The execution of an American contractor in Saudi Arabia reported today is a blatant act of murder and a breach of the most fundamental standards of humanity, Human Rights Watch said.
An armed group calling itself the Organization of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula abducted Paul M. Johnson in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on June 12. The group held Johnson as a hostage, threatening to kill him unless the Saudi Arabian government released jailed members of the organization.
“Holding someone hostage, and then brutally murdering him, is a heinous crime that no political cause can justify,” said Joe Stork, Washington director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division. “Those responsible for this atrocity and for earlier attacks that have killed scores of civilians, Saudi and foreign alike, should be apprehended and brought to justice.”
