Saudi Arabia : Khaked Hatem, deceased in prison as a result of torture

Khaled Ahmed Hatem, 41 years old, was residing with his family in Djedda in Saudi Arabia where he was arrested at the end of April 2008 by the general intelligent services (Al Mabahit Al Aama) in company of his brother Ali Ahmed Hatem.

It appears that these two men were accused of not having denounced their third brother Mohamed Ahmed Hatem, who was being sought for having “expressed extremist ideas” and who has also since then been arrested.

The three brothers were all held in the Dahbane prison without having ever been presented before a magistrate or any legal procedure.

Khaled Hatem was never authorized to instruct a lawyer to challenge the validity of his detention nor to receive visits from his parents in prison. It was only until early August 2008 that he was first allowed to call his mother by telephone. He was thus able to talk to her for about twenty minutes and to reassure her about his physical and mental health.

On 15 August 2008, just days after that phone call, his mother was informed by an official of Dahbane prison that her son had been hospitalized and she could visit him in Jeddah Hospital’s intensive care unit.

She was thus able to visit his bedside and to talk to him for a few moments despite his condition; he then informed her that he had been brutally tortured and beaten by members of the jail’s security services the very day of the telephone call.

His mother indeed noted that he bore traces of injuries, including a deeper injury to the head following a violent blow he said he had received.

His family was then without news of him until 31 August when they were again contacted by telephone to be informed of his death. The authorities then told the victim's mother that the injuries, as a result of which he had been hospitalized, and the cause of his death were due to "an attempted suicide while under the influence of drugs ".

Challenging this theory put forward by the authorities, the family then stated their willingness to file a complaint and demanded that an autopsy be performed on the victim's body to determine the real causes of his death. The Saudi authorities did not respond to this request but demanded on 9 September that his body be withdrawn from the hospital morgue and buried.

Alkarama calls upon the two Rapporteurs so that they may intervene with the Saudi Arabian Government and recommends it initiates proceedings with a thorough, prompt and impartial investigation into the causes of Khaled Hatem’s death, including to quickly have an autopsy of the victim's body carried out by a forensic service monitored by an independent authority or chosen by the family. The forensic report should be forwarded to the family without prior permission of the investigating authority.

Alkarama recalls that the human rights situation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be considered in the context of the universal periodic review (UPR) during the 4th session of the Human Rights Council’s UPR Working Group, taking place in early February 2009. The Saudi authorities have consistently affirmed their willingness to cooperate with United Nations special procedures.

Saudi Arabia is a party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (23 September 1997) and a member of the Human Rights Council (May 2007).