Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two Sri Lankans and one Indian were sentenced to death by the High Court of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 11 June 2007. They received the written verdict on 20 January 2008. This said, both governments have yet to provide legal assistance for an appeal which must be submitted by 19 February 2008. Your urgent attention is needed, and intervention is required to save the lives of these individuals.
CASE DETAILS:
Those facing death sentences are Sri Lankans Halemma Nissa Cader (mother) and K.M.S. Bandaranaike, and Indian national Naushad.
These three individuals face the death sentence in Saudi Arabia after the High Court of Jeddah found them guilty on charges of robbing and murdering an elderly woman. Their time for appeal will end on 19 February 2008. If an appeal is not filed by that date their execution may be carried out at any time thereafter. In Saudi Arabia, death sentences are generally carried out speedily.
The Sri Lankan and Indian governments have yet to take any steps to assist the victims in filing appeals on their sentences. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations the governments of Sri Lanka and India have the right to assist their citizens facing criminal charges in foreign countries. However, the Sri Lankan government claims to have a policy of not assisting its citizens facing criminal charges in foreign countries. Such a policy runs at odds with the Sri Lankan governments acknowledgement of its obligation to provide counsel for its citizens facing trials with possible death sentences within Sri Lanka. While the principle of providing counsel for those who cannot afford to defend themselves against grave judgments is the same whether the charges have been brought to bear in foreign or domestic circumstances, the principle is not practiced in both circumstances. Alarmingly, persons facing grave charges frequently claim that they have not had proper representation during the trial.
In this instance even the Indian government has not taken steps to assist its citizen facing the death sentence. This is distressing as the Indian government could be seen, in previous occasions, to have taken at least some steps to intervene on behalf of its citizens facing criminal charges in courts outside the country.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the government of Sri Lanka and India urging them to provide legal assistance to these victims so that they may file appeals before February 19. Please also urge the Saudi authorities to grant clemency and not to carry out the death sentence.
The global community has agreed on a moratorium of the death sentence and this can be an occasion to urge the Saudi Arabian authorities to respect this decision.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
1 (to King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia):
Your Royal Highness,
SAUDI ARABIA: Death sentence facing two Sri Lankans and an Indian in Saudi Arabia
Name of persons facing death sentence:
1. Halemma Nissa Cader, a Sri Lankan national from Trincomalee, a mother of an eight year old son
2. K.M.S. Bandaranaike, a Sri Lankan national from Kurunegala
3. Naushad, an Indian national from Tamil Nadu
Deadline for appeal: on 19 February 2008
I wish to draw the attention of your royal highness to the plight of these three persons who have been sentenced to death by the High Court of Jeddah in response to the charge of the murder of an elderly woman. I humbly request your royal highness to use your prerogative to grant these three persons clemency.
I also wish to draw your highness’s attention to the moratorium on the death sentence, which has been agreed upon by the global community under the auspices of the United Nations.
Yours sincerely,
——————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Royal Court, Riyadh
SAUDI ARABIA
2. HRH Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud
Minister of Interior
PO Box 2933
Riyadh 11134
SAUDI ARABIA
Fax: +966 1 403 1185
2 (to Sri Lankan authorities):
Dear ______,
SRI LANKA: Death sentence facing two Sri Lankans in Saudi Arabia
Name of accused:
1. Halemma Nissa Cader, a Sri Lankan national from Trincomalee, a mother of an eight year old son
2. K.M.S. Bandaranaike, a Sri Lankan national from Kurunegala
Deadline for appeal: on 19 February 2008
I urge the Sri Lankan government to provide legal assistance to these migrant workers so that they will be able to lodge their appeal by February 19 which is the final day for such an appeal. If they do not file an appeal they may be executed quickly thereafter as is the custom in Saudi Arabia. I also urge you to appeal to His Royal Highness the King of Saudi Arabia to grant clemency to the accused and to commute their death sentences. As the global community has agreed on a moratorium of the death sentence under the auspices of the United Nations, I urge the Sri Lankan government to appeal to the Saudi Arabian authorities to honour this moratorium.
Yours sincerely,
——————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657
E-mail: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk
2. Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Prime Minister
Temple Trees
Galle Road, Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 575317-8 or 370 737-8
Fax: +94 11 2 575454
3. Hon. Amarasiri Dodangoda, MP
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms
Superior Courts Complex,
Colombo 12
Tel: +94 11 2384837 or 2324681 or 2392932
Fax: +94 11 2325354 or 2445446
4. Hon. Rohitha Bogollagama, MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mnistry of Foreign Affairs
Republic Building, Colombo 01,
Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 11 2325371 / 5
Fax: +94 11 2446091
E-mail: publicity@formin.gov.lk
5. Mr. A.L.M. Lafeer
Consul General
Consulate General of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,
P.O. Box 23561
Jeddah 21436, KSA
SAUDI ARABIA
Tel: +966 2 6614197, 6634852, 6635949, 6630943
Fax: +966 2 6641784
E-mail: slconsulate@orbitsatnet.com
3 (to Indian authorities):
Dear ______,
INDIA: Death sentence facing India citizen in Saudi Arabia
Name of accused: Naushad, an Indian national from Tamil Nadu
Deadline for appeal: on 19 February 2008
I urge the Indian government to provide legal assistance to this migrant worker so that he will be able to lodge his appeal by February 19 which is the final day for such an appeal. If he does not file an appeal by this date he may be executed quickly thereafter as is the custom in Saudi Arabia. I also urge you to appeal to His Royal Highness the King of Saudi Arabia to grant clemency to the accused and to commute his death sentence. As the global community has agreed on a moratorium of the death sentence under the auspices of the United Nations, I urge the Indian government to appeal to the Saudi Arabian authorities to honour this moratorium.
Yours sincerely,
——————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Ms. Pratibha Devisingh Patil
President of India
Presidents Secretriat, New Delhi
INDIA.
Tel: +91 11 23015321
Fax: 91-11-23017290 & 91-11-23017824
E-mail: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
2. Mr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister’s Office
Room number 152, South Block
New Delhi
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 23016857
E-mail: pmosb@pmo.nic.in
3. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee
Through the office of Secretary Mr. Shivashankara Menon
Minister of External Affairs,
South Block, New Delhi-110 011
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 23011463
E-mail: eam@mea.nic.in
4. H.E. Mr. M.O.H. Farook
General Consulate of India in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Madinah Road, Sharafiah Dist,
PO Box No. 952,
21421, Jeddah
SAUDI ARABIA
Tel: +966 2 6520104 / 6520112 / 2 6517581
Fax: +966 2 6533964
E-mail: admin@cgijeddah.com
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
