Morocco and Western Sahara: Man At Risk Of Forcible Return And Torture

Hassan Al Rabea, 26, who left Saudi Arabia in 2021 and had settled in Morocco for about six months, was arrested based on a warrant issued by Saudi Arabia to the Arab Interior Ministers Council, a cooperative body related to the internal security and criminal matters of many Arab states. He is currently being detained in Rabat’s Tiflet 2 prison pending an advisory opinion from Rabat’s Court of Cassation about Saudi Arabia’s extradition request, after which a final decision is made by the Prime Minister.

If deported, he would likely be tried before the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Saudi Arabia. Amnesty research shows that every stage of the judicial process before the SCC is tainted with gross human rights abuses such as the denial of access to a lawyer, incommunicado detention, and convictions based solely on so-called ‘confessions’ extracted under torture. The SCC appeal process is also opaque and shrouded in secrecy.

Since 2016, Amnesty has documented the execution of 31 men from Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a Muslim minority, to which Hassan Al Rabea belongs, following grossly unfair trials before the SCC under vague counter-terror and anti-cybercrime laws. Saudi Arabian authorities have historically discriminated against the Shi’a Muslim minority and subjected them to persecution.

More than 100 Saudi Arabian Shi’a activists have been tried before the SCC on vague and wide-ranging charges arising from their opposition to the government, including peaceful criticism in speeches or on social media, participation in anti-government protests and alleged involvement in violent attacks or espionage.