After the Government of Saudi Arabia executed 47 people on 2 January 2016, it made several statements in an attempt to justify the mass execution and quell international criticism. In these statements, Saudi Arabia claimed that all executions resulted from fair judicial proceedings that strictly followed the Saudi legal process. However, the government’s claims contained[…]
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The Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council released the 13th iteration of their joint communications report on 25 February 2016, documenting allegations of human rights abuses from around the world. In the most recent edition of the report, the Special Procedures singled out Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as among the worst offenders[…]
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Qatar: Release unfairly imprisoned poet Mohammed al-‘Ajami 25 February 2016 London and Washington, DC – On the third anniversary of the unfair 15 year prison sentence handed down to the Qatari poet, Mohammed al-‘Ajami, the human rights bodies Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), Amnesty International, English PEN, Freedom Now, PEN[…]
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On 8 February 2016, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it would be forming new ministries of “happiness” and “tolerance.” While the UAE is not the first country to establish such positions—commentators note that the move is reminiscent of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index, installed in 1972, as well as other more recent trends—it remains[…]
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Saudi Arabia has some of the harshest penalties for drug use in the world, and drug trafficking is punishable by death. Last week, the authorities beheaded one Saudi and two Yemenis for allegedly smuggling hashish and amphetamines into the country. In addition to drug crime, the kingdom’s legal code warrants death sentences for murder, apostasy,[…]
