The case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr скачать в хорошем качестве

The case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr

It is a tragic irony that, at a time when Saudi Arabia is being appointed to head an influential committee of the UN Human Rights Council, at home it is sentencing teenagers to death by beheading for the so-called crime of protesting. Today’s debate focuses on the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, but only yesterday reports emerged of a second teenager, Dawood al-Marhoon, who is facing a similar fate. Al-Nimr remains in prison, a place he has been since he was arrested in 2012, aged only 17, and faces imminent execution. It seems, though, that this is not only about alleged crimes, but also about Saudi Arabia’s wider sectarian war. Al-Nimr comes from a Shiite area and his uncle is a distinguished Shiite cleric. There is little coincidence that al—Marhoon is also a Shia. These cases are particularly shocking, but they are only two cases in an extensive catalogue of human rights abuses in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The country’s criminal justice system is the perfect blueprint for any repressive authoritarian state. I called last week on the King of Saudi Arabia to pardon al-Nimr. Today I repeat these calls for both him and al—Marhoon.