AI Index : MDE 31/020/2005
Further Information on UA 139/04 (MDE 31/005/2004, 06 April 2004) and follow-up (MDE 31/005/2005, 07 April 2005 ; MDE31/016/2005, 13 September 2005) -
YEMEN Fuad ’Ali Mohsen al-Shahari (m), aged about 45
28 November 2005
Fuad ’Ali Mohsen al-Shahari is scheduled to be executed on 29 November, his family have been told by the General Prosecution’s Office in Taiz. The President still has the power to stop the execution.
Fuad al-Shahari was sentenced to death on 12 November 1996, after proceedings that fell short of minimum international fair trial standards. He apparently confessed to murder after he was held incommunicado for a month, and allegedly tortured. The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence in May 1999 and March 2004 respectively. In August 2004, the President is said to have ordered the Office of the Attorney General to review his case, but is reported to have ratified the death sentence on 6 September 2005.
Amnesty International has campaigned continuously on Fuad al-Shahari’s behalf : most recently this included appeals during Ramadan, in October, for the President to commute the death sentence.
RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language :
calling for the President to intervene immediately and stop the execution of Fuad al-Shahari ;
reminding the authorities that Yemen is bound by international standards for fair trial in capital cases, including the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence ;
acknowledging that the government has a right to bring to justice those responsible for criminal offences, but expressing unconditional opposition to the death penalty.
APPEALS TO :
President
His Excellency General ¥Ali ¥Abdullah Saleh
President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana’a, Republic of Yemen
Fax : + 967 127 4147
Salutation : Your Excellency
His Excellency ’Abdullah al-Ulufi
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Office
Sana’a
Republic of Yemen
Fax : + 967 137 4412
Salutation : Your Excellency
COPIES TO :
Ambassade de la République du Yemen
Ave F.D. Roosevelt 114
1050 Bruxelles
fax : 02/646 29 11
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
