Monday, August 10, 2009

Saudi Arabia: Counterterrorism Efforts Violate Rights

Indefinite Detention, Inappropriate Reeducation, and Flawed Trials

Human Rights Watch, August 10, 2009

Saudi Arabia’s response to terrorism for years has been to lock up thousands of suspects and throw away the key. The authorities made believe that religious counseling could replace trials, and now they are pretending that convictions after secret trials can legitimize continued detention.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) – Saudi Arabia has detained indefinitely more than 9,000 people under its counterterrorism program since 2003, offering many religious “reeducation” instead of judicial review to attain their freedom Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today. Saudi Arabia only moved in October 2008 to try some detainees, announcing in July 2009 that it had convicted more than 300 on terrorism charges, in trials the report says were secret and unfair.

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