A Yeas Has Passed without Redress has been made for Abdul-Rahim Al-Huwaiti
A year has passed since the killing of the Saudi citizen, Abdul-Rahim Al-Huwaiti, by the Saudi police bullets, and no redress has been made for him, nor his killers have been held accountable, or even brought to trial.
On April 13, 2020, security forces surrounded the residence of the citizen, Abdul-Rahim Al-Huwaiti, to forcibly evict him from his home as part of a series of eviction decisions issued by the government against members of the Al-Huwaitat tribe in order to establish the “city of Neom“, on the lands of these citizens.
Al-Huwaiti recorded his last moments before his murder, in which he stressed that he was in danger, and expressed his fear that the authorities might fabricate accusations of terrorism and resistance to the authorities if he continued to refuse to leave the house, for which he was not granted adequate compensation.
His expectations came true, as he got killed and the government claimed that he resisted the authorities and injured two security personnel, whose identities were not disclosed, although the video footage of the scene confirms that the forces do not adhere to the principle of proportionality in the use of force and weapons.
If the claim was true, it would not be logical to shower one man with this amount of bullets, fired by dozens of security men.
Accordingly, Together for Justice affirms that the killing of Al-Huwaiti was not a legitimate self defense of security personnel. Rather, it was a deliberate murder whose perpetrators must be held accountable to ensure redress for all victims and to achieve justice in society.
The organisation points out that the international humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, and requires the principle of proportionality that the so-called “incidental loss” of civilian life and / or civilian property should not be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct anticipated military advantage. All parties to the armed conflict must take specific precautions.
The organisation stresses that the failure to hold Al-Huwaiti’s killers accountable until now comes within a large chain of impunity that the authorities provide to senior officials and security personnel.
There has been no redress for Khashoggi, who was severed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and no redress has been made for Abdullah Al-Hamid, who was killed by deliberate medical negligence in prison in Saudi Arabia, as well as Al-Huwaiti, who was killed in cold blood in defense of his land, yet all the perpetrators of these and other crimes are still free without control or accountability.
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