To remove yourself from the Al-Fatiha News list
please send a blank email to
al-fatiha-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
--------------------------------------------------

The following message includes:

1) Amnesty International Secretariat - Membership

Action Alert
2) Amnesty International USA / OUTfront Press
Release

--------------------------------------------------

1) Amnesty International Secretariat - Membership

Action Alert

SAUDI ARABIA: THREE MEN EXECUTED FOR HOMOSEXUAL
ACTS

January 4, 2002

On January 1, 2002, 'Ali bin Hittan bin Sa'id,
Muhammad bin Suleyman bin Muhammad and Muhammad
bin Khalil bin 'Abdullah, all Saudi Arabian
nationals, were executed in Abha, Asir province,
possibly solely for their sexual orientation. The
Saudi Arabian Ministry of Interior issued a
statement announcing that the three were
convicted of homosexual acts, adding
vaguely-worded charges of "luring children and
harming others" without providing any further
details. The trial proceedings of the three men
remain shrouded in secrecy.

The execution of these three men is yet another
gesture of defiance by the Saudi Arabian
government of international standards which urge
states not to impose the death penalty for
offences with no lethal consequences. Amnesty
International fears that it may also be a sign of
the Saudi Arabian
government's determination to continue its
appalling yearly rate of executions - at least
205 people have been executed since 2000,
including people convicted of non-violent
offences. Amnesty International does not know how
many people are under sentence of death in Saudi
Arabia as this is a secret kept by the
government, but the figure could be hundreds.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters:
- expressing concern that the three men named
above may have been executed primarily because of
their sexual orientation and seeking urgent
clarification of the exact charges and evidence
brought against them, together with information
on their trial proceedings
- seeking urgent clarification of the names of
any prisoners under sentence of death due to
their sexual orientation and calling for the
commutation of their sentences
- expressing dismay at the continued use of the
death penalty in Saudi Arabia, and calling for a
moratorium on executions as called for by the
United Nations
- urging that international standards for capital
trials are strictly observed

Send appeals to:

King and Prime Minister, The Custodian of the Two
Holy Shrines
His Majesty King Fahd bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud
Office of H.M. The King
Royal Court, Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Telegrams: King Fahd, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Salutation: Your Majesty.

His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin 'Abdul 'Aziz
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior
P.O. Box 2933, Airport Road
Riyadh 11134
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: + 966 1 403 1185
Telegram: Minister of Interior, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia
Salutation: Your Royal Highness

His Excellency Dr. 'Abdullah bin Muhammad bin
Ibrahim Al-Sheikh
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
University Street, Riyadh 11137
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: + 966 1 401 1741
Telegram: Minister of Justice, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia
Salutation: Your Excellency

Send copies to:

Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the
U.S.
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20037
Tel: (202) 337-4076/4134
Fax: (202) 944-5983
Email: info@...

Please note: Your letters should be formal,
polite, typewritten, and preferably in English or
Arabic. If you receive no reply after one month,
you should write again. If there’s still no reply
after that, write a third time.

--------------------------------------------------

2) Amnesty International USA / OUTfront Press
Release

Press Release

Friday, January 4, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Wende Gozan
at 212/633-4247 or Michael Heflin at
212/633-4280

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ISSUES GLOBAL APPEAL TO
PROTEST EXECUTION OF THREE SAUDI MEN FOR
HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY

(New York) – Amnesty International, the world’s
largest grassroots human rights organization,
today launched a global appeal to protest the
execution of three Saudi Arabian nationals who
were beheaded on Tuesday after being convicted of
committing homosexual acts.

On January 1, 2002, ‘Ali bin Hittan bin Sa’id,
Muhammad bin Suleyman bin Muhammad and Muhammad
bin Khalil bin ‘Abdullah were executed in Abha,
Asir province. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of the
Interior issued a statement that said the three
were convicted of homosexual acts, adding
vaguely-worded charges of “luring children and
harming others” without providing any further
details. The trial proceedings of the three men
have been kept secret.

“The execution of these three men is yet another
defiant gesture by the Saudi Arabia government to
flout international standards,” said Michael
Heflin, director of Amnesty International USA’s
OUTfront program. “Assuming these men were
executed based solely on their sexual
orientation, a distinct possibility in this case,
it would be in direct violation of international
human rights norms. In addition, it may also be
a sign of the Saudi Arabian government’s
continuation of its appalling record vis-à-vis
the death penalty.”

Since the launch of Amnesty International’s
campaign against human rights violations in Saudi
Arabia in March 2000, the government has made a
number of undertakings to improve its human
rights record. However, it still has one of the
highest rates of execution in the world in both
absolute numbers and per capita. At least 205
people have been executed since 2000, including
people convicted of non-violent offenses. The
majority of victims were foreign workers from
countries in Asia and Africa.

Offenses punishable by death in Saudi Arabia
include witchcraft, drug offenses, highway
robbery, apostasy, acts of sabotage, treason,
rape and murder. Sexual offenses such as
adultery committed by married people and sodomy
also constitute capital offenses.

# # #


=====
M. Faisal Alam --- E-mail: mfaisalalam@...

"We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny...An inescapable
network of mutuality...I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed
to be what you ought to be." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail!
http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/