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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Secrecy and suffering

Imagine you are arrested and locked up, but you are not told why. You are not allowed to make a telephone call or contact anyone outside the prison. This would be terrifying enough by itself. Now imagine that your jailers begin torturing you. The only way to stop them is to sign a confession, which you eventually do. Then you are convicted on the basis of that "confession" after a summary trial that is held in secret. You have no access to a lawyer and you are not offered the opportunity to defend yourself. Finally, imagine you are living in a country where the punishment you might face after such summary justice could be death, amputation of a limb, or flogging.

Such terror and injustice is hard to imagine. Yet it is routinely suffered by people in Saudi Arabia - and the world's governments seem indifferent to their plight.

Fear and secrecy permeate every aspect of the state in Saudi Arabia.

The fear is maintained by:

• the constant risk of arbitrary arrest;

• harsh punishments for anyone who dares to criticize official policies;

• the mutawa'een (religious police) who have, in practice, unfettered powers to harass and detain anyone they believe has breached the strict moral codes;

• the knowledge that anyone who is arrested will be denied access to their family, to a lawyer and to medical assistance, and might be tortured;

• a range of punishments, from long prison sentences to amputation, flogging and beheading, after trials that make a mockery of justice.

• a government that is accountable only to itself;

• a government that allows no criticism of its policies;

• a ban on all political parties, elections, trade unions, independent legal associations and human rights organizations;

• a criminal justice system that operates behind closed doors;

• tight censorship of all local media;

• strict control of access to the Internet, satellite television and other forms of communication with the outside world;

• a government that allows no access to international non-governmental human rights organizations;

• the international community that remains silent about Saudi Arabia's appalling human rights record.

• political dissidents;

• activists promoting rights for the country's Shi'a minority;

• Shi'a Muslims, Christians and members of other minority religious communities who try to practice their faith;

• migrant workers, especially those from poorer parts of the world;

• people who break the country's strict moral codes.

Head of state: King Fahd bin 'Abdul-'Aziz

Population: 19 million

Royal capital: Riyadh

Administrative capital: Jeddah

Official religion: Sunni Islam

Land area: about 2 million square km

Currency: the riyal (US$1 = 3.75 riyals)

'I asked why I was being accused of this murder that I did not commit and then one of the officers yelled at me saying that if I did not obey, they would electrocute me and use a lie detector. I gave in and did not make any further objections and continued writing. After which, I was taken to court so they could prove that I was guilty of this crime.'
A letter from a prisoner held in Saudi Arabia, forwarded to Amnesty International by the family