AMNESTY Saudi Arabia: Further information: Human rights defender sentenced again: Mikhlif bin Daham al-Shammari Further information on UA: 169/13 Index: MDE 23/031/2014 Saudi Arabia Date: 17 November 2014 Outspoken human rights defender Mikhlif al-Shammari has been sentenced to two years in prison and 200 lashes in the second case brought against him in two years. Earlier this year, an appeal court upheld a five-year prison sentence against him in the other case. If imprisoned, Amnesty International will consider him a prisoner of conscience. On 6 November the Criminal Court in al-Khobar, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, sentenced Mikhlif bin Daham al-Shammari to two years in prison and 200 lashes after he was found guilty on two key charges: “stirring public opinion by sitting with the Shi’a” and “violating instructions by the rulers by holding a private gathering and tweeting”. More … AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Date Published: 11 November 2014 Index Number: MDE 23/030/2014 Saudi Arabia: Lawyers sentenced over ‘offensive’ tweets A special court sentenced three Saudi Arabian lawyers to between five and eight years in prison over tweets deemed offensive to the Ministry of Justice. If imprisoned Amnesty International will consider them prisoners of conscience. On 27 October the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh, the capital, sentenced Dr. Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, 39, to eight years in prison to be followed by a 10-year travel ban, Bander al-Nogaithan, 36, and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih, 32, each to five years in prison to be followed by a seven-year travel ban on chargesrelated to the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression. The court also banned all three for anunspecified period of time from talking to or giving interviews to media outlets, and from posting on social media. … More in Arabic …More in English 17 October 2014 FIDH BAHRAIN: New trial against Nabeel Rajab to start on October 19 On October 19, 2014, the Third Lower Criminal Court will open the trial against Mr. Nabeel Rajab on charge of “insulting a public institution” via Twitter. The alleged offence concern tweets he published on Twitter, which the CID deemed insulting to the Ministry of Interior, pursuant to Article 216 of the Bahraini Penal Code, punishable by up to three years of imprisonment. Mr. Rajab has been detained since the date of his summons for interrogation on October 1. More… AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 15 October 2014 Saudi Arabia: Appalling death sentence against Shi’a cleric must be quashed A death sentence passed today against a dissident Shi’a Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia for “disobeying the ruler”, “inciting sectarian strife” and “encouraging, leading and participating in demonstrations” after a deeply flawed trial is appalling and must be immediately quashed, said Amnesty International. “The death sentence against Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr is part of a campaign by the authorities in Saudi Arabia to crush all dissent, including those defending the rights of the Kingdom’s Shi’a Muslim community,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. More… Arabic English 5 Sep, 2014 How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maryam? Bahrain Center for Human Rights The Bahraini government faces a tricky choice in the coming days as it weighs the political price of jailing leading human rights defender Maryam Al Khawaja. Based abroad for the last few years, Maryam has been a leading advocate against the regime’s human rights abuses. In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 30, she was arrested on a trip back to Bahrain, where authorities must now decide if it’s best to face the condemnation of locking her up for a long time or better to have her return to the international political circuit where she so brilliantly exposes their false claims of reform. More… HRW Bahrain: Rehabilitate Torture Victims August 27, 2014 HRW: Bahrain should provide victims of torture with physical and psychological rehabilitation, Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups said today, based on a letter they sent to King Hamad. In particular, authorities should address the health needs of 13-high profile detainees, some of whom are suffering from the effects of torture by Bahraini interrogators in 2011. More… EXECUTION OF SAUDI ARABIAN MAN POSTPONED AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Hajras al-Qurey was not executed on 25 August, as had been expected, but is still at imminent risk of execution. Hajras bin Saleh bin Muhammad al-Qurey was transferred from his prison cell to a secure location in the Najran General Prison on 22 August. He was scheduled to be executed on 25 August but, without any explanation, his execution was not carried out. He could be executed at any time. Hajras al-Qurey was sentenced to death on 16 January 2013 by the General URGENT ACTION Document – Saudi Arabia: Death penalty for juvenile activist: Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr UA: 143/14 Index: MDE 23/014/2004 Saudi Arabia Date: 4 June 2014 AMNESTY: A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a Shi’a activist to death for crimes it judged he committed when he was 17 years old. He claims he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated to make him “confess”, but his allegation has not been investigated. He has had no access to his lawyer. Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was sentenced to death on 27 May by the Specialized Criminal Court in Jeddah, for offences that included participating in demonstrations against the government, attacking the security forces, possessing a machine-gun and armed robbery. The court seems to have based its decision on signed “confessions” which Ali al-Nimr claims were extracted under torture and other ill-treatment, and has refused to look into this allegation. More… AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 7 May 2014 A thousand lashes and 10 years in prison for online Saudi Arabian activist Amnesty International is calling on Saudi Arabia’s authorities to quash the outrageous sentencing today of Raif Badawi in connection with an online forum for public debate he set up and accusations that he insulted Islam. Raif Badawi, co-founder of the “Saudi Arabian Liberals” website, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals (about US$266,631) by Jeddah’s Criminal Court. “The decision to sentence Raif Badawi to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes is outrageous. He is a prisoner of conscience who is guilty of nothing more than daring to create a public forum for discussion and peacefully exercising the right to freedom of expression. The authorities must overturn his conviction and release him immediately and unconditionally,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International. More… AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL April 29, 2014 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST DETAINED INCOMMUNICADO Saudi Arabian human rights activist Abdulrahman al-Hamid has been detained incommunicado since his arrest on 17 April. He may be a prisoner of conscience. Dr Abdulrahman al-Hamid received a phone call from the Criminal Investigation Department in Burayda in thecentral province of al-Qassim, on 17 April, asking him to report to them. He went there, together with his son, after‘Asr Prayer (around 4pm) and was immediately arrested. Apparently he was told that a warrant for his arrest hadbeen issued by the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP), and that he was to be kept in detention.His family have not heard from him since, and the authorities have refused their requests to allow him visits by hisfamily and legal representative. More… AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UA: 98/14 Index: MDE 23/009/2014 Saudi Arabia Date: 25 April 2014 URGENT ACTION HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER ARRESTED DURING TRIAL Saudi Arabian human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair was detained on 15 April following a court hearing of his ongoing trial. He is a prisoner of conscience, at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair was arrested on 15 April after appearing at the fifth court hearing of histrial before the Specialized Criminal Court in the capital, Riyadh. His defence team went to the court on 22 April tomake enquiries as to why he had been detained, and found him there, attending a sixth hearing. The judgeapparently refused to provide an explanation for Waleed Abu al-Khair’s arrest. The next session of his trial hasbeen schedule for 28 May.After his arrest, Waleed Abu al-Khair was taken to al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh, where he is understood to have been placed in solitary confinement and deprived of sleep due to constant exposure to bright lights. He is at risk of further torture and other ill-treatment. On 17 April he was allowed one brief phone call to his wife, who has not, however, been allowed to visit him, although she is expecting their first child in June. More… AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION: 24 April 2014 PROTESTING HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST IMPRISONED Saudi Arabian human rights activist Fadhel al-Manasif has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by a 15-year travel ban. He is a prisoner of conscience. Fadhel Maki al-Manasif was sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh on 17 April to 15 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by a travel ban of 15 years, and a fine of 100,000 Saudi riyals (about US$26,600). The court convicted him of charges including “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, “stirring sedition and sectarian division between citizens by inciting protests and marches”, “communicating with foreign media to harm the Kingdom’s government, its people and national unity” and “founding a banned association”. He is appealing the decision. The charges are related to his participation in peaceful protests in the country’s Eastern Province which called for political reform and an end to discrimination against Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a Muslim community, his reporting and documentation of such discrimination and him being a founding member of a banned human rights association. Fadhel al-Manasif has been detained since 2 October 2011 and was brought to trial before the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh on 28 February 2012. He remains at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. More… AMNESTY 16 April 2014 Saudi Arabia jails lawyer and human rights activist in ongoing crackdown on dissent Saudi Arabia must immediately release prominent human rights activist and lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair, who was arrested following his fifth hearing at the Specialized Criminal Court on Tuesday and taken to al-Ha’ir prison without an explanation, said Amnesty International. “Authorities in Saudi Arabia are clearly punishing Waleed Abu al-Khair for his work protecting and defending human rights. He is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Said Boumedouha Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International. “Waleed Abu al-Khair’s detention is a worrying example of how Saudi Arabian authorities are abusing the justice system to silence peaceful dissent. Nobody should be jailed for peacefully exercising the right to freedom of expression.” More… FIRSTPOST – WORLD Apr 16, 2014 Concerned for stability, Saudi Arabia tightens curbs on dissent DUBAI/RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia, rattled by regional turmoil that has destabilised the Middle East, is intensifying a crackdown on domestic dissent, raising fears that a more open space for public debate that emerged in recent years is under threat. Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, head of the local Human Rights First Society, said security steps were not the answer to dissidents. “We need more than harshness and roughness as we have noticed recently in the sentencing,” he told Reuters. Instead, he said, the government should regard criticism as constructive and that he hoped the authorities would push reforms at a faster pace. “We need more understanding for where people are coming from,” Mugaiteeb said. More… (Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Angus McDowall and Mark Heinrich) Amnesty March 26, 2014 DOMESTIC WORKER FACING EXECUTION An Indonesian domestic worker is at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia. Shecould be executed as early as 3 April if the victim’s family does not receive the requested diya (“blood money”) compensation by this date. More… Amnesty 7 March 2014 SENTENCE OVERTURNED, BUT STILL IN PRISON Saudi Arabian human rights defender Dr Abdulkareem Yousef al-Khoder, jailed for eight years in June 2013, has had his conviction and prison sentence overturned by the Court of Appeal, but is still behind bars. More … AMNESTY 6 March 2014 Free Saudi Arabian human rights activists on hunger strike Saudi Arabia must immediately and unconditionally release two founders of a local human rights organization who have spent nearly a year behind bars, after being convicted on the basis of their peaceful activism and criticism of the authorities, said Amnesty International. Mohammad al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamid were sentenced to 10 and 11 years in jail respectively on 9 March 2013. Both are co-founders of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), one of the few organizations in the country recording human rights violations and assisting families of detainees held without charge. More… URGENT ACTION HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST REMAINS IN JAIL AMNESTY: UA: 15/14 Index: MDE 23/002/2014 Saudi Arabia Date: 23 January 2014 A prominent Saudi Arabian human rights activist, Fowzan al-Harbi, who is on trial for his human rights activism has been arbitrarily detained since 26 December 2013. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience. Fowzan al-Harbi a 36-year-old father of two, was arrested on 26 December 2013 at the end of his second hearing before the Criminal Court in the capital, Riyadh. The judge ordered his arrest without providing any reason, despite repeated requests from al-Harbi’s lawyer. Fowzan al-Harbi is a founding member of the human rights NGO Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), most of whose founders were imprisoned in 2013 on similar charges. More AMNESTY 20 January 2014 UA: 3/13 Index: MDE 23/001/2014 Saudi Arabia NEW TRIAL, THOUGH SENTENCE OVERTURNED Website founder Raif Badawi, jailed in 2013, has had his conviction and sentence overturned on appeal, but could now be tried again. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience. LINKS AT FOLLOWING LOCATION! hrfssaudiarabia.org/
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 04:29:06 +0000
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