
Arabia’s obligations as
a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and taking into
account the uncertainty
over Rizana Nafeek’s age;
-Reminding the authorities that they should act in accordance with
international law, particularly
Article 37 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and end the use of the
death penalty
against juvenile offenders.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 18 FEBRUARY 2013 TO:
King and Prime Minister
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior)
011 966 1 403 3125 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Majesty
Minister of the Interior
His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Ministry of the Interior, P.O. Box 2933, Airport Road, Riyadh 11134
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
Fax: 011 966 1 403 3125 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Royal Highness
And copies to:
Governor of Riyadh Province
His Royal Highness Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Riyadh, Riyadh Province
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
Fax: 011 966 141 10470
Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, 601 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington DC 20037
Phone: 1 202 342 3800
Fax: 1 202 944 5983
Email: i...@saudiembassy.net
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC), which expressly
prohibits the execution of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes
committed when they were
under 18. However, Saudi Arabia does execute juvenile offenders in breach of
their obligations under
the CRC.
In Saudi Arabia there have been disturbing patterns of discrimination against
vulnerable
individuals. Many of those executed over the past years were foreign nationals,
mostly migrant
workers from poor and developing countries. In 2012 Amnesty International has
recorded the execution
of at least 79 people of which 27 were foreign nationals. In 2011 at least 82
executions took place,
including 28 foreign nationals, more than triple the figure of 27 for 2010
including 5 foreign
nationals. In 2009, at least 69 people are known to have been executed,
including 19 foreign
nationals, in 2008 at least 102, including almost 40 foreign nationals, and in
2007 at least 158,
including 76 foreign nationals.
Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences. Court
proceedings fall far
short of international standards for fair trial. Defendants are rarely allowed
formal representation
by a lawyer, and in many cases are not informed of the progress of legal
proceedings against them.
They may be convicted solely on the basis of "confessions" obtained under
duress and/or deception.
Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention against Torture, which
prohibits the use of evidence
extracted under torture or other ill-treatment. Article 15 states: "Each State
Party shall ensure
that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of
torture shall not be
invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of
torture as evidence that
the statement was made."
In a report published in 2008 on the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia,
Amnesty International
highlighted the extensive use of the death penalty as well as the
disproportionately high number of
executions of foreign nationals from developing countries. For further
information please see
Affront to Justice: Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia (Index: MDE 23/027/2008), 14
October 2008:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/mde23/027/2008
The Supreme Court began to function in February 2009 as the final court of
appeal. This is part of a
new court system introduced by the 2007 Law of the Judiciary. The Court of
Cassation, which used to
handle appeals, has since been replaced by courts of appeal. The Supreme
Judicial Council continues
to exist and has been allocated responsibilities such as the supervision of the
organization of the
Judiciary, including the appointment, promotion and disciplining of judges.
Name: Rizana Nafeek (f)
Issues: Death penalty, Imminent execution, Legal concern
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and
defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact
information and stop action
date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: u...@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/uan
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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