A/HRC/31/57/Add.1 (f) JUA 19/10/2015 Case No. SAU 8/2015 State Reply: None to date Alleged concerning the torture, use of solitary confinement and imminent execution of juvenile offender Mr. Dawood Hussain Al-Marhoon. 480. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Saudi Arabia has not replied to the present communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. In particular the letter expressed grave concerns regarding the use of solitary confinement and the imminent execution against Mr. Dawood Hussain Al-Marhoon, a juvenile offender. 481. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2012-report to the General Assembly (A/67/279), there is evidence of an evolving standard within international bodies and a robust State practice to frame the debate about the legality of the death penalty within the context of the fundamental concepts of human dignity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This evolving standard, along with the resulting illegality of the death penalty under such prohibition, is developing into a norm of customary law, if it has not already done so (para. 74). Even if this customary norm is still under way, the Special Rapporteur considers that most conditions under which capital punishment is actually applied renders the punishment tantamount to torture and that under many other, less severe conditions, it still amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (para. 75). The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the execution of persons who committed their crimes while they were under 18 years of age is per se a violation of an existing norm of customary international law (para. 64). 482. Regarding the application of solitary confinement, in the Rapporteur’s interim report to the General Assembly of 5 August 2011 (A/66/268), the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment defined solitary confinement, in accordance with the Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement, as the physical and social isolation of individuals who are confined in their cells for 22 to 24 hours a day. He observed that while solitary confinement for short periods of time may be justified under certain circumstances, with adequate and effective safeguards in place, the use of prolonged (in excess of 15 days under conditions of total isolation) or indefinite solitary confinement may never constitute a legitimate instrument of the State, as it causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering, a point which has been reiterated in paragraph 28 of the General Assembly resolution 68/156 – Prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement runs afoul of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Also, the Special Rapporteur recalls that when used on juveniles (A/66/268), solitary confinement amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or even torture, even if not used indefinitely or for a prolonged period of time. 483. In the absence of information to the contrary, the Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication, available via the link above, and thus that the Government of Saudi Arabia, by seeking to execute the death penalty for offenses that do not reach the threshold of “the most serious crimes”, and applying prolonged solitary confinement to a juvenile offender, has violated Mr. Dawood Hussain Al-Marhoon right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 484. The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to reconsider whether the use of the death penalty per se respects the inherent dignity of the human person, causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering and constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; (para. 79 A/67/279). He reminds the government of Saudi Arabia that international law establishes the absolute and non-derogable prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment as codified in articles 2 and 16 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 82