http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/2011121302059182183.html
Saudi Arabia beheads woman for 'sorcery'
Human rights group describes execution as "truly appalling" and notes steep
rise in country's use of capital punishment.
Last Modified: 13 Dec 2011 01:44
A Saudi woman has been beheaded after being convicted of practising sorcery,
which is banned in the conservative Gulf kingdom, the country's interior
ministry said.
Amina bint Abdul Halim bin Salem Nasser was executed on Monday in the northern
province of Jawf for "practising witchcraft and sorcery", the ministry said in
a statement carried by SPA, Saudi Arabia's state news agency.
The ministry gave no further details of the charges for which the woman was
convicted.
London-based newspaper al-Hayat quoted a member of the Saudi religious police
as saying Nasser was in her 60s. The official claimed she had tricked people
into giving her money, claiming that she could cure their illnesses.
According to the report, she apparently charged up to $800 a session.
Amnesty International said the beheading brought the number of executions in
the kingdom to 73 this year. Another woman was beheaded in October for killing
her husband by setting his house on fire.
There are no available statistics on how many women have been executed in Saudi
Arabia.
'Truly appalling'
Amnesty condemned Monday's execution as "truly appalling", and called on Saudi
Arabia to urgently halt the practice.
"The charges of 'witchcraft and sorcery' are not defined as crimes in Saudi
Arabia", Philip Luther, Amnesty's interim director of the Middle East and North
Africa, said.
"To use them to subject someone to the cruel and extreme penalty of execution
is truly appalling," he added in a statement, which stressed the "urgent need"
to stop executions.
"The charge of sorcery has often been used in Saudi Arabia to punish
people, generally after unfair trials, for exercising their right to freedom of
speech or religion"
- Philip Luther,
Amnesty's interim director of the Middle East and North Africa
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable
by death in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no written criminal code. Its law is
based on a form of Islamic sharia law, as interpreted by the country's judges.
Amnesty has reported that Saudi Arabia executed 27 convicts in 2010, compared
to 67 executions announced the year before. Luther described the increasing
number of executions in Saudi Arabia as "deeply disturbing" .
Many of those executed have had no defence lawyer and are not informed about
the legal proceedings against them, according to Amnesty.
"While we don't know the details of the acts which the authorities accused
Amina of committing, the charge of sorcery has often been used in Saudi Arabia
to punish people, generally after unfair trials, for exercising their right to
freedom of speech or religion," Luther said.
Earlier this month, Amnesty accused the oil-rich kingdom of conducting a
campaign of repression against protesters and reformists since the Arab Spring
erupted 12 months ago.
The rights group said Saudi Arabia was one of a minority of states which voted
against a UN General Assembly resolution last December calling for a worldwide
moratorium on executions.
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