Saudi prison authorities should immediately provide specialized medical care and supervision for Hadi Al-Mutif, an Isma`ili man sentenced to death in 1996 in an unfair trial for having allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad, Human Rights Watch said today. Al-Mutif, who has been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, attempted suicide twice last month after he was put in solitary confinement.
On January 13, the Najran General Prison authorities placed Al-Mutif in solitary confinement, apparently as a punishment for contacting the US government-supported satellite television station al-Hurra and sending them an amateur video of himself, which aired on January 22.
After five days in solitary confinement, Al-Mutif on January 18 attempted suicide first by ingesting metal objects. Three days after emergency surgery to remove the metal objects, prison officials returned him to solitary confinement. On January 25, he attempted suicide again and was rushed to hospital. Prison officials again returned him to solitary confinement two days later. Al-Mutif has reportedly received no psychiatric care in hospital or prison, even though a government hospital diagnosed him with a psychiatric condition in 1999.
“Instead of providing adequate medical care for a prisoner diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, the Saudi authorities threw Hadi Al-Mutif into solitary confinement,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said. “The government should immediately free this man and allow him to seek the medical care he needs.”
Since his imprisonment in 1993, Al-Mutif’s mental health has significantly declined. In 1999, a special review panel of the psychiatric hospital in al-Ta’if, where he stayed for six months, found Al-Mutif “not responsible for his actions” and diagnosed him with depression since childhood. Since then, Al-Mutif has attempted suicide on several occasions, but has never received psychiatric care. Prison officials have also refused to allow his parents and siblings to see him in hospital or in prison over the past years.
In December, Al-Mutif told Human Rights Watch by telephone from prison that he saw little hope of gaining release. In October, Human Rights Watch wrote a letter to King Abdullah documenting Al-Mutif’s unfair trial and asked the king to pardon him. In early November, it appeared that the king had pardoned Al-Mutif. Prison officials processed him for release, but then returned him to his cell without explanation and released another prisoner in a similar case instead. In late November, King Abdullah notified Human Rights Watch that the Royal Court was following the case.
In 1996, Judge Muhammad al-`Askari of the Najran Court sentenced Al-Mutif to death for allegedly having uttered in December 1993 a phrase that the court deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. This judge, as well as others in the appeals process in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, exhibited a discriminatory bias against Al-Mutif’s minority Isma`ili Muslim faith, a brand of Shi`ism, as Human Rights Watch documented in its letter to the king. Al-Mutif’s trial was patently unfair and the judges failed to abide by the most basic standards of due process required under international law.
For example, Al-Mutif never received a written sentence explaining the reasons for his death sentence. After the Royal Court told Human Rights Watch in late November that a written verdict existed, his brother `Ali in early December petitioned the Royal Court for a copy. However, while officials told him that Al-Mutif had a file at the Royal Court (#109036, dated November 12, 2006 (20/10/1427)), they never provided a verdict.
“The Saudi government made a travesty of justice in Al-Mutif’s trial,” Whitson said. “Rather than compounding this further, the government should release him at once.”
International human rights law sets forth principles to ensure that mentally ill prisoners obtain adequate psychiatric treatment and are allowed communication with the outside world. The principles also establish limits on disciplinary actions such as solitary confinement. Placing Al-Mutif incommunicado in solitary confinement and failing to provide specialized psychiatric care violates these principles.
Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for King Abdullah to pardon and release Al-Mutif. The Saudi government should immediately release him from solitary confinement and provide expert medical care during and after detention. Human Rights Watch also renewed its call on King Abdullah to pardon Al-Mutif because he did not receive a fair trial.
Annex
International human rights standards set forth rules and principles for the medical treatment of prisoners, their communication with the outside world, and limits on disciplinary action such as solitary confinement.
The main instruments are:
- The Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment;
- United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
- Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty.
1. Medical treatment
Principle 24 of the Body of Principles states that “A proper medical examination shall be offered to a detained or imprisoned person as promptly as possible after his admission to the place of detention or imprisonment, and thereafter medical care and treatment shall be provided whenever necessary. This care and treatment shall be provided free of charge.”
The World Health Organization has reported that the confinement of mentally ill prisoners in segregation heightens the risk of their suicide: “[T]he majority of suicides in correctional settings occur when a prisoner is isolated from staff and fellow prisoners. Therefore, placement in segregation or isolation cells … can increase the risk of suicide.” In cases where “acting-out, potentially self-injurious inmates” stage suicide attempts, it recommends “programmes that foster close supervision, social support, and access to psychosocial resources.” [Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Prison Officers. Mental and Behavioral Disorders, Department of Mental Health, World Health Organization (Geneva, 2000) p.10 & 11.]
Article 22 of the Standard Minimum Rules states that “(1) At every institution there shall be available the services of at least one qualified medical officer who should have some knowledge of psychiatry. The medical services […] shall include a psychiatric service for the diagnosis and, in proper cases, the treatment of states of mental abnormality. (2) Sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals.
Article 82 of the same Rules specifies that prisoners under sentence “who suffer from other mental diseases or abnormalities shall be observed and treated in specialized institutions under medical management.”
2. Communication with the outside world
Principle 19 of the Body of Principles gives a prisoner “the right to be visited by and to correspond with, in particular, members of his family and shall be given adequate opportunity to communicate with the outside world, subject to reasonable conditions and restrictions as specified by law or lawful regulations.”
A publication by the Saudi Prison Directorate describes “a prisoner’s communication with the outside world [as] a very important program of care.”
The safeguards for those on death row state that “anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon, [which] may be granted in all cases of capital punishment.” Furthermore, “capital punishment shall not be carried out pending any […] proceeding relating to pardon...”
3. Limits on disciplinary measures
Principle 16 of the Body of Principles states that “communication of the detained or imprisoned person with the outside world, and in particular his family or counsel, shall not be denied for more than a matter of days.”
Principle 30 of the Body of Principles states that “1. The types of conduct of the […] imprisoned person that constitute disciplinary offences during […] imprisonment [and] the description and duration of disciplinary punishment that may be inflicted […] shall be specified by law or lawful regulations and duly published. 2. A[n …] imprisoned person shall have the right to be heard before disciplinary action is taken. He shall have the right to bring such action to higher authorities for review.”
Article 20 of the Saudi Prison and Detention Law of 1978 allows prison authorities to place a prisoner in solitary confinement for 15 days if he or she violates “the law of the prison” (the local governor can double this period in case of repeat offenses) and points to Executive Regulations of the 1978 law to specify “jurisdictional rules on imposing the punishments.” The official law compendium, however, omits these Executive Regulations.
Article 32 of the Minimum Standard Rules states that “(1) Punishment by close confinement or reduction of diet shall never be inflicted unless the medical officer has examined the prisoner and certified in writing that he is fit to sustain it. (2) The same shall apply to any other punishment that may be prejudicial to the physical or mental health of a prisoner. […] (3) The medical officer shall visit daily prisoners undergoing such punishments and shall advise the director if he considers the termination or alteration of the punishment necessary on grounds of physical or mental health.
4. Rights of those Facing the Death Penalty
The Safeguards state that “capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts.” Furthermore, “capital punishment may only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court after legal process which gives all possible safeguards to ensure a fair trial, […] including the right of anyone suspected of or charged with a crime for which capital punishment may be imposed to adequate legal assistance at all stages of the proceedings.”
