Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia 'pay with lives'
Tuesday, 14 Oct 2008 08:17
Saudi Arabia 'disproportionately uses death penalty against poor foreign workers'
Saudi Arabia is disproportionately using the death penalty against poor foreign workers, Amnesty International has found.
A report from the charity has released a report estimating there were at least 1,695 executions between 1985 and May 2008 and of these, 830 were foreign nationals and 809 Saudis.
Given that foreigners make up about a quarter of the population, this is a "highly disproportionate use of the death penalty against foreigners" Amnesty said.
Foreigners facing capital trials in the Kingdom are frequently unable to understand any of the proceedings if they are not Arabic speakers, are often not even represented by a lawyer and are routinely held for long periods in harsh conditions and coerced into false 'confessions'.
In addition, they also lack the financial means or the contacts to negotiate pardons via 'diya' or 'blood money' arrangements.
Amnesty International UK director, Kate Allen, said: "Poor foreign workers are literally paying with their lives when accused of capital crimes in Saudi Arabia.
"The use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is a disgrace. The Kingdom should introduce a moratorium immediately."
William Sampson, a joint UK-Canadian national who was tortured and sentenced to death in the country along with several British and other foreign nationals in 2001, said: "As someone unfortunate enough to have experienced all that the Saudi system can throw at you, I know intimately the barbaric, arbitrary and inhuman manner in which Saudi justice is implemented.
"What further appalls me is the muted observance of these facts by countries such as ours - ones that claim to support and uphold human rights."