Saudi justice is as barren as the desert

Saudi Arabia is an oil-rich country where traditional customs and religious practice blend in a strange juxtaposition with modern skylines and capitalist enterprise. Saudi Arabia, to a great extent, tries to present itself as a modern country with a "traditional" Islamic character that still respects human rights, justice and peace. However, the true picture of the Saudi Kingdom is much darker and has repercussions for not only the majority of victims of the Saudi legal system — the Saudis themselves — who suffer daily under state sanctioned repression, but also for foreigners, including Canadian citizens.

A 23-year-old Canadian citizen named Mohamed Kohail has been sentenced to death by beheading in Saudi Arabia for allegedly killing a Syrian boy in a schoolyard fight which occurred in March, 2007. Mohamed Kohail was born and raised in Saudi Arabia until moving to Montreal in 2005, where he obtained Canadian citizenship. He subsequently returned to Saudi Arabia in 2006. The predicament arose when Mohamed's brother was accused by a student of insulting a girl, resulting in threats of violence. Mohamed's brother, Sultan, called Mohamed to help him fend off any attackers. Once Mohamed arrived he and his brother were outnumbered by a mob of angry men, some carrying clubs and knives. As the fight ensued, a Syrian boy involved in the fighting died as a result of a nearby wall collapsing and killing him. The teenager's death, however, was attributed to Mohammed Kohail.

What is truly at issue here is the process in which the investigation into what happened took place. The entire investigation lacked any semblance whatsoever to a "fair trial," quite typical of the Saudi "justice" system overall. The comination of hearings which led to Kohail's guilty verdict amounted to a total of 90 minutes of deliberation within which time no defence witness were heard from.

The Saudi Arabian "justice" system is anything but just. Trial hearings are often held in complete secrecy without any legal representation being offered to a defendant. The defendant, the defendant's family, and the public are all prohibited from attending these trials. It is not uncommon for a defendant to not know if they have been convicted or not until after a secret hearing has already taken place. Furthermore, those slated for execution may only find out the day of their execution, which is carried out in public and is either a beheading, or a "partial" beheading, where the individual is then fastened in a sprawled position out in the desert sun, left to die from the heat and their injuries. The family of the defendant is usually notified only after the sentence has been carried out. The very hearings that determine the fate of the accused can run between five minutes to two hours. In these hearings, any evidence brought in after the hearing has begun may be dismissed, the right to call witnesses for the defence can be denied and no legal representation for the accused is permitted. The judge acts as the defendant's lawyer and judge simultaneously, making one man judge, jury, and falling just short of actual executioner.

Confessions are the prime source of evidence used by Saudi courts. Confessions are often provided under extreme torture. Bill Sampson, another Canadian who was imprisoned for over two years in a Saudi jail for allegedly bombing an SUV of a "rival alcohol bootlegger," a charge that was utterly bogus, was hung upside down and beaten about his back, feet and scrotum, was forced to watch his friend be beaten, kept in a fluorescent-lit room 24 hours a day that was six metres in length with no reading material or anything with which to occupy his time, and so forth. As a result of his situation, Sampson confessed to murdering the British bootlegger six days into his incarceration. He was also forced to confess that he was a British spy, as well as a whole host of other crimes and variations on details as the Saudi authorities saw fit.

What had really happened was that al-Qaeda was most likely behind the attacks as it has been critical of non-Muslim presence in Saudi Arabia and seeks to embarrass Saudi Arabia to force political change. Saudi Arabia has tried desperately to hide the reality of internal dissent from the world, and has bent over backwards to charge foreigners with crimes that have been committed by elements of the local population. Bill Sampson is simply one case, but there have been many others. According to Amnesty International, 158 people have been executed in 2007, 76 of whom were foreigners. In 2008, 66 people have so far been executed, nearly half of which were foreigners. It is remarkable how high the percentage of foreigners are guilty of crimes that call for the death penalty, but among the millions of people living in Saudi Arabia, comparatively fewer locals have met such a fate.

Given Saudi Arabia's track record on human rights, political, social and religious freedoms, as well as its mock justice system, it is safe to assume what is being done to Mohamed Kohail behind closed doors. No doubt Kohail is suffering greatly, one way or another in Saudi Arabia, but what can Canada do about it? Back channel contacts and appeals are one approach, but in this instance, it would take King Abdullah himself to rescind the execution order. Currently the case is being appealed, but the Saudi Supreme Court is unlikely to reverse its decision. Canada must send as strong a message to Saudi Arabia as possible to show its dissatisfaction with the lack of justice being shown in the Kohail case, as well as the farcical Saudi court system in general.

Kohail is not the first Canadian to suffer under Saudi injustice, and he surely will not be the last unless Canada shows it is serious about defending its citizens to the best of its ability abroad. Perhaps Canada should send the Saudi ambassador packing to show how serious Canada is on the issue. Saudi Arabian reform is unlikely in the foreseeable future, but Canada should make it crystal clear that the deprivation of justice for Canadian citizens in any country in which we have a political relationship with is an outrage and must be dealt with accordingly.

Ran Ukashi has an MA in political studies from the University of Manitoba.