Urgent Action 1-15-11

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa31208.pdf

Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have
received the original UA when issued on November 11, 2008. Thanks!

14 January 2011

Further Information on UA 312/08 (11 November 2008) and follow up (08 June 2009) - Fear of Torture and other ill treatment /Prisoners of Conscience

SAUDI ARABIA

Sulieman al-Rushudi (m), retired judge
Dr Saud al-Hashimi (m), medical doctor
Al-Sharif Saif Al-Ghalib (m)
Dr Musa al-Qirni (m), university professor
Dr ‘Abdel Rahman al-Shumayri (m), university professor
Fahd al-Qirshi (m)
‘Abdel Rahman Khan (m)
‘Abdelaziz al-Khariji (m)
Dr Matrouk al-Faleh (m), university professor and human rights activist (released)


Prisoner of conscience Dr Saud al-Hashimi is alleged to have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in Saudi Arabia, and forced to sign a confession. He is a prisoner of conscience, detained for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and assembly.

Amnesty International has received information that Dr Saud al-Hashimi, a medical doctor aged 46, was subjected to torture or other ill-treatment at Dhahban prison in western Saudi Arabia. In December he was alleged to have been stripped of his clothes and placed in an extremely cold room for four days until he signed a statement confessing to allegations against him and stating that he did not want a lawyer during his court sessions. Days later, on 1 January, he was brought before a judge, but, when he tried to explain that he had signed under duress, the judge neither responded nor took any action with regards to his allegations. He is held in solitary confinement and is said to be suffering from a colon infection, to have high blood pressure and to be in need of medical treatment.

The statement which he signed listed allegations against him which include contacting the Al Jazeera television station, instigating young people to disobey Saudi Arabia’s ruler, contacting Sa’ad al-Faqih (founder and head of the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, otherwise known as the Islah Movement, an opposition group based in the UK), collecting money without the permission of the ruler, forming a secret organization to overthrow the ruling regime, and money laundering.

Dr Saud al-Hashimi and at least six other men were detained in February 2007 in the cities of Jeddah and Madinah after they circulated a petition calling for political reform and discussed a proposal to establish an independent human rights organization in Saudi Arabia. They are all held in Dhahban prison.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Other men detained for their calls for reform along with Dr Saud al-Hasimi include al-Sharif Saif al-Ghalib, Dr Musa al-Qirni, Dr ‘Abdel Rahman al-Shumayri, Fahd al-Qirshi, ‘Abdel Rahman Khan and ‘Abdelaziz al-Khariji. They had also challenged the impunity enjoyed by Ministry of Interior officials who carry out arrests and detentions. The Ministry of Interior claimed in a statement that they were arrested because they were collecting money to support terrorism; the detainees deny this.

Dr Saud al-Hashimi has previously reported being tortured or otherwise ill-treated. In October 2010 he was said to have been subjected to electric shocks and in June 2009, he was stripped of all his clothes, except his underwear, shackled and dragged from his cell and placed in a severely cold cell for about five hours, because he was on hunger strike.

Critics of the Saudi Arabian government face gross human rights violations at the hands of branches of the security forces under the control of the Ministry of Interior. They are often held incommunicado without charge, denied access to lawyers and the courts to challenge the lawfulness of their detention, and tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Legal proceedings fall far short of international standards for fair trial: defendants are generally denied legal counsel, and in many cases they and their families are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them. Court hearings are often held behind closed doors.

Incommunicado detention and solitary confinement are routine practices in Saudi Arabia. Both are used, along with torture and other ill-treatment, to extract confessions from detainees, to punish them for refusing to “repent”, or to force them to make undertakings not to criticize the government. Incommunicado detention in Saudi Arabia often lasts until a confession is obtained, which can take months and occasionally years.

The UN Human Rights Committee has commented that routine prolonged solitary confinement is inconsistent with the obligation on states to ensure prisoners are treated with humanity and with respect for their inherent dignity (General Comment 21/44, 6 April 1992).

Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 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.”

For further information regarding the detention of peaceful critics of the state and human rights activists among thousands of others who have been arrested arbitrarily since 11 September 2001, please see Amnesty International’s report Saudi Arabia: Assaulting human rights in the name of counter-terrorism, 22 July 2009 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/saudi-arabia-human-rights-abuses-name-fighting-terrorism-20090722) and the update to the report Saudi Arabia: Countering terrorism with repression, issued on 11 September 2009 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE23/025/2009/en).

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing concern about reports that Dr Saud al-Hashimi was tortured or otherwise ill-treated and asking for the allegations to be investigated by an independent and impartial body and those responsible to be brought to justice;
- Calling on the authorities to provide Dr Saud al-Hashimi with all necessary medical treatment without delay;
- Reminding them that any statements made by Dr Saud al-Hashimi as a result of torture or other ill-treatment should not be used as evidence against him, in accordance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Saudi Arabia is a party;
- Calling on the authorities to release immediately and unconditionally Dr Saud al-Hashimi and all those held with him solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to express their conscientiously held beliefs;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that all the detainees are protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and given regular access to their families, their lawyers and any medical attention they may require.


APPEALS TO:

Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior
His Royal Highness Prince 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 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Royal Highness

King
His Majesty 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 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Majesty


COPIES TO:

President, Human Rights Commission
Bandar Mohammed ‘Abdullah al-Aiban
Human Rights Commission
P.O. Box 58889, King Fahad Road,
Building No. 373, Riyadh 11515
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
Email: hrc@haq-ksa.org
Salutation: Dear Dr al-Aiban

Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC 20037
Fax: 1 202 944 5983
Email: info@saudiembassy.net

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 25 February 2011.

----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible
to the date a case is issued.

** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)

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: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------