LAHORE: The Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) denounced the beheading of yet another Pakistani citizen, Mohammad Imran, in Shumaisi prison of Jeddah on Thursday.

A labourer from Chichawatni, Imran, travelled to Saudi Arabia in August 2011 for employment and was detained upon his arrival at the airport in Jeddah. He was implicated in drug-related charges and was sentenced to death without access to meaningful legal representation. The entire trial was conducted in Arabic, a language he did not understand, with no translator.

According to the JPP, there are close to 11,000 Pakistanis languishing in foreign jails, with over 7,000 of them in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia alone has 3,400 Pakistani prisoners and has executed at least 26 of them this year, including a woman.

Families of prisoners on death row are often not notified prior to their execution, depriving family members and loved ones of the chance of a final goodbye. The bodies of those executed are also not returned — which is a gross violation of all legal and moral protocols, and Islamic injunctions.

Imran’s family has reques­ted the Saudi government to change this inhumane precedent and return his body so that they could perform his last rites, the JPP said.

The JPP highlighted that a prisoner transfer agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had failed to materialise despite Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman promising the release of 2,107 Pakistani prisoners during his visit to Islamabad in February this year.

On Aug 6 this year, the minister for overseas Pakistanis announced at a press conference that 1,350 Pakistani prisoners had been repatriated from the kingdom. However, neither details of these prisoners have been shared nor has a timeline been released for the return of the rest of the Pakistani prisoners.

JPP executive director Sarah Belal said: “The Kingdom is committing a grave human rights violation by continuing to sentence and behead Pakistani citizens with blatant disregard for due process. Despite being a close ally, KSA executes more Pakistanis than any other nationality. Not only has it not returned the promised 2,107 prisoners to Pakistan but it has also started to execute them. The Pakistani government must pursue and expedite the release of these people and ensure their safe return.”

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019