ISSUES
o Index

o torture

o death penalty

o migrant workers

o political prisoners

o military, security and police relations

COUNTRY INDEX:
o Saudi Arabia

OTHER LANGUAGES:
o French
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Migrant workers

'The police informed me that I will be kept in custody until I agreed to sign the [confession] prepared by them. To escape from unbearable assault, I agreed... Now I have completed more than two years and three months in jail without knowing anything about the punishment or my fate...'
A letter from Amaladasan, an Indian national, who was detained in Safwa in the Eastern province in 1994 on charges of having sexual intercourse with a woman who was not his wife. His subsequent fate is not known.

A Filipino returned to his home in mid-1999. Shortly afterwards, a colleague entered the room accompanied by two mutawa'een and a policeman. His colleague, a Christian like himself, was in handcuffs and said, "Brother, I am sorry." Before he could say more, one of the mutawa'een hit him in the face and told him to be quiet. Without explanation the mutawa'een and the policeman searched the room and found a Bible and other Christian material.

The Filipino was then taken without explanation to the office of the mutawa'een, where he was accused of being a preacher. When he denied the allegation, one of the mutawa'een became angry, put one of his wrists in handcuffs and beat him in the ribs. "He shouted in Arabic, 'Refute your God', and spat in my face." The accusation that he was a preacher turned out to be the nearest he ever came to knowing the reason for his detention.

Such testimonies highlight the vulnerability of foreign nationals to arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as a range of other human rights violations. Many of the foreign nationals living in Saudi Arabia - who now make up 25 per cent of the population - enjoy good salaries and working conditions. However, those who come into contact with the criminal justice system can often find that the dream of a better life working in Saudi Arabia has turned sour. They are vulnerable to abuse by their employers and there are no trade unions to defend them. Their rights as detainees are also violated and there are few legal safeguards to protect them. If arrested they may be tricked into signing a confession in Arabic, a language they may not understand, and be unable to contact anyone to intervene on their behalf, including consular staff. This is particularly true if they are nationals of developing countries, who know few people in Saudi Arabia in a position of authority.

James Rebenito, a Filipino, was convicted of murder and executed in June 1996. He was held incommunicado for over two years and no information about his case was made available to his family or the Philippine embassy until January 1995, when the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry informed the Philippine embassy that he had "confessed" to murder. Requests by the embassy to visit him, have access to his file and attend any trial proceedings, were all turned down. His wife, who was allowed to see him once before his execution, told Amnesty International that he proclaimed his innocence and said he had witnesses to prove it. There were apparently two witnesses near the scene of the murder and another person was with James Rebenito throughout the day of the crime. All were questioned by the police, but none was called to testify at the trial.

Foreign workers who try to practice religions other than the officially sanctioned Sunni Islam face arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation. Christians, Sikhs and members of other religious minorities have suffered such fates for holding informal private worship groups in their homes or for possessing religious literature.