Secretive Saudi executions leave families in the dark

Executions of prisoners person been carried retired successful Saudi Arabia with nary beforehand informing to their families, relatives person told the BBC. The country's execution complaint has astir doubled since 2015 - according to a caller quality rights study - the twelvemonth erstwhile King Salman and his lad Mohammed bin Salman took charge.

Mustafa al-Khayyat's household were fixed nary announcement that helium was astir to beryllium killed.

They inactive person nary assemblage to bury. No sedate to visit. The past they heard from him was a telephone telephone from prison, and helium signed disconnected with these words to his mother: "Alright, I person to go. I'm gladsome you're OK."

Neither had immoderate inkling that it would beryllium the past clip they spoke.

A period later, Mustafa was dormant - 1 of 81 men killed connected 12 March 2022, successful the largest wide execution successful modern Saudi history.

Mustafa's sanction is connected a agelong and increasing database enactment unneurotic by the run radical Reprieve - which, on with the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, has been meticulously documenting Saudi executions for a caller report.

Based connected information collected since 2010, their survey has recovered that:

Reprieve documented 147 executions successful Saudi Arabia past year, but says determination could good person been more. It besides says the state has "disproportionately" utilized the decease punishment against overseas nationals - including pistillate home workers and low-level cause offenders.

Nearly a twelvemonth on, officials haven't told Mustafa's household however helium and the others were executed. His older brother, Yasser, says it has been a calamity for the families.

"We don't cognize whether they were fixed a decent burial oregon thrown successful the godforsaken oregon successful the sea. We've nary idea."

Yasser is speaking publically for the archetypal time. He present lives successful Germany, wherever helium has been fixed governmental asylum aft fleeing Saudi Arabia successful 2016, fearing the aforesaid destiny suffered by his brother.

Yasser says his member was "fun, sociable, and popular". Since 2011, Mustafa took portion successful daily demonstrations - led by the country's Shia number - against the Saudi government.

He was detained successful 2014. After his death, an authoritative announcement said that he, on with 30 others, had been executed for the aforesaid drawstring of offences - including attempted execution of information personnel, rape, robbery, bomb-making, stirring up strife and spreading chaos arsenic good arsenic trading successful weapons and drugs.

"They ne'er provided immoderate evidence. This prevarication cuts precise deep," explains Yasser - who says his member was inactive trying to entreaty his condemnation erstwhile the authorities executed him and the 80 different men.

"Not lone did they instrumentality their lives, they intentionally maligned them and accused them of things they've not done."

After rising to power, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi's de-facto ruler, promised to modernise the Kingdom - and suggested in an interrogation successful 2018 that his country, a cardinal Western ally, was trying to "minimise" its usage of the decease penalty.

But, astir 5 years on, Saudi Arabia remains 1 of the world's astir prolific executioners - contempt a lull that coincided with Saudi Arabia's presidency of the G20 and the commencement of the Covid pandemic.

The crown prince - known arsenic MBS - has "done the nonstop other of what helium promised" Reprieve's director, Maya Foa, tells maine from her eastbound London office. "He has overseen immense numbers of executions and a brutal crackdown connected radical attending pro-democracy protests."

What's more, she adds, determination is simply a authorities of secrecy astir the decease penalty, explaining that for galore of the cases Reprieve person looked at, cipher knew they were adjacent connected decease row.

"Their household members did not know. So you had radical who were arrested, tried, sentenced to decease and past executed successful secret."

Some families lone discovered via societal media that their loved ones had been killed, says Ms Foa - describing that deficiency of authoritative accusation arsenic 1 of the "most cruel and distressing" aspects of each case.

Traditionally, beheading has been the main method of execution successful Saudi Arabia - the executions utilized to instrumentality spot successful nationalist - with the names of those killed, and the charges they faced, published connected authorities websites.

But quality rights activists accidental the usage of the decease punishment has go overmuch much opaque.

Nobody I spoke to knew precisely however executions are present carried out, though firing squads are besides thought to beryllium used.

The decease punishment is portion of a Saudi ineligible strategy which "is unfair successful its essence", says Ali Adubisi, manager of the Berlin-based European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights. "No benignant of autarkic civilian nine oregon quality rights groups tin run there. If we weren't drafting attraction to the executions, radical would beryllium killed successful silence."

Human Rights Watch said that 41 of the 81 men executed successful March were from the Shia number and that "rampant and systemic abuses successful Saudi Arabia's transgression justness strategy suggest it is highly improbable that immoderate of the men received a just trial". They besides heard reports of torture.

When Yasser was archetypal allowed to sojourn Mustafa, 12 months aft his apprehension successful 2014, helium was shocked by what helium saw.

"Even though it had been a twelvemonth since we had past seen him, helium couldn't adjacent basal up to greet us.

"He'd autumn implicit arsenic soon arsenic helium tried - and erstwhile we asked him, helium said it was due to the fact that of torture.

"We saw bruises connected his assemblage and helium told america he'd been fixed electrical shocks."

The sister of different detainee told maine her member had besides been severely tortured.

"He said helium was strung up by his feet and beaten. He ne'er imagined a forced confession would beryllium allowed successful his trial," says Zainab Abu Al-Khair, whose member Hussein has been successful situation since 2014.

Hussein - a Jordanian operator moving for a affluent Saudi household - was arrested with drugs successful his car connected the Jordan-Saudi border. Zainab is definite they were not his.

Speaking from her location successful Canada, she explains however Hussein's household person been struggling to marque ends conscionable since his arrest. He has a disabled lad and, aft helium was imprisoned, his 14-year-old girl was "sold into marriage" successful Jordan.

Last November, Saudi Arabia ended an unofficial moratorium connected the decease punishment for cause offences - a determination described by the UN Human Rights Office arsenic "deeply regrettable". Within a fortnight, 17 men were executed for specified offences, the UN said.

In prison, says Zainab, men person since been taken from Hussein's compartment ne'er to return.

It has near some Hussein and Zainab terrified. "I can't adjacent speech astir him without my bosom pounding," she told me.

"I deliberation of him each time and astatine night, I person atrocious dreams. The thought they mightiness chop disconnected his caput - it's barbarity.

"You can't ideate however hard it is. Sometimes I conscionable beryllium unsocial and cry, cry, cry."

Part of the choler she is feeling is directed astatine different countries for allowing Saudi Arabia "to get distant with it".

Last March - 4 days aft the wide execution of 81 men - the past UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Mohammed bin Salman to effort to transportation him to pump much lipid to regenerate Russian substance imports. Downing Street said Mr Johnson did rise concerns astir Saudi Arabia's ongoing quality rights issues.

Since coming to power, MBS has carried retired societal and economical reforms - including allowing women to thrust - but they've been accompanied by intensified governmental repression.

The BBC has sent 3 emails to the Saudi Human Rights Commission - a Saudi authorities organisation - asking to talk to an official, but has received nary replies.

A connection to the BBC from the Saudi embassy successful London noted that galore different nations astir the satellite person the decease penalty, and that countries person antithetic views astir what penalties are appropriate. It said: "As we respect their close to find their ain laws and customs, we anticipation that others volition respect our sovereign close to travel our ain judicial and legislative choices."

But the comments failed to code the steep emergence successful executions nether the crown prince, MBS, oregon the mode the decease punishment is being used, successful contravention of planetary norms.

The UN Human Rights Office told the BBC it was "deeply acrophobic astir the inclination successful the usage of the decease punishment successful Saudi Arabia".

"In particular, we are acrophobic by the summation successful the fig of decease sentences issued and upheld, including against kid offenders, and for offences that bash not conscionable the 'most superior crimes' threshold of planetary law, specified arsenic drug-related offences," it said.

For those whose loved ones are successful prison, it's a desperately anxious time. Hussein's sister keeps a vigilant oculus connected the household chat group.

"It's not a beingness to woody with this stress," she says. "Every morning, each evening, we person to cheque he's inactive alive."

Additional reporting by Eleanor Montague