Tag: Saudi Arabia

#RaifBadawi


UPDATE: 22 January

Raif Badawi’s scheduled public flogging on Friday 23 January is unlikely to be carried out following examinations by a medical committee, which found him unfit.  He is a prisoner of conscience who received 50 lashes earlier this month.  He continues to be at risk of receiving the remaining 950 lashes.

On Wednesday 21 January Raif Badawi was taken to the King Fahd Medical Hospital in Jeddah and was thoroughly examined by a medical committee of around eight doctors.  After hours of examinations, the committee concluded that he has high blood pressure and recommended to the authorities that he not be flogged.  However, Raif Badawi remains at risk of further flogging, as long as the sentence stands.  This risk is further enhanced because the medical committee’s recommendation is not legally binding on the authorities.

Mass protests have recently been organized by activists at Saudi Arabian embassies worldwide condemning the flogging of Raif Badawi and calling for his release.  There have also been official appeals, including the governments of the USA and Canada. Raif Badawi’s wife and children currently live in Canada.  The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called the flogging “at the very least, a form of cruel and inhuman punishment … prohibited under international human rights law, in particular the Convention against Torture, which Saudi Arabia has ratified”.

On 9 January Raif Badawi received 50 lashes in public, in front of al-Jafali Mosque in Jeddah.  The second set of 50 were expected to take place the following Friday, however a doctor examined him and concluded that his wounds had not sufficiently healed and he could not withstand another round of lashes.  Raif Badawi was sentenced by the Criminal Court in Jeddah on 7 May 2014 to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes, followed by a 10-year travel ban, a ban on using media outlets, and a fine of one million Saudi Arabian riyals (about US$266,600).  The conviction and sentence stemmed from Raif Badawi’s creation of the Saudi Arabian Liberals website (which the court ordered to be closed) and the accusation that he had “insulted Islam”.  The Court of Appeal in Jeddah upheld the sentence on 1 September.  The case is thought to have been referred to the Supreme Court in December.

See the urgent action below

We make no apology for returning #SaudiArabia, firstly to highlight a dreadful beheading described in the Daily Mail and secondly, to provide a link to an Amnesty Urgent Action concerning Raif Badawi.

Execution

‘A woman beheaded in a Saudi street for killing her husband’s six-year-old daughter screams her innocence in graphic footage of the execution uploaded to the Internet.

‘An executioner in Mecca, the holy city, took two swings to hack off Layla bint Abdul Mutaleb Bassim’s head, after she was found guilty of beating the girl and raping her with a broomstick.

‘The incident has sparked outrage in the country, but not because of the brutal punishment meted out. Rather Saudis are up in arms that the execution was filmed and posted online, where the woman’s family might see it.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2916583/Step-mother-screams-innocence-beheaded-murdering-sexually-abusing-six-year-old-daughter-leaked-footage-outraged-Saudi-Arabia.html#ixzz3POSetg55

Urgent action

This concerns Raif Badawi who was due to receive his second bout of 50 lashes but is not medically fit enough to receive them.  Altogether he is sentenced to 1 000 lashes and has received the first 50.  Full details of this are in the attached file.  Please find time to write.  Continued world wide protest at the actions of this brutal regime do seem to be having an effect.

Raif Badawi

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#SaudiArabia


UPDATE: 18 January

The second bout of 50 lashes was postponed following huge worldwide protests.  Kate Allen of Amnesty International contrasted the willingness of (UK) Ministers to condemn the Charlie Hebdo massacre but are strangely silent when it comes to the Saudi actions.

50 lashes and only 950 to go …

saudi floggingOver the last few days, the world’s attention has been focused on France and the events following the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo offices last week.  World leaders, including David Cameron, went to Paris on Sunday to join in the demonstration and to show solidarity with the French people. 

Also last week, Raif Badawi received the first of his 50 lashes in a square outside the Juffali Mosque in Jeddah to a cheering crowd.  His crime is to run a blog called Saudi Arabian Liberals which criticised the religious police.  Among the charges was ‘insulting Islam’ and the original sentence was 600 lashes.  Judges subsequently increased that to 1 000 lashes and a fine of a million Riyals equivalent to around ¼ m US dollars.  His lawyer has also been condemned to 15 years in prison.  His wife has fled the country and lives in Canada.  Bizarrely, the Saudi Government has condemned the killings in Paris whilst suppressing free speech in their own country.

Saudi Arabia ratified the UN Convention against the use of torture or other cruel and unusual punishments in 1997 but, in common with many other countries, ignores it.

This sentence and the punishment has been condemned around the world.

stop_torture

Sources: Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; The Guardian; Independent

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Death penalty report


This is the monthly #deathpenalty report with thanks to Lesley for compiling it.  One interesting fact is thatNo to the death penalty Indonesia has suspended an execution following the airline crash which has meant the eyes of the world’s media is upon them.

December Death Penalty report

We have added the Death Penalty Information site to list of links at the bottom of the home page

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Death penalty report: December


DEATH PENALTY SUMMARYNo to the death penalty

DECEMBER 2014

This is the summary for the group’s December meeting pulling together various news items about the use of the death penalty around the world.  We would like to draw your attention to a web site Penal Reform International, with useful information on the death penalty.  It is now in the list of links at the bottom of this site.

General

  • Ethiopia – Andrew Tsage, a political refugee in the UK since 1979, has been placed in solitary confinement and is under threat of execution.  He had been arrested at an Airport in Yemen, and sent on to Ethiopia.  International concern has been expressed at the deterioration of human rights and freedom of expression in Ethiopia.  David Cameron has written personally to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, but the Foreign Office say Tsage is not being held illegally.
  • USA –
  • Missouri – 19.11.14.  Leon Taylor was executed, despite disagreement over the type of sentence which should have been imposed.  This was the ninth execution in Missouri this year.
  • Texas – 4.12.14 – a US Federal Court issued a stay of execution hours before Scott Panetti was due to die, following representations from his lawyers regarding his mental health.
  • Saudi Arabia – 20.11.14 – the family of Simon Cumbera, an Irish national murdered while filming a news item, have expressed regret at the death sentence passed on Adil Sa’ad Al-Dubayti Al Mutayri.
  • Pakistan
  • Mohammad Asghar – David Cameron has commented in Parliament on the ‘appalling treatment’ received in prison by this Scottish man accused of blasphemy and shot while in prison.  Reprieve is trying to prevent his return from hospital to prison
  • 25.11.14 – Asia Bibi, the Christian woman sentenced to death following a conviction of ‘insulting the Prophet Muhammad, has filed her final appeal against execution
  • China – 25.11.14 – According to his lawyer, Nian Bin, a former death row prisoner acquitted of the charge of poisoning two children, is now being investigated again by the police.  They have refused to accept the Court’s decision and are restricting his movements.  Acquittals are rare in China, but this one prompted renewed calls for the abolition of the death penalty.
  • Thailand – 26.11.14 – Death sentences were passed by Pattani Provincial Court on five suspected militants convicted of killing four soldiers.  Human Rights Watch have accused Thailand of double standards, saying the Army was also responsible for rights violations.
  • Egypt – 2.12.14 following the dropping of murder charges against ex-President Hosni Mubarak, a Court sentenced 188 of his supporters to death in connection with the killing of 13 policemen in August 2013.
  • Cameroon – 3.12.14 – it was reported that Lawmakers are to vote on whether to implement the death penalty for people convicted of acts of terrorism.  This is in response to the activities of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, on its border.
  • Indonesia – AI have called on the Indonesian Government to halt its plans to execute 5 people by the end of the year.

Urgent Actions

  • Bangladesh – UA283/14 – Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, a leading member of an opposition party, is at imminent risk of execution before being able to lodge an appeal.  Circulated to DPLWG 17.11.14
  • Iraq – UA300/14 – Ahmed Al-Alwani, a former member of Iraq’s Parliament, has been sentenced to death for killing two soldiers, following a trial marred with irregularities.  He has only a month to appeal.  Circulated to DPLWG 28.11.14. (This month’s Group DP Urgent Action)
  • Saudi Arabia – UA 309/09 – Ali Agirdas, convicted of drug trafficking after an unfair trial, was executed on 20th November.  His family learned of this through the media, and the authorities are refusing to release his body to them.  Circulated to DPLWG 28.11.14.
  • USA – Florida – UA 162/14 – the execution of Shane Kormondy has been scheduled for 15th January.  Kormondy was found guilty of the murder of Gary McAdams in 1993.  This would be the 21st execution under the governorship of Rick Scott.

Campaigning

  • Reggie Clemons – there has been no further news.  The Justice for Reggie website has not been updated since August.
Moses Akatugba
Moses Akatugba
  • Moses Akatugba – further cards were signed for Moses at the Amnesty Film Night at the Arts Centre
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Death penalty


#stoptorture #deathpenalty.  The November report on the death penalty is attached thanks to groupNo to the death penalty member Lesley for compiling this.

Death Penalty Report

Don’t forget you can access other sites with a human rights theme from the blog roll at the bottom of this page.

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Death penalty


No to the death penaltyEach month we prepare notes on the latest situation on the #deathpenalty around the world and these are appended, thanks to Lesley.

Death penalty notes: August/September

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#Saudi executions


Over the last two weeks there has been considerable outrage over the gruesome execution of the American #JamesFoley by beheading allegedly by a jihadist from the UK, possibly London.  That someone nurtured on these shores should go to another country and commit such a crime horrifies people in this country and of course the USA.  The execution has added to the degree of urgency in the government and there are plans to bring in legislation to confiscate passports and monitor the movement back to this country of jihadists from ISIS areas of Iraq.

ISIS forces
ISIS forces

The barbaric and medieval nature of the crime has shocked many in the west.

In the last three weeks – between 4 and 22 August – 23 people in Saudi Arabia have been executed by beheadings. These executions take place in public and frequently, the bodies are left on public display as some kind of deterrent. Around 2000 have been executed in this fashion since 1985.  Around half are foreign nationals.

The executions follow trials where confessions are read out.  Many or even most of the confessions are extracted following torture.  Defendants often do not have legal representation and may not be able to follow the trials such as they are.  You will have to look long and hard to find much about these executions in western newspapers.

How are the two connected?

Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, are in receipt of considerable quantities of arms from western countries including the UK.  David Cameron visited the country to promote trade and arms sales.  The Campaign Against the Arms Trade #CATT has found out that we exported £113 million of arms to Saudi in 2013.

With American support, both countries were arming the Syrian rebels of which the Islamic State is one.  So we support and provide arms to countries which are in turn supporting the Islamic State and which carry out barbaric executions in public.  Almost nothing is said about this and it receives very little coverage.

We need to be more balanced in our policies and attitudes to some of these despotic regimes.  If we are going to say nothing about barbaric behaviour because it might upset an arms deal to Saudi or Qatar, it is then inconsistent to start making speeches when no arms deals are in the offing.

 

 

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