IHRC had campaigned for Rizana over a number of years on several grounds, not least that at the time the alleged offence was committed Rizana was 17 – a minor under Saudi law.

She came to Saudi when she was 17 years old to work for al-Otaibi household in Dawadmi as a maid. A week after she arrived she was assigned to look after the four month old baby, without any training and in addition to her daily duties.  Rizana always claimed the baby had choked while she was feeding it and that she had called for help straight away.  Her lawyers had argued that Rizana had been forced to sign a confession in Arabic by police and did not ever have access to reliable translations.

Head of campaigns, Raza Kazim said, “The execution of Rizana is unacceptable, and yet another indictment of the Saudi legal process.  The Saudi government must be held accountable for its breach of human rights.  Our thoughts are now with the family of Rizana.”
 
Notes to editors

1) For media interviews contact media@ihrc.org  or call 020 8904 4222