The deaths came a day
after the United Nations called for the kingdom not to carry out the
punishment, in part because the men had allegedly not been given fair
trails. The U.N. said the men were reportedly accused of organizing a
criminal group, armed robbery, raiding and breaking into jewelry stores
in 2005.
The U.N. special
rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Mendez, said there are also grave
concerns that the men were tortured during detention and forced to sign
confessions.
"This is not the only in
breach of Saudi Arabia's international obligations under international
law, which imposes an outright prohibition on torture, it is also in
breach of the government's international obligation under the Convention
against Torture that explicitly forbids the use of all forms of torture
for the purpose of extracting confessions or acquiring information," he said.
SPA issued a statement on
behalf of the Ministry of Interior that starts with a Quranic verse
from the chapter "The Table Spread."
"The punishment of those
who wage war against God and His Messenger, and strive with might and
main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the
cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the
land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is
theirs in the Hereafter."
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