Amnesty International Statement on the 'Imminent' Execution of 12 Shia Prisoners in Saudi Arabia

Amnesty International issued a statement on November 7, warning about the 'imminent' execution of 12 Shia prisoners in Saudi Arabia, stating that they have been transferred to a secret location directly controlled by the king of the country. According to Amnesty International, these 12 men were sentenced to death for 'spying for Iran' during mass trials in 2016. The human rights watchdog indicates that the death sentences are likely to be carried out immediately after being approved by the king of Saudi Arabia. The director of Amnesty International for the Middle East and North Africa stated that 'the families of these individuals are deeply concerned about the events.' Heba Morayef expressed, 'Considering the usual secrecy in the judicial system of Saudi Arabia, we are worried that these events mean the imminent execution of these 12 individuals.' The Saudi government has not yet responded to this statement. Amnesty International claims that these individuals, accused of 'spying for Iran,' were tried in an 'unfair' judicial process following the arrest of 32 people in various regions of Saudi Arabia in 2013 and 2014. Shia protesters in Saudi Arabia claim their fundamental rights are being 'violated,' which has led them to march and demonstrate in the eastern regions of their country. The Saudi government has rejected these criticisms. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has labeled many of the Shia opponents sentenced to death as 'Iranian agents' and, in some cases, accused them of planning to 'murder prominent figures.' Iran and Saudi Arabia have a long-standing rivalry and are currently said to be engaged in proxy wars or conflicts in Middle Eastern crises, from Syria to Yemen and Lebanon. In January 2016, Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, a Shia cleric, along with 46 others, which further inflamed the crisis in relations between Riyadh and Tehran. Sheikh Nimr had been sentenced to death in October 2014 for leading unrest and what was described as paving the way for foreign intervention in Saudi Arabia. He, who studied in Qom, was one of the influential Shia clerics in Saudi Arabia and a leader of the Shia protests in 2011 in the Qatif region of eastern Saudi Arabia. Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran and Saudi Arabia at 164th and 169th respectively in terms of freedom of expression among 180 countries in its current report. Iran and Saudi Arabia are the second and third countries with the highest number of executions.