RIYADH (Middle East Eye) – Saudi Arabia is continuing to issue and ratify the death penalty for detainees who were arrested and charged as children, despite repeated assurances from the kingdom that it had halted the practice, a rights group has warned.
The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESHOR) named several children who were facing the death penalty following recent rulings in the Saudi courts.
Citing the intimidation of, and oppression against, civil society groups and families in the kingdom, the group said it feared the actual number of cases was far higher.
In 2018, Saudi Arabia introduced the Juvenile Law, which stipulated that for crimes committed by minors requiring the death penalty, juveniles should be admitted to detention centers for a period not exceeding 10 years.
However, the government carved out exceptions to the law which made it clear that the Juvenile Law as a whole, including those sections which define juvenility, does not apply in certain circumstances.
In April 2020, Saudi Arabia introduced a royal decree allowing the law’s provisions to be applied retrospectively.
Under international law, children may be detained only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, and sentencing a child to death is absolutely prohibited.
Citing several of the same individuals facing the death penalty highlighted by the ESHOR, Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s acting deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said last week: “Sentencing people to death for crimes that occurred when they were under the age of 18 is a clear violation of international human rights law.
“[Saudi King Salman] should not ratify these death sentences and should immediately halt all imminent executions and order re-trials that must be fully consistent with international fair trial standards, without recourse to the death penalty.”
The ESHOR says Saudi Arabia had executed at least 12 minors, or those charged as children, since 2016, despite condemnation from rights groups.
According to the ESOHR, Saudi Arabia executed 120 people in the first six months of 2022, nearly double the number put to death in all of last year despite its promises to reduce capital punishment.