U.N. Rights Experts Urge Stay of Execution for Saudis

Three U.N. human rights experts Tuesday urged Saudi Arabia to halt the imminent execution of seven men sentenced to death for armed robbery, saying their case had breached international standards of justice.

In a joint statement, the United Nations monitors said the men, due to face the death penalty Wednesday, allegedly had been convicted on the basis of trumped-up charges and flawed trails.

"In countries that have not abolished the death penalty, capital punishment may be imposed only following a trial that complied with fair trial and due process safeguards," said Christof Heyns, the U.N.'s expert on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions.

"Any death sentence undertaken in contravention of a government's international obligations is tantamount to an arbitrary execution. Only full respect for stringent due process guarantees distinguishes capital punishment as possibly permitted under international law from a summary execution, which by definition violates human rights standards," he added.

The seven men -- Sarhan Al Mashaikh, Saeed Al Zahrani, Ali Al Shahri, Nasser Al Qahtani, Saeed Al Shahrani, Abdulaziz Al Amri and Ali Al Qahtani -- were charged with organizing a criminal group, armed robbery and raiding and breaking into jewelry stores in 2005, and sentenced to death in 2009.

International human rights groups have protested that the men were condemned for crimes committed when they were juveniles.

They had been scheduled to die on March 5, but their executions were postponed for a week.

Juan Mendez, the U.N.'s torture monitor, said he was gravely concerned that the men were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention and were forced to sign confessions.

U.N. arbitrary detention expert El Hadji Malick Sow also faulted the men's treatment, saying it could amount to a "total or partial non-observance of the international norms" on the right to a fair trial.

Executions in Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law, are generally carried out by beheading.

In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an Agence France Presse tally based on official figures. The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.