Saudi Arabia: Eminent UK MP condemns execution of Bahrainis, with others at risk
Sir Peter Bottomley calls
executions of Jaafar Sultan and Sadeq Thamer 'grave miscarriage of
justice', while monitors fear many more death row inmates in kingdom are
at risk
Jaafar Sultan (L) and Sadeq
Thamer (R), executed in Saudi Arabia, said they had been tortured into
making their confessions (Twitter)
The UK parliament's longest-serving MP has condemned the execution of two Bahraini men in Saudi Arabia this week, as human rights groups say there is a grave risk of more to come.
Jaafar Sultan, 33, and Sadeq Thamer, 31, who were convicted on
terrorism and protest-related charges and given the death penalty in
2021, long maintained that they were tortured into making confessions
and denied access to lawyers until after their trial began.
Their cases were raised repeatedly by human rights groups, politicians and the UN, which warned Saudi Arabia twice that enforcing their death penalties could constitute arbitrary execution.
On Monday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced that the two
men had been executed, an act MP Sir Peter Bottomley, father of the
House of Commons, has told Middle East Eye was "a grave miscarriage of
justice".
"When Jaafar and Sadiq’s death sentences were finalised last year, I
and 14 other parliamentarians wrote to the Saudi authorities, urging a
halt to the executions," said Bottomley, who is also chair of the All
Party Parliamentary Group on democracy and human rights in the Gulf.
"The cross-party call fell on deaf ears."
Bottomley joined the men's families, who only learned about the
executions from news reports, in calling on Saudi authorities to hand
over their bodies "as soon as possible".
Jaafar's father, Mohamed Ali Sultan, made a plea for their return in a
video seen by MEE. "We request the return of our sons' bodies, granting
us the fundamental right to lay them to rest in accordance with our
beliefs and traditions," he said. "We want our children to be buried
next to us."
Secret executions
Human rights advocates expressed shock at the recent spike in
executions in the kingdom, which they said was especially alarming
because of the nature of the alleged offences and the secrecy in which they are happening.
Before Sultan and Thamer's execution, three men from Saudi Arabia's
Eastern Province - Hassan bin Issa al-Muhanna, Haidar bin Hassan Muwais
and Mohammed bin Ibrahim Muwais - were executed.
Their cases had not been publicised and were not on the radar for rights groups until the executions.
'So often, despite comprehensive monitoring of public sources, the first we hear of them is when they are executed'
- Jeed Basyouni, Reprieve
"These young Bahraini men, like the young men from Eastern Province
killed last week, were convicted on 'terrorism' charges in secret trials
after being tortured into signing false confessions," said Jeed
Basyouni, who leads on the Middle East and North Africa for Reprieve.
"This is a regime that will not tolerate dissent, using the death
penalty as a warning to others not to demand basic human rights."
Basyouni said it is hard to know how many others may be at risk of
execution for protest-related offences. The Saudi government does not
publish the names of death row inmates, or the charges they face.
"So often, despite comprehensive monitoring of public sources, the first we hear of them is when they are executed," she said.
Basyouni said two cases of particular concern are those of Youssef
al-Manasif and Abdullah al-Derazi, who were children at the time of
alleged protest-related offences, but are on death row despite a Saudi
royal decree abolishing the death penalty for children in 2020.
Last month, Derazi's father reportedly
sent a letter telling US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the
Saudi government was "deaf to our cries" but would listen to him, and
pleading for Blinken to "bring our sweet and sensitive boy home".
"If Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court upholds their death sentences, they
could be next," Basyouni said. "The kingdom's international partners
must prevent their execution before it is too late."
'Stand firmer'
The recent executions come after a Jordanian
man on Saudi death row - whose case had been taken up by UK
politicians, including two British foreign ministers, and the UN - was
also executed in March.
Hussein Abo al-Kheir's case was raised prominently in parliament - and privately
to Saudi authorities - last November, after 20 people were executed in
quick succession on drug-related convictions which Saudi authorities had
previously said would not incur the death penalty.
During those discussions, a Foreign Office minister said that Saudi
Arabia had "abhorrently" tortured Kheir, but later had his comments
struck from the parliamentary record, attracting sharp criticism from some MPs.
Bottomley said that when the issues had been raised in the House of
Commons, the government had underscored its opposition to the use of the
death penalty.
"It is important that we stand firmer in support of this commitment," he said.