Hundreds of workers detained and tortured in Saudi Arabia

SANAA, Dec. 16 (YPA) – Human Rights Watch confirmed that Saudi Arabia is detaining hundreds of migrant workers, most of them Ethiopians, in “degrading” conditions.
The human rights organization said in a statement, on Tuesday, “Detainees are being held in very overcrowded rooms for extended periods, and the guards torture them and beat them with iron-coated iron sticks, which led to three allegations of death in detention between October and November.”

The organization added: “The Saudi authorities should immediately release the most vulnerable detainees, and ensure that detention is used only as an exceptional measure and as a last resort, and they must immediately end any torture and ill-treatment, and ensure that the conditions of detention comply with international standards.”

The organization published a video clip showing dozens of migrant detainees in a Saudi prison in the capital, Riyadh, showing signs of torture and malnutrition.

“Saudi Arabia, one of the richest countries in the world, has no excuse to detain migrant workers in appalling conditions amid a health epidemic for months on end,” said Nadia Hardman, a researcher in the Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.

“The video footage of people crammed together, the allegations of torture and unlawful killing are shocking, as well as the authorities’ apparent unwillingness to move a resident to investigate the circumstances of the attack and hold those responsible accountable,” Hardman said.