Families of the men had pleaded to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah for clemency but the executions were carried out as planned
A human rights group has revealed the haunting final words of a man begging for justice nine hours before he was executed by firing squad in Saudi Arabia.
Seven men convicted of being part of a criminal gang which committed armed robbery were shot by firing squad in the southern city of Abha today after the king rejected their families' appeals for clemency.
Amnesty International has released a harrowing final phone interview with one of the men who claimed they had all been tortured into confessions.
'I'm one of the seven prisoners to be executed. I have nine hours left until I die,' said the man, who has not been named.
'We found this out through friends and relatives who saw the market square being prepared for the execution.
'There are now seven spots in the square for seven people to be shot. It's going to be in public, in the market, in the city of Abha.
'We don't know what we are supposed to have done wrong.
'We were forced to make confessions. We were mistreated by the investigators - they took our clothes and it was winter. They tortured us by suspending us from chains on the wall.
'They also used psychological torture such as threatening they would bring in our mothers and torture them in front of us.
'I didn't kill anyone - we were tried for robbery and we were forced to confess. I hope the execution will be stopped.
'I wish for it to be stopped and for a fair trial and for a reinvestigation. The trial was totally unjust.'
Human rights campaigners had called for the sentences to be quashed because the men were juveniles when they were arrested.
One of the men told The Associated Press last month he was only 15 when he was arrested as part of a ring that stole jewelry in 2004 and 2005. Nasser al-Qahtani said he was tortured to confess and had no access to lawyers.
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Al-Qahtani said that during the trial, which lasted for years, he only faced the judge three times and when the men tried to complain about the torture or show torture marks on their bodies, they were ignored. He also said the judge never assigned him a lawyer. They were convicted in 2009.
The executions took place in Abha, a city in the southern region of Asir.
The south has been marginalized and suffered discrimination by the powerful central Saudi region where the capital, Riyadh, and holy shrines of Mecca and Medina are located.
The original sentences called for death by firing squad and crucifixion.related]
The oil-rich kingdom follows a strict implementation of Islamic law, or Shariah, under which people convicted of murder, rape or armed robbery can be executed, usually by sword.
Saudi Arabia has executed 23 people so far this year, including the seven men today. Last year it executed 76 and in 2011, 79 people.
Also, several people were reported crucified in Saudi Arabia last year. Human rights groups have condemned crucifixions, including cases in which people were beheaded and then crucified. In 2009, Amnesty International condemned such executions as 'the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.'
On March 4, Human Rights Watch appealed to King Abdullah to halt the executions and said there was 'strong evidence' that the trials of all seven men violated basic principles of rights to a fair trial.
'It will be outrageous if the Saudi authorities go ahead with these executions,' Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director, had said. 'It is high time for the Saudis to stop executing child offenders and start observing their obligations under international human rights law.'
The following day, the king ordered a one-week suspension for the case to be reviewed.
But it has been reported today that the execution went ahead.
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