ICC Note: While this doesn’t concern the persecution of Christians it does reveal the nature of the governement that underground Christians in Saudi have to deal with.
Saudi Arabia should ensure detainees’ rights
2007-02-12 Saudi Arabia (Center for Democracy and Human Rights) Saudi Arabia should disclose the charges facing ten men recently arrested for “helping terrorism” and ensure the men are protected from torture or other ill-treatment, the Center for Democracy and Human Rights said today in a letter to Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud. CDHR has received reports that the men are not linked to terrorism and are being held incommunicado.
The detainees’ lawyer, Bassem Alem, told Reuters that the men “are pure reformists par excellence. Nothing about them is remotely linked with terrorism.”
“If these men are being held for expressing their views on political reform they must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Dr.. Ali Alyami, Executive Director of CDHR, ” Saudi Arabia is in need of outspoken reformers who promote an accountable, transparent political structure and the rule of law.”
The Saudi government is known for arbitrary arrest, physically forced confessions and imprisonment without any justification or explanation. Saudi Arabia has a well-documented history of holding detainees incommunicado and subjecting them to torture in order to obtain a confession. No representative institutions or political parties exist in Saudi Arabia and there is no freedom of assembly or speech. Independent organizations, political parties and labor unions are all prohibited.
