UPDATE (Saudi Arabia/Sri Lanka): Please immediately write to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to save the life of its citizen

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urgently requests you to write to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to save one Sri Lankan girl Nafeek Rizana, who is facing the death sentence in Saudi Arabia. For details of the original case, please see: UA-207-2007.

Rizana’s family could not file an appeal before the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia because they were unable to meet the cost of litigation which amounts to Rs. 600,000 (approximately 5,400 US dollars). Although the deadline for the appeal will expire soon, the Sri Lankan government hesitates to provide financial support for legal assistance. If she looses the chance of appeal, Rizana will face execution. Please strongly urge the Sri Lankan government to bear the cost of litigation so that she can file an appeal to the Supreme Court in time. The contact information of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs and the sample letter have been attached below.

For your information, we have reproduced our open letter to Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona, the Secretary of Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Sri Lankan government relating to this matter.

[AHRC OPEN LETTER]

Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona
Secretary / Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic Building
Colombo 01
Sri Lanka
Fax: 94-11-5357407, 2446091, 2333450
Email: sfa@formin.gov.lk

Dear Dr. Kohona,

Re: Rizana Nasik of Mutur – the young girl facing death sentence by beheading:
Matter relating to legal assistance for her appeal

I am sure you are aware of the death sentence pronounced on Nafeek Rizana of Mutur by a Court in Saudi Arabia and who is now awaiting the death sentence. She still has time for filing an appeal which has to be done soon. We have been informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with Nafeek Rizana’s family in Mutur. This family belongs to the lower income group and is totally unable to meet the cost of litigation which according to your embassy sources in Saudi Arabia amounts to about Rs. 600,000.  We also understand that the father of Nafeek Rizana has met Foreign Ministry officials in Colombo and has already explained to them that the family does not have means to contribute to this appeal.

We also understand that the Sri Lankan embassy in Saudi Arabia has already made representations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting funds to enable filing of this appeal. There also seems to be good grounds for appeal since the entire case had been conducted in a language not understood by her and also without any meaningful interpretation provided to her. She had also not been legally represented at the trial. She is also quite young and is said to have left for employment a few months ago when she was only about 17 years of age. Furthermore the totality of evidence against her is supposed to be a confession which she had later withdrawn. In a foreign country under such circumstances and being of such young age, it is quite possible that she may have made the confession under duress.

Nonetheless, such defenses are hardly of much use within the legal system of Saudi Arabia. A Sri Lankan citizen—particularly of that young age—facing a criminal trial carrying the possibility of the death sentence which within the particular jurisdiction is carried out rapidly Rizana Nasik would have deserved legal assistance from the embassy of her country from the very beginning. However, even at this late stage, the Government of Sri Lanka owes it to this young Sri Lankan citizen to rapidly intervene and assist her. According to interviews in the media, it appears that what prevents granting her legal redress is some rule, regulation or policy that seems to deny legal assistance by the Sri Lankan Government to Sri Lankans migrating to other countries who are accused of criminal charges. I am sure you would agree that there is no legal basis to withdraw the protection that the government of a particular country owes to its citizens in this manner. Particularly, migrant workers who leave their countries for employment should not be deprived of legal protection merely because they are accused of some crime. As you are aware, the Sri Lankan Constitution recognizes the presumption of innocence of a person until proven guilty.

It is hardly necessary to remind you of the fate of 4 other Sri Lankans who were beheaded recently—one of whom was in fact sentenced only for 15 years of rigorous imprisonment. Even when that matter was being publicly discussed, Sri Lankan embassy officials in Saudi Arabia made promises to provide legal assistance to enable these 4 persons to reviews their cases even at that last stage. The President of the country at the time, Chandrika Kumaratunga made a public statement, which was published on the front page of some newspapers, that she will directly intervene with His Royal Highness of Saudi Arabia to seek pardon on behalf of these 4 persons. The present President as Prime Minister then and later as President also made several public statements assuring that all attempts would be made to assist the 4 persons facing death sentence. However, when the death sentence was in fact carried out, no one—including embassy officials in Saudi Arabia—was aware of it.

We are writing this to bring to your kind notice the pitiful plight of this young woman and to urge you to take all appropriate actions to ensure that she will be provided with legal assistance to enable her to file this appeal. We also urge you to review any rule, regulation or policy that may exist obstructing the granting of protection owing to such a citizen.

We hope that you will graciously and expeditiously intervene in this matter.

Thank you,

Yours faithfully,

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please immediately write to the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and demand the Sri Lankan government’s immediate financial support for the ligitagion cost so that Rizana can file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER