International Investigation must be Opened into Allegations of Killing Musa Al-Qarni under Torture

Together for Justice has followed with great concern the frequent reports that the deceased detainee Musa Al-Qarni was severely beaten and tortured by the prison administration leading to his death, in addition to the deterioration of his health condition due to the deplorable conditions of detention and the deliberate medical negligence he faced in prison.
According to informed sources, Sheikh Musa Al-Qarni was beaten on the head and face by extremist prisoners, whom the prison administration placed him with, and refused to transfer him to another cell or to the hospital, which caused his death. Other sources said that the beating was by direct orders from the prison administration, in which some warders and security personnel participated, which explains why the authorities refrained from handing over the body of Sheikh Al-Qarni to his family until he reached the Noble Prophet’s Mosque before burying him without allowing his family to see him and bid him farewell, in order to hide marks of the beating which led to his death.
For our part, we call on the relevant authorities at the United Nations and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to form a high-level committee to visit Saudi Arabia to open an urgent investigation into these allegations, reveal the real causes of the death of Sheikh Musa Al-Qarni, and refer those responsible to legal accountability.
We affirm that the climate of impunity enjoyed by officials in Saudi Arabia, led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the first person responsible for the assassination of Khashoggi according to US intelligence reports – and the impunity granted to security personnel – have encouraged them to commit more crimes and violations against citizens, especially detainees.
Recently, the Saudi regime, represented by the Public Investment Fund – under the control of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – celebrated the acquisition of the English club Newcastle, despite all the criticism and human rights demands to cancel the deal as it abolishes any hope for redress for the victims of this regime and achieving justice.
Enabling the Saudi regime to control the Newcastle Club gives it a green light to continue its endless crimes, whether against citizens at home, opponents or members of tribes such as Al-Huwaitat tribe who are threatened with forced displacement to make way for the Neom city project – the largest project of the Public Investment Fund – or against other peoples like the people of Yemen, who are suffering the worst humanitarian disaster in the world following the Saudi military intervention in the war that has been going on for seven years.
We affirm our total rejection of any military, diplomatic or economic cooperation with the Saudi regime which splilled the blood of the innocents around the world, and we stress that such cooperation makes countries and regimes that agree to continue it complicit in all the crimes committed by this regime, especially against political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and we call on all different governments to set strict conditions to improving human rights conditions before cooperating with the ruling regime in Saudi Arabia.