Rights group investigating case of missing prisoners Mazin Masawi's body is being carried to Jannatul Mualla graveyard in Makkah for burial after funeral prayers at the Grand Mosque after Fajr prayers, Sunday. — SG photoMuhammad Talib Al-Ahmadi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Human Rights Watch (HRW) is following up the case of a Saudi prisoner who was given an acid injection, four Saudi prisoners who disappeared mysteriously from three prisons, seven prisoners who went on a hunger strike and the case of hiding a Saudi citizen's body after executing him five years ago. Sources within the Iraqi Ministry of Justice, said a Saudi prisoner named Ali Al-Oufi was executed in Baghdad and Iraqi authorities concealed his dead body and considered him a person with unknown identity. The sources also said that Al-Oufi was identified by several Saudi prisoners. The HRW received information that the director of investigations department inside the maximum security prison, Ali Hassan Shafat, was the one responsible for Al-Oufi's death. He was the one who used various torture methods against Al-Oufi 11 months ago. He was also the one who injected acid into Al-Oufi's body and then threw him off from the second floor in front of other prisoners. Al-Oufi died on the spot. Seven prisoners at Al-Hoot Prisons, Dhi Qar Al-Nasiriyah Governorate, have gone on a hunger strike in protest at the torture and humiliating methods used against them. They demanded that they get transferred to Sousa Prison in Kurdistan province or die of hunger. One of the prison officers roughed up Muhammad Al-Qahtani and kicked him hard causing fractures to the neck. Iraqi prison authorities concealed the presence of four Saudi prisoners in unknown place. They are: Fahd Mufdhi Khalaf Al-Haizan Al-Eneizi, Majid Saad Al-Ni'aimi, Muhammad Al-Jawhari and Jarallah Saleem Muhammad Abdul Mohsin (whose family in the Kingdom has not heard anything from him for three months.) The HRW is also following up the case of Mazin Al-Farsi Al-Harbi who was executed in May 2007 and his dead body concealed. Five other Saudi prisoners are facing death by hanging. They are: Abdullah Azam Al-Qahtani, Shadi Musalam Al-Mala Al-Saadi, Badar Oufan Rahaq Al-Shammary, Ali Hassan Fadhil Al-Shehri and Faisal Abdullah Ahmad Al-Faraj. Death sentences against three other Saudi prisoners were reduced to 15 years in prison. The three prisoners are: Nasser Mubarak Mojib Al-Dawsari, Ali Salim Al-Marri and Abdul Rahman Al-Shammary. Al-Shammary was sentenced to death when he was 17 years old. Meanwhile, Mazin Al-Masawi's body was buried Sunday in Makkah after Fajr prayers. Mazin's corpse arrived to Jeddah on Friday. Mazin's father said his son sent his will with the International Red Crescent Society's representative. In his will, Mazin asked his parents to stay strong and fear Allah, accept Allah's fate, the father said. He also asked them to pass his greetings to all Muslims and to pay his debts. Mazin's mother demanded that Iraqi officials who executed her son be sued because Mazin was executed despite the fact the court was still considering an appeal against the death sentence. She also demanded that her Iraqi grand children be sent to her. Mazin married an Iraqi woman six years ago and she died when delivering her third child. The couple left behind a four-year-old daughter and two-and-half-year-old son. In another development, Sami Hassan Al-Shehri, the elder brother of Ali Al-Shehri the Saudi prisoner in Iraq, said he contacted the Saudi Embassy in Jordan and obtained information about the judge and the court which rendered death sentence against his brother Ali. Sami wants to appoint a lawyer to defend his brother before he is executed. Sami's brother, Ali, has been in Iraqi prisons since 2005. He was sentenced to death a week ago and the sentence is to be carried out in 20 days under the Iraqi law. Sami told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that he had sent several letters and telegrams to human rights groups and asked the Saudi Embassy to help transfer his brother to Al-Resaifat prison. He also said that his mother does not believe her son Ali has been sentenced to death. He pleaded with the authorities to intervene and save his brother from execution. Ali has a bachelor's degree in English language and is single.
