Precarious Justice Arbitrary Detention and Unfair Trials in the Deficient Criminal Justice System of Saudi Arabia
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March 2008 Volume 20, No. 3(E) Precarious Justice Arbitrary Detention and Unfair Trials in the Deficient Criminal Justice System of Saudi Arabia Prologue................................................................................................................ 1 Summary.................................................................................................................3 Methodology .......................................................................................................10 Part 1: Saudi Law..................................................................................................12 I. Sharia and Statutory Law ....................................................................................................... 12 II. Legislative Developments and the Law of Criminal Procedure ............................................... 14 III. Codification of Criminal Laws ............................................................................................... 17 IV. Absence of Rules of Precedent .............................................................................................23 V. Other Legal Gaps ................................................................................................................. 26 Right to Inform Others of One’s Arrest .................................................................................26 Right of Access to a Lawyer ................................................................................................. 31 Obligation to Charge Promptly.............................................................................................35 Obligation to Bring to Trial without Undue Delay..................................................................38 Right to Adequate Time and Facilities to Prepare One’s Defense.......................................... 41 Right to Challenge Lawfulness of Arrest and Detention ........................................................45 Part 2: Systemic Problems in Saudi Criminal Justice ....................................... 51 VI. Arbitrary Arrest and Detention .............................................................................................52 Criminalizing Lawful Activity................................................................................................53 Detention Beyond Completion of Sentence......................................................................... 60 Arrests Without Warrants ................................................................................................... 66 Private Claims and Arbitrary Detention ............................................................................... 69 VII. Due Process and Fair Trial Violations...................................................................................76 Presumption of Innocence...................................................................................................78 Appointing a Lawyer............................................................................................................85 Right to Bring and Cross-examine Witnesses ...................................................................... 88 Reasonable Doubt...............................................................................................................94 Public Trial ........................................................................................................................100 Double Jeopardy................................................................................................................ 102 Summary Justice, Perverted Justice.................................................................................... 104 VIII. Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment.....................................................................108 Coerced Confessions..........................................................................................................111 Part 3: National Security Suspects.................................................................. 116 XI. Detention of National Security Suspects ............................................................................ 116 Political Dissidents Detained Arbitrarily............................................................................. 116 Counseling Instead of Trials ...............................................................................................117 Detention Without Trial of Suspected Jihadis..................................................................... 120 Mabahith Prison Oversight................................................................................................ 123 The “Forgotten” Shia......................................................................................................... 125 Part 4: Organization of the Saudi Judiciary....................................................129 X. Recent Developments in the Court System.......................................................................... 129 Judicial Training Institute................................................................................................... 132 XI. Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution ................................................................. 134 XII. Board of Grievances .......................................................................................................... 135 Recommendations..............................................................................................138 Changes to Law................................................................................................................. 138 Rights in Detention............................................................................................................ 139 Trial Protections ................................................................................................................ 140 Institutional Changes .........................................................................................................141 Acknowledgements............................................................................................ 142 Appendix: Human Rights Watch Discussions with Officials of the Government of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, March 8-15, 2008 .............................................................. 143 Prologue In a Saudi city in mid-2006 a young man, Yasir,1 received a phone call from a friend asking for help. His friend was with his girlfriend, whose parents were searching for her after her school had reported her absent. At his friend’s behest Yasir offered to drive the girl home, but the girl was frightened about the consequences of her actions—which would be deemed a moral lapse—and wanted to go to the desert so she could commit suicide. Yasir told Human Rights Watch that he spent all day calming his friend’s girlfriend and convincing her that her parents would be understanding. Meanwhile, the criminal investigation police had arrested his friend. Shortly after Yasir had dropped off his friend’s girlfriend at home, the police arrested him too. Yasir told Human Rights Watch, The director [of the police station] met me and his behavior was very bad. He didn’t let me speak. Two other officers said [I] did this and that, and they recorded it. I denied everything, even knowing the girl. Then they beat me with a very big stick, and I confessed. I spent 10 days there, all in solitary confinement and with daily beatings. They did not interrogate the girl. They only brought her at some point to identify us. She came with her father and watched from behind the glass. He described the court proceedings: In court, the judge asked me and I told him what happened. It was one session that lasted 20 minutes. Only the judge and I were there. There was no prosecutor and no clerk. I could not ask the girl to verify that I was engaging in a humanitarian task and that if anyone was guilty, it was she and my friend. I could not even ask to bring my friend to speak. The judge sentenced me to six months in prison and flogging of 1 Pseudonym. 1 Human Rights Watch March 2008 90 lashes. I was never imprisoned and fell under King Abdullah’s amnesty later that year, [but] fifty of the lashes were carried out. Before the trial my family settled [a private claim by] the girl’s family for a large sum of money. Precarious Justice 2 Summary New laws [will] ensure justice and protect public rights. —Crown Prince Sultan bin Abd al-‘Aziz, October 18, 2007 Saudi government officials have made a number of declarations in recent years, asserting that the Saudi criminal justice system adheres to high standards, and have recently implemented a number of legal reforms. The practice of Saudi justice, however, does not measure up to these declarations, and the reforms have not appreciably strengthened the safeguards against arbitrary detention or ill-treatment, or enhanced the ability of defendants to obtain fair trials. Human Rights Watch conducted research missions to Saudi Arabia in November and December 2006, and again in May 2007. We found pervasive injustices in the Saudi criminal justice system and systematic and multiple violations of defendants’ rights. Individuals in Saudi Arabia may find themselves detained and arrested for behavior that is not inherently criminal, or for apparently (and unwittingly) offending vague legal prohibitions. They may then find themselves in solitary confinement and subject to forms of ill-treatment. The authorities often do not inform individuals of the crime