Saudia Arabia Executes 7 Men By Beheading: Underage Youth Tortured, Evidence Fabricated Says UN

As Saudia Arabia executes seven men by beheading, human rights groups and families look to the world for help.

The seven men had been charged of armed robbery as youths before turning age 18, but experts from the United Nations say the evidence and charges were fabricated.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Saudia Arabia executing seven men by beheading is not a new trend. The young maid Rizana Nafeek was executed by beheading despite human rights groups and the Sri Lankan government trying to achieve leniency for her. Rizana Nafeek was convicted of strangling her employers’ young son to death, but the maid claimed the boy choked to death on his milk and that the death was a tragic accident. Rizana Nafeek was only 17 when the crime supposedly took place.

One of the seven men that Saudia Arabia just executed was only 15 years old. Nasser al-Qahtani said he was tortured to confess his alleged crimes and had no access to lawyers. He was supposedly part of a thieves rings that stole jewelry, but the Human Rights Watch called for the death sentences to be canceled because the men were juveniles at the time of their arrest.

Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, says, “It is high time for the Saudis to stop executing child offenders and start observing their obligations under international human rights law.”

When asked about the plans for Saudia Arabia to execute the seven men, experts at the United Nations said “the charges against all seven persons were allegedly fabricated and all seven were convicted following unfair trials.”

The original death sentences called for death by firing squad and crucifixion. Some reports say that Saudia Arabia executed seven men by firing squad only, but others claim that three men with swords carried out the beheading.

Saudi Arabia has executed 23 people so far this year, including the seven men on Wednesday. Last year Saudia Arabia executed 76 people and in 2011 sentenced to death 79.

As Saudia Arabia executes seven men, what do you think should be done to get the Islamic nation to follow international human rights laws?