KSA : Yemeni Detainee Tortured in Saudi Prison after Extradition by Qatar

14 Mar 2013
Iwad Al Hayki, a 33 year-old Yemeni national has been imprisoned in Al Qasim Prison since 18 October 2010, the day he was extradited by Qatar to the Saudi authorities. Detained incommunicado for almost a year in solitary confinement, he has been subjected to severe torture. To date, he has never been charged or tried. Both his rendition by Qatar and torture at the hands of Saudi Arabia are serious breaches of the UN Convention against Torture, to which the two states are parties.
On 18 October 2010, Iwad Al Hayki received a call from the Qatari police asking him to come to Doha Central Police station for questioning. Once he arrived, he was informed that he was wanted by the Saudi authorities and that he would be extradited to the latter, without being given any other explanation. The same day, he was flown from Qatar to Saudi Arabia, Al Qasim Prison. His wife and four children remained without any news from him for 11 months.

Mr Al Hayki was subjected to torture and ill-treatment while in detention. Deprived of any contact with his family and the outside world for almost a year, he was allowed to call his family from the prison for the first time in September 2011. He has had to endure humiliation, very cold temperatures, and repeated beatings. Suffering from health problems with his colon, he has been deprived of medical care on several occasions. After several months in detention, he went on hunger strike to protest against his detention and the torture he was subjected to but the guards eventually forced him to eat through feeding tubes placed through his nose, injuring him.

Twenty-nine months after his arrest, Iwad is still unaware of the reasons for his detention as he has never been presented to any judicial authority.

Iwad Al Hayki's extradition by Qatar to Saudi Arabia is clearly a violation of the Convention against Torture to which Qatar is party. Its article 3 states that "No state party shall expel, return ("refouler"), or extradite a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected torture". Concerns over widespread practice of torture in Saudi detention centers have been repeatedly raised by the international community. In January 2012, OHCHR's Spokesperson Rupert Colville stated that "the use of torture as a mean to obtain confessions appears to be rampant (in Saudi Arabia)" (link). Since there were substantial grounds for believing that Mr Al Hayki would be subjected to torture in Saudi prisons, Qatar should not have proceed with his extradition.

Today, Alkarama requested the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in this matter with the Qatari and the Saudi authorities, to remind them their obligations under the Convention against Torture and to ensure the immediate end of all torture and cruel, inhumain and degrading treatment or punishment of Mr AL Hayki and that he be immediate released or charged, with a view to trying him in the shortest possible delay in a trial meeting international fair trial norms. We also call on the Saudi authorities to initiate a prompt, impartial and effective investigation into the torture allegations and that both states provide adequate reparation for the violations he was subjected to.
 
For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).
Saudi Arabia
Enforced Disappearance
Torture
Arbitrary Detention