Saudis prepare to behead teenage maid

By Tim Butcher, Middle East Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:58am BST 17/07/2007

The imminent execution of a teenage maid in Saudi Arabia drew fierce criticism yesterday and provoked condemnation of the kingdom's prolific use of capital punishment.

The case has brought fresh attention to the draconian Saudi criminal justice system which is expected this year to set a new record in its use of the death sentence.Human rights campaigners yesterday urged the authorities not to behead a 19-year-old Sri Lankan maid found guilty of killing a baby in her care.

According to the Saudi authorities, Rizana Nafeek admitted strangling the four-month-old boy while feeding him with a bottle.

But Nafeek, whose job was not meant to include child care, has denied making any such admission. She claims the child had begun to choke before losing consciousness in spite of her desperate efforts to clear his airway.

Tonight is the deadline for appeals in the case. Unless the Saudi authorities change the sentence or the parents of the victim offer clemency, Nafeek will have her head cut off by an executioner wielding a sword in front of a crowd of onlookers.

In 2005 there were 191 executions but that record could be surpassed this year as 102 have already taken place just over half way through the year. Last year the total dipped to 38 but this year's figure already includes three women, according to Amnesty International.

Nafeek, who had been denied a lawyer at her trial, is one of 5.6 million foreign workers who live in Saudi Arabia. The vast majority are domestic workers such as Nafeek, employed to look after the homes of oil-rich families.
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According to the Sri Lankan government, Nafeek had only been in the country a few weeks when the incident happened in May 2005. A government delegation tried to fly to Saudi Arabia to organise her appeal but it was delayed because of visa problems.

Beheading has always been the punishment for murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and armed robbers in Saudi Arabia, which follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

In February, four Sri Lankan workers were executed for armed robbery and their headless bodies left on public display in Riyadh, triggering harsh criticism from international rights groups.

Amnesty International says some defendants are convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress, torture or deception.

Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, said: "It is an absolute scandal that Saudi Arabia is preparing to behead a teenage girl who didn't even have a lawyer at her trial. The Saudi authorities are flouting an international prohibition on the execution of child offenders by even imposing a death sentence on a defendant who was reportedly 17 at the time of the alleged crime."

There are so many foreign workers in Saudi Arabia that they account for a large proportion of crimes committed.

"The workers commit big crimes against Saudis," said Suhaila Hammad of Saudi Arabia's National Society for Human Rights.

She said the number of executions had risen because crime had increased. She said that prisoners were treated humanely and that beheadings deterred crime.

"Allah, our creator, knows best what's good for his people," she said.

"Should we just think of and preserve the rights of the murderer and not think of the rights of others?"

Nafeek, who had been denied a lawyer at her trial, is one of 5.6 million foreign workers who live in Saudi Arabia. The vast majority are domestic workers such as Nafeek, employed to look after the homes of oil-rich families.

Beheading has always been the punishment for murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and armed robbers in Saudi Arabia, which follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

"Allah, our creator, knows best what's good for his people," she said.

"Should we just think of and preserve the rights of the murderer and not think of the rights of others?"

Do you not think that Saudi Arabia has these specialists as well? Id caution anyone jumping to conclusions so quickly.

Agreed. It's offensive that Arab/Muslim countries are considered backward and illiterate, merely because we often do not agree with them.

Perhaps it's because I live in Ohio, but I'm not really seeing the point of this thread; she killed a baby, she got the death penalty. What, exactly, was the question?

Agreed. It's offensive that Arab/Muslim countries are considered backward and illiterate, merely because we often do not agree with them.

Perhaps it's because I live in Ohio, but I'm not really seeing the point of this thread; she killed a baby, she got the death penalty. What, exactly, was the question?

Agreed. It's offensive that Arab/Muslim countries are considered backward and illiterate, merely because we often do not agree with them.

Guilty before proven guilty

- Doesn't the same concept apply all over Western world as well as Europe? For instance, those doctors were caught and shown all over the media as the "Islamic terrorist" and all the newspapers put the word "guilty" all over them and then some were released now?

- Anything we do is pretty "fair" and "Nice", such as the trial of Saddam Hussain.

these miscarriages of justice happen in the Western world too, there was a forensic pathologist in Ontario (smith) who apparently was some type of religious freak who thought it was his "mission" to punish child abusers, therefore he came back with findings of "looks like abuse" in cases of accidental child death, very biased in the lab..several people were convicted & imprisoned based on his faulty "findings", some for up to 12 years or more until the truth came out..

now Saddam is a hero to you? I'm sure he defended Islam well by murdering so many believers..

is such a convincing logical 'argument'. thanks.


afraid to even show your face on your pic? might be in the terr. database?

For many of you believing all non-western nations are "backwards" is really very sad.

Agreed. It's offensive that Arab/Muslim countries are considered backward and illiterate, merely because we often do not agree with them.

She said the number of executions had risen because crime had increased. She said that prisoners were treated humanely and that beheadings deterred crime.

"Allah, our creator, knows best what's good for his people," she said.