Saudi Arabia's supreme court has confirmed the death sentence on Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid who was convicted of murdering a four-month-old child, Arab News reports.

Ms Nafeek was 17 at the time of the child's death and, as Amnesty International points out, Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which expressly prohibits the execution of offenders for crimes committed when they were under 18 years old.

Although she was accused of strangling the baby, there are suggestions that he may have choked while she was feeding him – a task for which she had received no training.

Ms Nafeek also says the confession that was used to convict her had been made under duress and that she was not provided with a competent translator during the early stages of the trial.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 25 October 2010.