Responding to the execution of Hussein Abo al Kheir, a Jordanian national and father of eight, who had been on death row since 2015 after being found guilty of drug trafficking in an unfair trial, Heba Morayef, Regional Director of Amnesty International for the Middle East and North Africa, has stated:
“By executing Hussein Abo al-Kheir without even notifying his family, the Saudi authorities have once again revealed their callous disregard for human life. While they continue to boast that new law reforms provide human rights safeguards, Hussein’s execution after an unfair trial exposes his complete failure to uphold these guarantees.
“Prison authorities held Hussein incommunicado for years, denied him legal representation and failed to investigate his claim that he was tortured to extract the ‘confessions’ on which his conviction was based. No one should have to suffer that torturous ordeal. The authorities must immediately hand over the body of Hussein Abo al-Kheir to his relatives so that they can bury him with dignity.
“Saudi Arabia should immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty in the country. The authorities should review the cases of all those currently on death row with a view to commuting their sentences or offering them a new trial that is fair and does not use the death penalty. They should also remove the death penalty from all laws, starting with the Drug Control Law, which leaves it up to judges to impose the death penalty for drug trafficking and other related crimes..
“Saudi Arabia’s international allies must also make it clear that the Saudi authorities cannot continue to execute with impunity, and speak out strongly on behalf of others who may be at risk of execution.”
Additional information
Hussein Abo al Kheir, 57, was detained by Saudi officials in 2014, and later charged with drug trafficking. He was sentenced to death in 2015 after a grossly unfair trial. His execution contravenes a decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, issued last October and which declared that Hussein Abo al-Kheir was being detained arbitrarily and requested the annulment of his death sentence. and his “immediate and unconditional release.” His execution also violates international human rights law, which prohibits the use of the death penalty to punish crimes that do not conform to what is understood by “the most serious crimes”, which entail intentional homicide.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the characteristics and guilt or innocence of the accused, and the method of execution used by the State. The death penalty violates the right to life, proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is the highest exponent of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.