URGENT ACTION

SHEIKH AL-'AMR APPEAL MAY WORSEN SENTENCE

Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr risks a harsher sentence when his appeal is heard within the next few weeks. He has been serving a three-year prison sentence since December 2012, when he rejected an offer of release if he gave no more Friday sermons.

In March 2013, media outlets with close links to the Saudi Arabian authorities quoted sources in the appeal court which will review the case of Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr, a Shi’a cleric in al-Ahsa governorate, as saying that the court would be considering a harsher sentence.

He had been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, followed by a five-year travel ban, on 17 December 2012 on charges of defaming the country’s ruling system, ridiculing the mentality of its religious leaders, calling for change and disobeying the ruler. The court, which was set up to deal with security and terrorism-related offences, was holding its first session on the Shi’a cleric’s case, who had been expected to be released on 1 December 2012. That day, however, he was asked to sign a pledge that, among other things, forbids him from delivering religious sermons, including during the Friday prayers. He refused to do so.

Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr was arrested in the evening of 3 August 2011, and held incommunicado and in solitary confinement for a week. Since then he has been detained in several prisons; he has spent most of the time in al-Malaz prison, but since mid-March has been held in al-Ha’ir prison. His family have had limited access to him. He had previously been arrested on 27 February 2011 following a sermon he gave calling for reforms in Saudi Arabia. During his sermon on 25 February he had expressed the need for reform in Saudi Arabia, including a constitutional monarchy, fair distribution of jobs and an end to discrimination against religious minorities. He was released without charge on 6 March, after a week detained incommunicado.

Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own language:

Expressing concern that Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr may be held solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and that, if so, Amnesty International would consider him a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release;

Urging the authorities to ensure that Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and given regular access to his family, lawyer and any medical attention he may require.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 10 JUNE 2013 TO:

�

King and Prime Minister

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques

Office of His Majesty the King

Royal Court, Riyadh

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior)

+966 1 403 3125 (please keep trying)

Salutation: Your Majesty

Minister of Justice

Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Abdul Kareem Al-Issa

Ministry of Justice

University Street, Riyadh 11137

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: +966 1 401 1741 / +966 1 402 0311

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

President, Human Rights Commission

Bandar Mohammed ‘Abdullah al-Aiban

Human Rights Commission

PO Box 58889, Riyadh 11515

King Fahad Road

Building No.373, Riyadh

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: +966 1 4612061

Email: hrc@haq-ksa.org �

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 242/11. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE23/020/2011/en

�

URGENT ACTION

SHEIKH AL-'AMR APPEAL MAY WORSEN SENTENCE

ADditional Information

Inspired in part by protests that swept the Middle East and North Africa region, Saudi Arabians in the Kingdom’s predominantly Shi’a Eastern Province have been calling for reforms since February 2011. Demonstrations have been organized to protest the arrest, imprisonment and harassment of members of the Shi’a community for holding collective prayer meetings, celebrating Shi’a religious festivals and for breaching restrictions on building Shi’a mosques and religious schools.

The Saudi Arabian authorities have responded with repressive measures against those suspected of taking part in or supporting protests or expressing views critical of the state. Protesters have been held without charge and incommunicado for days or weeks at a time, and some are reported to have been tortured and otherwise ill-treated. At least 14 people connected with protests in the Eastern Province have been killed since 2011 and hundreds have been imprisoned. Of those whose cases have moved to the courts, many have been charged solely for participating in demonstrations. ��Tensions between members of the Shi’a community and the Saudi Arabian authorities were in evidence before the 2011 protests. A gathering was held in Awwamiya, Eastern Province, on 19 March 2009 in protest against an order issued for the arrest of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, a leading Shi’a cleric and the imam of the Awwamiya mosque. The reason for the arrest order was said to be related to his criticism of the attacks on Shi’a visitors to the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad and discrimination faced by members of the Shi’a community in Saudi Arabia.

In July 2012, Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, 52, was arrested at a checkpoint. The exact circumstances of his arrest are still not known. The Ministry of Interior announced that Sheikh Nimr had been arrested as an “instigator of sedition” and was shot at as “he and those with him resisted security forces at a check-point, opened fire at security forces and crashed into a car belonging to security forces as he sought to escape”. However, his family said he was not armed, did not own a gun and was on his own at the time of his arrest. He was shown in photos, which were apparently released by the authorities shortly afterwards, lying in the back of a car with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his leg. For more on the incident and the photos, see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/saudi-arabia-must-charge-or-release-detained-dissident-cleric-2012-08-09

On 25 March 2013, Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr’s case was sent to the Specialized Criminal Court where the prosecution accused him among other things of haraba or banditry, which carries the death penalty. His court sessions are expected to presume on 28 April 2013.

Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr has also been arrested and detained on numerous occasions over the past four years. In 2008, he was arrested apparently in connection with an art exhibition he had organized for the Shi’a festival of Ashura, and detained for about three days. He was arrested again a year later, seemingly in connection with his practice of certain aspects of the Shi’a faith, and detained for about 10 days. Sometime after his release he was brought before a court accused of incitement against the government. The trial was adjourned to allow the prosecution time to provide evidence to substantiate the claim. Nothing is known to have happened with the case until he was rearrested in August 2011. For more information on Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr’s detention in February and March 2011 see www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/mde23/004/2011 and www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/mde23/006/2011.

Name: Sheikh Tawfiq Jaber Ibrahim al-‘Amr

Gender m/f: m

Further information on UA: 242/11 Index: MDE 23/017/2013 Issue Date: 29 April 2013