UN expert alarmed by imminent execution of child in Saudi Arabia

A UN expert, today, expressed concern at the imminent execution in Saudi Arabia of Abdullah Al-Derazi, who was a child when he allegedly committed his crime, UNHR said in a statement today.

Despite Saudi Arabia issuing a Royal Decree in 2020 aiming to abolish the death penalty for child defendants, including those convicted of terrorism offences, it is deeply concerning that the application of the decree remains uncertain

said Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN Special Rapporteur on summary, extrajudicial or arbitrary executions.

Abdullah Al-Derazi was arrested in August 2014, for crimes he is alleged to have committed when he was 17 years old. He was reportedly disappeared and physically and psychologically tortured while in custody and forced into signing a false confession stating that he was part of a terrorist group.

“There were seven charges listed on Al-Derazi’s charge sheet, none of which were dated. The Prosecution’s only evidence was his allegedly coerced confession,” Tidball-Binz said.

The Saudi Supreme Court has recently upheld Al-Derazi’s death sentence and he faces an imminent threat of execution. Saudi authorities rarely inform family members or lawyers before carrying out executions.

“While Saudi Arabia has taken some positive steps regarding the treatment of children in the criminal justice system, such as the promulgation of its 2018 Juvenile Act, information received indicates that it still sentences and enforces the death penalty against offenders below the age of 18,” the Special Rapporteur said. He added that the Juvenile Act does not extend to mandatory and retributive death sentences, allowing for the execution of children sentenced under the provisions of the Sharia legal system.

Human rights group Reprieve said in a statement: “All the charges against Abdullah are non-lethal, protest-related, and do not meet the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold as required by Saudi Arabia’s obligations under Article 6 of the Arab Charter.”

Head of the group’s MENA death penalty team, Jeed Basyouni, added: “We are extremely worried that Saudi Arabia is preparing to execute Abdullah. This is a regime callous enough to torture and kill a young man for the ‘crime’ of allegedly attending protests when he was a child – and cynical enough to do so while international attention is elsewhere. The lie that Saudi Arabia has abolished the death penalty for juveniles depends on ignorance or wilful blindness. The world must see this cruelty for what it really is, and demand an end to it.”

READ: 7 Saudi juvenile offenders facing imminent execution

UN experts have previously condemned the overly broad definition of “terrorism” under Saudi law, which facilitates the qualification of civil disobedience and critical views of the Government as “terrorist” acts.

The Special Rapporteur called on Saudi Arabia to publish the text of the 2020 Royal Decree and enforce it for all defendants below the age of 18, regardless of their crime.

Tidball-Binz also urged the Government of Saudi Arabia to consider adopting a moratorium on the use of the death penalty and undertake a systematic review of all death penalty cases, particularly those involving child defendants.

“Given the irreversibility of the death penalty, I urge the Saudi judiciary and other institutions in Saudi Arabia to ensure that Abdullah Al-Derazi’s execution is not carried out,” the Special Rapporteur said.