SAUDI
ARABIA/SRI LANKA - SAUDI KING RESPONDS TO PLEA FOR RIZANA
November 15, 2010
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Saudi King
responds to the plea for Rizana
The Asian Human Rights Commission is happy to learn that His Royal Highness
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has taken the initial
steps towards a reprieve for Rizana Nafeek, the Sri Lankan girl who is
currently on the death row in Saudi Arabia convicted for strangling a baby in
her care. Rizana, who was 17-years old at the time of the incident, claims it
was an accident in which the baby choked while being bottle-fed. The Supreme
Court in Riyadh confirmed her death sentence in late October 2010.
The Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry’s Consular Chief Somadasa
Wijeysundera reported this Sunday, November 14, 2010, that King Abdullah has
directed officials to meet with the parents of the deceased infant for whom
Rizana worked. He stated that the King's actions come as a response to the plea
from the Sri Lankan President Rajapakse to grant the girl clemency,
emphasizing that discreet diplomatic efforts were underway to secure her
release.
Wijeysundera further stated that several other diplomatic efforts have been
stepped up both in Riyadh and internationally to gather support for Rizana's
release. "Our envoys in several countries both in the West and elsewhere
are working closely with those respective countries towards this end. The
response is encouraging but the process is slow because it needs a lot of
diplomatic patience and understanding," he said.
Saudi Arabia's law is based on Sharia, the Islamic Law, which holds certain
restrictions. As the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia recently confirmed her
death sentence, the options of judicial remedies have been exhausted. The
decision can only be challenged if new evidence comes to light, if King
Abdullah, who also serves as Prime Minister, grants her a pardon or the
parents of the deceased infant withdraw their claim of murder or settle for blood
money. The King's initiative to let officials meet with the family is
therefore acknowledged as an important step in granting a reprieve to Rizana.
The Asian Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch
among other human rights groups and civil society organisations have followed
the case closely and worked intensively to put continuous pressure on The
Saudi King and The Minister of Interior in Saudi Arabia to grant Rizana
clemency as well as requesting President Rajapakse to appeal to King Abdullah
and request a diplomatic dialogue on the case.
While the eyes of the world currently are on King Abdullah and President
Rajapakse, this should also be used to address the underlying causes to this
disastrous situation and how the young girl from a rural, poor family ended
up there in the first place. In Sri Lanka there is an urgent need to address
the growing problem of illegal operations by the recruitment agencies to send
workers overseas. As Sri Lanka's biggest source to foreign currency is
remittance from workers overseas, the Sri Lankan government has been slow and
reluctant to put pressure on the Saudi King before the international and
national attention forced it to intervene. Addressing the problems of the
workers overseas have therefore not been a priority before and something
President Rajapakse would rather prefer to keep disguised.
In the case of Rizana it was after all the recruitment agency in Sri Lanka,
who illegally altered her birthday to be able to employ her in Saudi Arabia.
This resulted in Rizana holding a job as a baby caretaker; a job, which she
was neither mature nor experienced enough to hold and thus led to the tragic
death of a child. The current situation should be used genuinely for a call
on the Sri Lankan government to take strong measures against the exploitation
of underage labour and the implementation of protection for the country's
migrant workers.
While the response by the Saudi King to intervene in Rizana's case is
encouraging, it is crucial to maintain international as well as national
pressure on the situation so that Rizana will be released.
Kindly see our urgent appeal on the case and write to King Abdullah bin Abdul
Aziz Al Saud and the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia: AHRC-UAU-041-2010.
For further information on the case please see:
AHRC-STM-221-2010, AHRC-STM-219-2010,
AHRC-STM-214-2010,
STM-003-2009,
STM-258-2008,
UA-207-2007,
UP-097-2007,
UP-093-2007;
PL-023-2007,
UG-004-2007.
About AHRC: The
Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation
monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group
was founded in 1984.
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