Saudi government: Return the body of executed Social Justice Activist Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr

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Three years ago, on the 2nd January 2016, social justice activist Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr, was executed by the Saudi Arabian government after a grossly unfair trial. Following his unlawful execution, his corpse was detained by the Saudi government and never returned to his family for burial, claiming they buried it in a secret location.



This practice denies the family the right to bury their loved one in a dignified way, to perform proper burial rites and strips them from the ability to fully mourn.



Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr was an outspoken peaceful social justice activist from the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia, who supported pro-democracy protest during the Arab Spring.



During the Saudi execution order of Sheikh Nimr, his family was not informed of the the impending execution. No time to say their goodbyes. Post execution, the corpse has been witheld by the Saudi state for the last three years. In fact, as his corpse has been hidden, it is impossible to verify whether the body was ever actually buried at all. Other questions that are raised are whether the body was hidden in a bid to conceal other acts of torture.



Shortly after his unlawful execution in 2016, Sheikh Nimr's family issued a family statement, in which they ask ‘Where is his body’… and call upon the Saudi government for the return of the corpse. But this plea was ignored.



Sheikh Nimr body was amongst the first, in what appears to have become a a purge since 2016, in which Saudi Arabia has used the practise of hiding dead corpses of activists and refusing to release their bodies to their families. Protestors such as minor Ali Al-Rebh, Mohammed Al-Shioukh and Amjad Al-Moaybid have also been subjected to the same practise. This intensifies the anguish for family members who cannot fully mourn their deaths in absence of a proper burial.



The deafening silence of the international community in condemning Sheikh Nimr's execution and demanding his body back, meant that this barbaric practice continued to be used again and again, most recently in the Jamal Khashoggi case.



In a recent tweet,Dr Madawi Al-Rasheed offers an informed perspective, indicating that the reason she believed the Saudi government hides the bodies is because: ‘This is a deliberate policy to deprive people of collective mourning’.



Under international law the family members have rights too.

Families of those executed have the right to have the body returned to them for a dignified burial and the right to know the location or whereabouts of the deceased body. Should these rights be violated, they will be classified as victims, as this is tantamount to inhumane treatment of family members.



Bearing in mind that Saudi Arabia is a state party the UN Convention against Torture and Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment, Saudi Arabia continues to violate it’s ratified conventions, both with respect to the victims and

their inhumane treatment of the victims families.



Three years on, we continue to call for the the return of Sheikh Nimr's body and an end to this barbaric practice, which if not condemned, will continue to be used to cause torment and anguish to entire communities.