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Saudi blogger Raif Badawi gets a thousand lashes and 10 years
A Saudi court has jailed blogger Raif Badawi for ten years for “insulting Islam” and setting up a liberal internet forum, local media report.
He was additionally sentenced to 1,000 lashes and ordered to pay a fine of one million riyals ($266,000; £133,000).
Amnesty International called the decision “outrageous” and urged the authorities to quash the verdict.
Mr Badawi, the co-founder of an internet site known as the Liberal Saudi Network, was arrested in 2012.
A Saudi newspaper near the goverment reported thathe had lost his appeal against an earlier, more lenient sentence of seven years and three months in jail and 600 lashes.
Last year he was cleared of apostasy, that could have carried a death sentence.
Mr Badawi had previously called for 7 May to be a “day for Saudi liberals”. The website he set up has since been closed.
“Ruthless campaign”
Amnesty International describes him as a “prisoner of conscience” and has called for his release.
“Raif Badawi is the latest victim to fall prey to the ruthless campaign to silence peaceful activists in Saudi Arabia,” it said in a statement.
Last October a Saudi journalist was freed after spending a year and a half in prison for writing insulting tweets about the Prophet Muhammad.
Hamza Kashgari fled Saudi Arabia for Malaysia in 2012 but was extradited just days later. He was released last year after making a public apology.
UAE: Qatari prisoner of conscience tortured then jailed for seven years
Qatari national, Dr Mahmoud al-Jaidah, is a prisoner of conscience in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) must immediately quash the conviction of a Qatari medical doctor who has been sentenced to seven years in jail today after a grossly unfair trial, said Amnesty International.
Mahmoud Abdulrahman al-Jaidah was arrested more than a
year ago over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood and faced torture and ill-treatment in detention. He was denied access to a lawyer while held in secret detention and given limited access to one during his trial, in flagrant violation of international fair trial standards. He has no right to appeal his sentence.
“Today’s disgraceful sentencing of Mahmoud al-Jaidah is a farce and makes a mockery of the UAE’s claim to be a progressive country that respects human rights. He was arrested without a warrant, blindfolded and flung into solitary confinement before being repeatedly tortured, ill-treated and forced to sign papers he wasn’t allowed to read,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
He is one of scores of prisoners of conscience unjustly imprisoned by the UAE authorities in the past year for alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt or al-Islah (Reform and Social Guidance Association), an association legally established in 1974 in the UAE where it has been engaged in peaceful social and political debate.
“The evidence against him appears scant and his trial was marred by flaws. The charges he faced were politically motivated. He has become the latest victim of the UAE’s deeply flawed judicial system. His conviction must be quashed and he must be immediately and unconditionally released. The unrelenting unfair trials in the UAE must end,” said Said Boumedouha.
While in detention Mahmoud al-Jaidah’s interrogators threatened to peel off his nails and hang him upside down until he died. They also subjected him to brutal beatings on his face and his feet, deprived him of sleep and continually exposed him to bright lights.
“Mahmoud al-Jaidah’s treatment in detention was appalling. The authorities have failed to investigate these allegations of abuse. An independent investigation into his mistreatment must be conducted and those responsible brought to justice,” said Said Boumedouha.
Amnesty International members around the world took part in actions to pay tribute to Delara Darabi and oppose the death penalty against juveniles in Iran on Wednesday.
Delara Darabi, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who had been convicted of a crime she allegedly committed while aged 17, was executed on Friday 1 May despite a two-month stay ordered by the Head of the Judiciary in her case.
Her execution has sparked international outrage. In London, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan and scores of Amnesty International activists laid white lilies and roses at the door of the Iranian embassy. They were joined by Alistair Carmichael, Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.
The demonstrations also highlighted the scheduled execution in Iran of two people – Amir Khaleqi and Safar Angooti – who faced execution in the early hours of 6 May, despite having been convicted of offences that occurred when they were below the age of 18. Both executions were reported on Wednesday morning to have been postponed for a period of a month.
Speaking at the gathering in front of the embassy of Iran in London, Irene Khan said:
“The earth on Delara Darabi’s grave has not dried yet as the Iranian authorities prepared to execute two more people who, like her, were accused of having committed crimes when they were still under 18.
“They were granted a one-month stay of execution this morning. This might not save them from the gallows considering that Delara was executed in spite of a stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary in Iran.
“Children deserve protection and rehabilitation, not death.”
Amnesty International activists in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland and Switzerland gathered in front of the embassies of Iran in their relative countries, leaving flowers and pictures of Delara Darabi there. Some brought drawing materials in recognition of Delara Darabi’s talents as a painter.
In Burkina Faso, where Iran does not have an embassy, Amnesty International activists gathered at the organization’s offices in Ouagadougou where a tribute to Delara Darabi was laid out.
In Paris, Amnesty International activists joined with Action by Christians Against Torture at the Iranian embassy. They were unable to deliver a letter to the embassy, but left a big picture of Delara with a wreath of flowers.
In Sweden, Amnesty International activists held a protest at Sergels Torg, in the centre of the capital, Stockholm. A petition with 1,110 signatures urging the Iranian authorities to pass legislation banning the execution of all people convicted of committing crimes when they were under the age of eighteen was submitted to the Embassy of Iran on Wednesday 6 May. Similarly, activists in Finland organized a flower-laying event in a park at the center of Helsinki.
Other members from around the world have been sending messages, including “virtual flowers”, pictures of white roses, of protest to the Iranian authorities and urging them to ban, once and for all, the execution of juvenile offenders – persons convicted of crimes committed when under the age of 18. Activists from Turkey have for example been sending virtual roses by email to pay tribute to Delara and in Spain some 200,000 people have signed a petition by Amnesty International Spain calling for a total ban on executions.
Since January 2009, Iran has executed at least two people for crimes they were alleged to have committed while under the age of 18. No other country has done so since 2007. At least 135 other juveniles are known to be on death row in Iran. A group of lawyers and activists in Iran are making relentless efforts to save their lives.
These demonstrations echo the recent call by prominent members of Iranian society, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi, for a ban of all executions of juvenile offenders, including those sentenced to murder (qesas).
Amnesty International members around the world took part in actions to pay tribute to Delara Darabi and oppose the death penalty against juveniles in Iran on Wednesday.
Delara Darabi, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who had been convicted of a crime she allegedly committed while aged 17, was executed on Friday 1 May despite a two-month stay ordered by the Head of the Judiciary in her case.
Her execution has sparked international outrage. In London, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan and scores of Amnesty International activists laid white lilies and roses at the door of the Iranian embassy. They were joined by Alistair Carmichael, Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.
The demonstrations also highlighted the scheduled execution in Iran of two people – Amir Khaleqi and Safar Angooti – who faced execution in the early hours of 6 May, despite having been convicted of offences that occurred when they were below the age of 18. Both executions were reported on Wednesday morning to have been postponed for a period of a month.
Speaking at the gathering in front of the embassy of Iran in London, Irene Khan said:
“The earth on Delara Darabi’s grave has not dried yet as the Iranian authorities prepared to execute two more people who, like her, were accused of having committed crimes when they were still under 18.
“They were granted a one-month stay of execution this morning. This might not save them from the gallows considering that Delara was executed in spite of a stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary in Iran.
“Children deserve protection and rehabilitation, not death.”
Amnesty International activists in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland and Switzerland gathered in front of the embassies of Iran in their relative countries, leaving flowers and pictures of Delara Darabi there. Some brought drawing materials in recognition of Delara Darabi’s talents as a painter.
In Burkina Faso, where Iran does not have an embassy, Amnesty International activists gathered at the organization’s offices in Ouagadougou where a tribute to Delara Darabi was laid out.
In Paris, Amnesty International activists joined with Action by Christians Against Torture at the Iranian embassy. They were unable to deliver a letter to the embassy, but left a big picture of Delara with a wreath of flowers.
In Sweden, Amnesty International activists held a protest at Sergels Torg, in the centre of the capital, Stockholm. A petition with 1,110 signatures urging the Iranian authorities to pass legislation banning the execution of all people convicted of committing crimes when they were under the age of eighteen was submitted to the Embassy of Iran on Wednesday 6 May. Similarly, activists in Finland organized a flower-laying event in a park at the center of Helsinki.
Other members from around the world have been sending messages, including “virtual flowers”, pictures of white roses, of protest to the Iranian authorities and urging them to ban, once and for all, the execution of juvenile offenders – persons convicted of crimes committed when under the age of 18. Activists from Turkey have for example been sending virtual roses by email to pay tribute to Delara and in Spain some 200,000 people have signed a petition by Amnesty International Spain calling for a total ban on executions.
Since January 2009, Iran has executed at least two people for crimes they were alleged to have committed while under the age of 18. No other country has done so since 2007. At least 135 other juveniles are known to be on death row in Iran. A group of lawyers and activists in Iran are making relentless efforts to save their lives.
These demonstrations echo the recent call by prominent members of Iranian society, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi, for a ban of all executions of juvenile offenders, including those sentenced to murder (qesas).
The USA’s record under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination will come under scrutiny next week. A treaty monitoring body will examine the government’s periodic report on 21 and 22 February in Geneva.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the Committee) is scheduled to consider the USA’s combined fourth, fifth and sixth periodic reports describing how it complies with its treaty obligations to guarantee protection against discrimination on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity or nationality.
Amnesty International submitted a briefing to the Committee last November in which the organization highlighted concerns raised in the course of its work since the Committee’s consideration of the USA’s initial report in 2001.
Amnesty International’s briefing noted that, despite the US Constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the law, systemic discrimination continues to exist in many areas. Its concerns included racial profiling in law enforcement; discriminatory treatment of foreign nationals detained in the aftermath of the attacks on 11 September 2001; the disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minorities among the US prison population; and racial disparities in the juvenile justice system and in the administration of the death penalty.
The briefing also expressed concern about the discriminatory treatment of non-US nationals held by the US military in Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere in the context of the “war on terror”, an issue not touched upon in the USA’s report. It included concerns about how foreign nationals designated “unlawful enemy combatants” can be subjected to unfair military commissions, operating under a lower standard of justice than US citizens accused of similar crimes.
The briefing also expressed concern about the barriers to accessing justice faced by Native American and Alaska Native American women who suffered disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, and about the treatment of displaced African American residents of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Islamic Myths 