More than 269 days of torture and arbitrary detention of a Mr. Salman Quraish

2 October، 2013

اعتقلت السلطات السعودية في 06/01/2013 الشاب سلمان أمين قريش، من سكان محافظة القطيف، من مواليد 01/10/1993.

He is a single man and works in a local company. He got picked up on Riyadh Street in the province of Qatif while he was getting out of his work; unfortunately he had no idea why they arresting him, besides the police have no warrant of his arrest or any documents to show that.

However, he was blind folded, handcuffed, and has sent to Dammam prison. He has been put into solitary confinement for three months, and then transferred to a mass cell jail.

يمثل ماقامت به السلطات السعودية تعارضا مع المادة الثانية من نظام الإجراءات الجزائية السعودي الصادر بالمرسوم الملكي رقم م/39 بتاريخ 28/07/1422 الموافق 15/10/2001، حيث تنص على: (لا يجوز القبض على أي إنسان، أو تفتيشه، أو توقيفه، أو سجنه إلا في الأحوال المنصوص عليها نظاماً، ولا يكون التوقيف أو السجن إلا في الأماكن المخصصة لكل منهما وللمدة المحددة من السلطة المختصة…).

  1. Verbal and immoral assaults.
  2. Beating with fists and kicking with legs.
  3. Beating with thick hoses, plastic and metal sticks.
  4. Standing for long hours with eyes blindfolded, his hands up, and legs restricted.
  5. The high-strength electricity used cannot be accurately identified, but according to the description available, an electric cable was placed on the body of Mr.Quraish in various places, resulting in severe pain and causing his body to burn due to the electrocution.
  6. Mr.Quraish was put in a torture room, or as the soldiers in the detective called it (The Black Room), because its walls are painted in black, and in the room there are four men who dressed in black and they specialists in torture.
  7. Mr. Quraish was put in another room called: (temperature room), which he got exposed to high temperature for long hours.
  8. Forcing Mr. Quraish to take drugs that cause hallucinations and put him in an abnormal condition.

The results of the above has resulted in very poor health for Mr. Quarish; bleeding in the stomach, burns and bruises on the his body, and effecting his vision, which caused him to need glasses. Unfortunately officials have refused medical care by a neutral doctor needed to document these claims.

The torture continues for Mr. Quraish at the time of the writing of this report. They did not stop torturing him during this period especially when it comes to the investigation which is accompanied by torturing capacitor, because of this deadly torture, Mr. Quarish was forced to admit to several charges that he had nothing to do with, according to the investigator, including: murder, shooting, and participation in and preparation for peaceful protest marches.

The last charge Mr. Quarish was forced to attribute to himself is the charge of selling drugs.

Mr. Salman Quarish was taken to the first hearing in court, on 09/29/2013, without notice to him or his family, and without allowing him access to a lawyer. The judge’s ruling on Salman sentenced him to five years and 2,000 lashes, and that was only for the charge of the sale of drugs.

Mr. Quarish wanted to appeal the ruling, and the judge give him the necessary government papers for this, but the soldiers who accompanied him took the papers from him, raising doubts about the possibility of Mr. Quraish being able to use his right to appeal, on the judgment in the drug charge against him.

Although Mr. Quarish presented to the court after 266 days (approximately nine months) of his arrest accompanied by torture and on one charge only, but the violation as provided for in Article XIV of the Criminal Procedure Code, which says: (The lapse should ends the arrest of a person in five days, unless the investigator want to extend the period of detention, then investigator must send a documents papers (before the expire period) to the president in the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution in that region to issue an order to extend the period of detention or periods consecutive, but not exceeding the period aggregate to forty days from the date of that person arrest or release the accused, and in cases that require detention a longer time, then the investigator should refer the matter to the President of the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution to issue a command extension for a period or periods of successive no more than 30 days, and not more than a total of six months from the first day that person got arrested, and should be immediately transmission to the court competent, and/or release him/her).

Mr. Quarish still find harassment from time to time and he does not know what his fate and what the detectives intends to do with him in the coming days, where they are forcing him to acknowledge anything under the influence of torture.

  1. The immediate release of detained arbitrarily Mr. Salman Quraish, and the dropping all charges against him.
  2. إجراء تحقيق فوري ونزيه وشامل حول التعذيب والإنتهاكات المتعدد التي تعرض لها المعتقل سلمان قريش، وذلك استناداً على المادة 28 من نظام (السجن والتوقيف) الصادر تحت المرسوم الملكي رقم م/31 بتاريخ 21/06/1398هـ وقرار مجلس الوزراء رقم 441 بتاريخ 08/06/1398هـ ،  …. التي تنص: (لا يجوز الاعتداء على المسجونين أو الموقوفين بأي نوع من أنواع الاعتداء، وتتخذ إجراءات التأديب ضد الموظفين المدنيين أو العسكريين الذين يباشرون أي عدوان على مسجون أو موقوف وذلك مع عدم الإخلال بتوقيع العقوبات الجزائية عليهم في الأحوال التي يكون الاعتداء فيها جريمة).

They may seek the assistance of experts, including physicians, and seek their advice in writing), also the Law of Criminal Procedure of Saudi Arabia, states in Article II on: (No person shall be arrested, searched, detained, or imprisoned except in cases specified by the law. Detention or imprisonment shall be carried out only in the places designated for such purposes and shall be for the period prescribed by the competent authority. A person under arrest shall not be subjected to any bodily or moral harm. Similarly, he shall not be subjected to any torture or degrading treatment).

  1. Provide the necessary health care at the expense of the state, to address the implications of the torture.
  2. Allowing Salman‘s family to contact a lawyer to defend him immediately without disrupting, but not allowing them to access a lawyer after more than 268 days is a clear violation of a range of materials stipulated by the Saudi Law of Criminal Procedure, including:
  • المادة الرابعة: يحق لكل متهم أن يستعين بوكيل أو محام للدفاع عنه في مرحلتي التحقيق والمحاكمة.
  • المادة الرابعة والستون: للمتهم حق الاستعانة بوكيل أو محام لحضور التحقيق، ويجب على المحقق أن يقوم بالتحقيق في جميع الجرائم الكبيرة وفقاً لما هو منصوص عليه في هذا النظام، وله في غير هذه الجرائم أن يقوم بالتحقيق فيها إذا وجد أن ظروفها أو أهميتها تستلزم ذلك، أو أن يرفع الدعوى بتكليف المتهم بالحضور مباشرة أمام المحكمة المختصة.
  • المادة التاسعة والستون: للمتهم والمجني عليه والمدعي بالحق الخاص ووكيل كل منهم أو محاميه أن يحضروا جميع إجراءات التحقيق، وللمحقق أن يجري التحقيق في غيبة المذكورين أو بعضهم متى رأى ضرورة ذلك لإظهار الحقيقة، وبمجرد انتهاء تلك الضرورة يتيح لهم الاطلاع على التحقيق.
  • المادة السبعون: ليس للمحقق أن يعزل المتهم عن وكيله أو محاميه الحاضر معه في أثناء التحقيق، وليس للوكيل أو المحامي التدخل في التحقيق إلا بإذن من المحقق، وله في جميع الأحوال أن يقدم للمحقق مذكرة خطية بملاحظاته وعلى المحقق ضم هذه المذكرة إلى ملف القضية.
  • المادة التاسعة عشرة بعد المائة: للمحقق – في كل الأحوال – أن يأمر بعدم اتصال المتهم بغيره من المسجونين، أوالموقوفين، وألا يزوره أحد لمدة لا تزيد على ستين يوماً إذا اقتضت مصلحة التحقيق ذلك، دون الإخلال بحق المتهم في الاتصال بوكيله أو محاميه.
  1. Without disabled allowing the human rights organizations to see and meets with Mr. Quraish.
  2. Ensure the full rights during all stages of the period of detention, to enable him to meet and communicate and visit with his lawyer and his family.

The European Saudi society for the human rights call to all local and regional organizations and international the need to pursue all aspects for the detainee Mr. Salman Quraish, and work to stop all the illegal violations against him. We emphasize that according to our information and data available to us, Mr. Quraish is not the only case, where there are a lot of similar cases that have signed serious violations against them, and we are doing our part to publish and address the relevant to the international organizations and asking them for help

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