A/HRC/28/68/Add.1 free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided by articles 1 and 16 of the CAT. (e) JAL 04/09/2014 Case No. SAU 10/2014 State Reply: None to date Allegations concerning several cases of death sentences by beheading for nonviolent offenses in Saudi Arabia. 469. 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, and to comply with its obligation, under international customary law, to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as codified, inter alia, in the Convention against Torture (CAT). 470. 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). In particular, certain methods of execution, like beheading, constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. 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). In addition, he calls upon retentionist States to end the practice of executions with little or no prior warning given to condemned prisoners and their families (para. 80 (c)). 471. It has come to the attention of the Special Rapporteur, that 22 persons have been executed since August 2014 for the commission of nonviolent crimes including drug smuggling and alleged sorcery. The Rapporteur also expresses grave concern that confessions from detainees were obtained under torture and concern regarding the use of beheading as a form of execution, which is in violation of international law. The Rapporteur strongly condemns the executions and concludes that the Government of Saudi Arabia has acted in violation of article 15 of the CAT, and violated their right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as provided by articles 1 and 16 or the CAT. The Rapporteur calls on the Government of Saudi Arabia to take appropriate measures in order to ascertain that the practice of executions be abolished in the future, including by undertaking a prompt, impartial, and effective investigation of the alleged acts of torture, prosecuting and punishing the responsible for those acts, and providing redress to families of the victims. (f) JUA 03/10/2014 Case No. SAU 11/2014 State Reply: None to date Allegations concerning the arrest, the detention and the severe sentences, including corporal punishment, of members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), as well as allegations of prolonged solitary confinement and incommunicado detention. 472. 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, and to comply with its obligation, under international customary law, to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as codified, inter alia, in the Convention against Torture (CAT). 473. In his 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 80