Our interview with the brother of Muhammad al Shakhouri, sentenced to death for taking part in protests against the Saudi Arabian government.
There were 143 death sentences carried out in Saudi Arabia in 2022. Capital punishment applied also to minors and to people found guilty of having taken part in any form of protest against the government, even on Twitter alone. 2022 was also the year in which several Western leaders, including US president Joe Biden, German chancellor Olaf Scholz, British prime ministers Boris Johnson and then Rishi Sunak, sought — at times insistently — a diplomatic handshake with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in order to sign agreements on oil exports and reduce dependence on Russia.
That same year, the prince, in chronological order, ordered the mass execution of 81 people in a single day, obtained immunity through his role as prime minister in the case of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and gifted a $500,000 Rolls Royce to every player in the Saudi national team after the victory against Argentina at the Qatar World Cup.
At present, according to sources from the human rights defence organisation European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (Esohr), there are at least 61 people at risk of a death sentence, including nine minors.
On 12 March 2022, among those who lost their lives in the mass execution was Muhammad al Shakhouri, 34 years old. It is not known whether death came by hanging or beheading; none of his family members had been informed, and his body was never returned.
For Esohr activists, this precise treatment has by now become standard practice.
Muhammad al Shakhouri was arrested in February 2017 after taking part in anti-government demonstrations in the Qatif province, in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. Freedom and rights were the reasons behind the protests, carried out predominantly by the Shia minority, which is discriminated against by the Sunni regime. During the years of his detention, Muhammad al Shakhouri was repeatedly tortured with various instruments, including electric shocks, and was savagely beaten to the point of losing almost all of his teeth. For over twelve months he was denied medical care, and when he was eventually seen by a doctor, he was not given the prescribed treatment. Before the judge, al Shakhouri stated that his confession of guilt had been extracted under torture. The signs were more than evident, yet the sentence was nonetheless one of death.
The story of Muhammad al Shakhouri is just one among the many stories of victims of the Saudi regime. Stories of invisible people, of deaths in the dark, while the world is blinded by the glittering splendour of Riyadh. To tell it, we interviewed his brother, Hamza al Shakhouri, a human rights activist who has been in exile in New Zealand since 2012 after being threatened with arrest in his homeland. His is a clear, unsparing voice.
What kind of person was your brother, what were his passions?
Muhammad was a cheerful and humble person, loved by his family and by those who knew him. He always made it his concern to help others without expecting anything in return. He was driven by a deep respect for rights and for private life. He was an idealist who could not tolerate violations or transgressions. He never gave up his rights, nor compromised his dignity.
Although he was self-assured and firm in his position, he showed himself to be open and willing to exchange opinions. He was an attentive interlocutor and welcomed debate. He loved life and nature, was drawn to adventurous travel and the sea, so much so that he had obtained his diving certificate in order to dedicate himself to scuba diving.
He knew he was risking his life by taking part in the uprisings. Did your family agree?
I do not often speak about my family, because I regard myself as a representative of my community, the people of Qatif and Al-Aqsa.
We support a just cause, we put forward legitimate demands and we have a humanitarian duty. My family is just one example among hundreds, or thousands, of other families who have faced Saudi oppression and injustice over the last 100 years, those who have paid heavy prices and made heavy sacrifices. We believe in our demands and we ask that our stolen rights be returned to us — freedom and wealth that the Saudi king and the princes have extorted from us.
Dozens of members of my family have taken part in demonstrations; some have been arrested. Saudi soldiers even shot and killed my cousin, Akbar Al-Shakhouri, simply for taking part in the mass protest that followed the arrest of the great Shia martyr Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr. Among my family members, some have been suffering in the cells of the Saudi regime for over a decade, and some risk being executed. Among them are my cousin Muhammad Kadhem Al-Shakhouri, the sons of my uncle Adnan and Mahdi Al-Shakhouri, and others. This is why I say that my family, like other families, has endured Saudi oppression and injustice, and is fighting for freedom against this dictatorship regime, fully aware of the risks and the consequences.
How many times were you allowed to see or speak with your brother after his arrest?
My brother was taken off the street without any warrant. Despite our numerous requests, the authorities initially refused to tell us anything. Three days later, Muhammad was escorted in handcuffs to his home for a search; that was how we learned he had been arrested by the intelligence services. Shortly afterwards he was taken to an unknown location, and for six months we received no news, until the day when, for the first time, he was permitted to telephone our mother.
The prison authorities then allowed a two-minute phone call every week and a 30-minute visit per month, for his parents and siblings only. As for me, since August 2012 — that is, since I was forced to flee my country to escape the authorities' attempts to arrest me — I have never been able to communicate with or meet any of my family members, not even Muhammad.
It must be stated clearly that the families of dissidents live in an open-air prison and are afraid to communicate with one another for fear of punitive measures from the Saudi regime.
What memories of Muhammad come to mind most often?
The memories and photographs I have of him date back at least ten years. He was the youngest of my six brothers and was therefore able to receive a special kind of affection. I did not live with him during his early childhood. From 1984 I was active abroad against the policies of the Saudi regime until my return in 1993, following an agreement between the Shia opposition during the reign of King Fahd.
Back in Qatif, I met my brother Muhammad again — the energetic young man who loved going out and playing football with his friends, taking walks through the neighbouring districts and talking with people. He enjoyed playing with his nephews and nieces. I have before me the image of my son, happy, as his uncle carried him on his shoulders. I remember the willpower and determination he put into realising his aspirations. He never gave in to hardship, because he believed in the impossible.
Were you notified of the execution?
No, never. The Saudi authorities deliberately carry out death sentences without any prior notice, in order to intentionally shock and traumatise the families. To increase the suffering and heighten the anguish, they deprive them of the moment of farewell and of the possibility of knowing at least the last wishes of their loved ones.
How did you find out?
From the official media and from social media. This has been happening for about ten years now. The authorities in Riyadh choose to deliberately inflict agony on families by broadcasting news of an execution on television after it has already taken place, with no consideration whatsoever: the fragility and health conditions of the parents, the brother far away in exile, the emotional state of the wife. Nothing. On the same day, alongside my brother, my cousin As'ad Makki Shubbar Ali was also executed. His wife was pregnant with their second child. The moment she heard the news on television, she fell ill and was rushed to hospital.
Why has the Saudi regime not returned the bodies?
This question should be directed at the criminal authorities in Riyadh, who violate fundamental norms and values and humiliate the dignity of human beings, both living and dead. No authority on earth has the right to withhold the bodies of the executed — not even those of criminals. Here, moreover, we are talking about innocent people, who were accused of invented "crimes" and whose only "fault" was to claim fundamental rights in their own country and to oppose or criticise the policies of the regime in power. The Saudi authority can afford to commit all these atrocities because it has the power, the money and the oil to buy the silence and complicity of the world.
Are you in contact with the families of other martyrs?
To protect these families from the brutality and violations of the regime, I cannot provide any details, but in general, yes, I am in contact with the broader members of my community, not only the families of the executed martyrs and detainees. The families of the victims are eagerly awaiting the day when they will be able to bring legal proceedings against the tyrannical authorities, recover the bodies of their loved ones and bring those responsible before independent courts of justice.
What is your life in exile like?
Wherever I am, I carry the cause and the message of my people. This is my moral obligation. Whether I am in New Zealand or anywhere else in the world, as long as I am alive, I will continue my activism in the struggle against the dictatorial regime of Saudi oppression in Riyadh by every means at my disposal: voice, pen, free speech. The only thing that hampers our opposition activity in exile is the complicity of certain Western governments with the Saudi regime — countries that cover up its crimes in the name of interests deemed superior to human lives: arms, investments and government bonds, as well as the desire to guarantee the flow of oil supplies. Our oil, which has been turned into a curse against us.
Do you believe that the war in Ukraine and the West's need for oil have made bin Salman's regime even more untouchable?
Certainly. With his visit to Jeddah, United States President Joe Biden betrayed all the promises he had made before the world during his 2020 electoral campaign, in which he had declared his intention to punish and boycott bin Salman's regime. More broadly, since 2015, in exchange for an increase in the level of Saudi oil production, we have seen bin Salman travelling to the major capitals of the world, which welcome him while forgetting all the crimes he has committed against our innocent people.
What should European citizens do to support the Saudi people?
First of all, allow me to reject the term "Saudi" as a way of identifying the people who live on the Arabian Peninsula. This spurious term was invented by the tribal mindset of the Al Saud family to claim ownership over them.
To answer the question, I say that it is
