On 17 March 2013, 38-year-old sheikh Badr Halal Jasem Al Taleb was arrested at his house without a warrant by members of the police and the General Investigation Directorate (or "Mabahith") forces under the control of the Ministry of Interior responsible for investigating security related crimes, and taken to Riyadh Hair Prison.
Detained for over three years without charges, Al Taleb was first presented to the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh on 21 February 2016, when together with 31 other people, he was charged with espionage. The charges were based on confessions the 32 defendants were forced to make under torture. During the hearing, the Public Prosecutor requested the death penalty for the accused.
Concerned over these facts, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), requesting it to call upon the Saudi authorities to open an investigation on the acts of torture to which the detainees, including Al Taleb, were subjected and to dismiss any confession extracted under torture.
Following his arrest, Al Taleb was detained incommunicado for two months, during which he was severely tortured by being beaten up, burned with cigarettes and subjected to long periods of solitary confinement. He is currently allowed to contact his family once a week and receive visits from relatives once a month; however, despite the fact that his family has appointed a lawyer to represent him in the criminal proceedings, he is denied direct access to the lawyer. Furthermore, Al Taleb has lost a great amount of weight in detention; but since his arrest, he has been denied access to a doctor.
In February 2016, when Al Taleb was finally presented before the Specialised Criminal Court, he and the 31 other men were all accused of “establishing a spying ring together with members of the Iranian Intelligence” and “sending Saudi military information to Iran,” as well as “sabotaging Saudi economic interests” and “undermining community cohesion and inciting sectarian strife;” showing how the judiciary is influenced by the regional struggle for hegemony between Saudi Arabia and Iran. These charges were all based on confessions the defendants made while being tortured in detention. The lawyers that have only now been assigned to the defendants have no more than three weeks to prepare the defence before the next hearing, which is scheduled for 15 March 2016.
In view of these facts, Alkarama seized the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), requesting its urgent intervention with the Saudi authorities to call upon them to investigate all alleged acts of torture committed against the defendants. Furthermore, as a party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), Saudi Arabia has an international obligation not to admit any confession made under torture in court. Alkarama also recalls that on 22 and 25 April 2016, Saudi Arabia will be reviewed for the first time by the UN Committee against Torture (CAT), which will assess the country's compliance with its obligations under the UNCAT. In view of this review, Alkarama will provide the UN experts with an extensive report on the systematic practice of torture in the country and will brief the CAT members on its key concerns.
For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).