human rights

Anger from the Saudi Embassy

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia just now (noon EST, just an hour ago) gave an official response to international criticism of its sentence of death by beheading followed by crucifixion for a young protester, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a response for Amnesty International, Reprieve, Jeremy Corbyn, David Cameron, Margaret Ferrier. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia delivered a response to the millions of petition creators and signers around the world, the tens of thousands who have marched against beheading a child for being at a protest. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has something it wants the activists working within Anonymous to know. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gave a reply to the cries of anguish from a father and mother.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wants us to know that it is angry about the criticism, does not like it even one bit, and would like us all to mind our own business. In more diplomatic language, it released an anonymous but official statement on Twitter that said in part: “#SaudiArabia rejects any form of interference in its internal affairs. #AliAlNimr” That closing hashtag is sickening. That closing hashtag says more than the preceding sentence does. Below the fold is the full Tweet:
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More Saudi Youths Sentenced to Die

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

What is known is that as of today, October 19, ‪Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, a 20-year-old Saudi sentenced to death by beheading, has not been beheaded. His body has not been crucified and then displayed, which is also a horrifying part of his sentence. Because corporal and capital sentences are usually carried out on Fridays—after public prayers—dread accompanies the approach of each Friday for friends and family of those sentenced, and then with the absence of any word from Ali’s family, a tense non-relief follows. But he is not the only under-age prisoner in Saudi Arabia who has been sentenced to death by beheading.

The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) has been publicizing three stories: Ali al-Nimr’s and those of Dawood Hussain Almarhoon and Abedallah al-Zaher. All three were arrested before they were 18 years of age, all three have been held in prison since the arrests (each young man was arrested in 2012), and all three have been almost certainly tortured.
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Thoughts on Raif Badawi & the Nobel Peace Prize

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The name of the winner of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 9. That is 11:00 a.m. in Oslo, Norway, which is … well, really very early in the morning in Goshen, New York, time. (5:00 a.m. EST, in case you want to know.) I hope to be tuning in at that time, and I hope to hear one name in particular: Raif Badawi, a 31-year-old writer and activist from Saudi Arabia who sits in a Saudi prison as a result of his writing. He was convicted of “insulting” his nation’s religion in his writings.

If his name is spoken on Friday morning in Oslo, that does not mean the fight has been won for Raif Badawi, his wife and family, or his many supporters around the world, as he still is in prison and most likely will not be allowed to leave his prison cell or his country to collect the medallion. He also faces 19 more sessions with a whip, as his prison sentence of 10 years includes 1000 lashes with a cane.
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