SAUDIS TORTURED IN IRAQI PRISONS

July 14, 2013: Saudi inmates in Iraqi prisons are tortured and executed without facing any specific charges, according to their families.
The father of Mazen Muhammad Nashi Messawi claims his son was abused and then executed in 2009 without being charged. He said that most Saudis in Iraq are held on flimsy charges of entering the country illegally. Messawi's body was only transferred to Saudi Arabia 10 months ago.
According to Iraqi human rights sources, Saudi detainees are abused and tortured by security guards. Shiite militia detainees and the staff of Cropper prison had beaten up nine Saudi detainees, sources said. The prison's administration intervened later and placed them in solitary confinement.
A number of Saudis have died in detention. This includes Saad Al-Musbeh, who died in 2006 but his body has disappeared. In 2007, Faisal Al-Ahmar died in Susa prison. Another death cited by the media was that of Hani Muhammad Abdulla Al-Ghamdi, aged 30, of unknown causes.
Lawyers would not divulge information about Saudi detainees for selfish reasons, says advocate Abdulrahman Al-Jurais, head of a committee representing Saudi prisoners in Iraqi jails.
There are 67 Saudi prisoners in Iraq, of whom 54 are part of a prisoner swap agreement between the two countries. Five of them - Abdullah Azzam Al-Qahtani, Shadi Al-Saaidi, Bader Awfan Al-Shammari, Ali Hasan Al-Shahri and Mahmoud Siadat Al-Shanqiti - are on death row. In contrast, four Iraqi prisoners have been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. (Sources: Arab News, 14/07/2013)