According to rights groups and a source close to his family calling for a halt to his execution, a young man facing beheading and crucifixion in Saudi Arabia was tortured and sentenced for political reasons. Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old for participating in a protest. He was later sentenced to death for joining a criminal group and attacking police forces in proceedings which a United Nations body said "fell short of international standards." The conviction was upheld this week by Saudi Arabia's highest court, and the execution could take place at any time.
This is Fucked up..!!!!!ROYALLY!!!
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What is even more fucked up is that Saudi Arabia is chosen to head key UN human rights panel. Ridiculous... the UN are a bunch of clowns.
The United Nations is coming under fire for handing Saudi Arabia a key human rights role even though the Kingdom has Critics, including the wife of imprisoned pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to 1000 lashes for blogging about free speech – say that the appointment is “scandalous” and means that “oil trumps human rights”.
Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who is leading an international campaign to free her husband, said on Facebook that handing the role to Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was effectively “a green light to start flogging [him] again”.
UN Watch, an independent campaigning NGO, has discovered that Mr Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, has been elected as chair of a panel of independent experts on the UN Human Rights Council.
As head of a five-strong group of diplomats, the influential role would give Mr Trad the power to select applicants from around the world for scores of expert roles in countries where the UN has a mandate on human rights.
Such experts are often described as the ‘crown jewels’ of the HRC, according to UN Watch, which has obtained official UN documents, dated 17 September, confirming the appointment.
UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said that the appointment, made in June but unreported until now, may have been a consolation prize for the Saudis after they withdrew their bid to head the 47-nation council following international condemnation of the kingdom’s human rights record.
The Saudis’ bid emerged shortly after it posted a job advertisement for eight new executioners, to cope with what Amnesty International branded a “macabre spike” in the use of capital punishment, including beheadings, this year.
The HRC, the UN body responsible for promoting human rights around the world, has long been the subject of criticism for granting membership to countries with dubious human rights records. As well as Saudi Arabia, current members include China, Qatar, Russia and Venezuela.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-head-key-un-human-rights-panel-10509716.html
The United Nations is coming under fire for handing Saudi Arabia a key human rights role even though the Kingdom has Critics, including the wife of imprisoned pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to 1000 lashes for blogging about free speech – say that the appointment is “scandalous” and means that “oil trumps human rights”.
Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who is leading an international campaign to free her husband, said on Facebook that handing the role to Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was effectively “a green light to start flogging [him] again”.
UN Watch, an independent campaigning NGO, has discovered that Mr Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, has been elected as chair of a panel of independent experts on the UN Human Rights Council.
As head of a five-strong group of diplomats, the influential role would give Mr Trad the power to select applicants from around the world for scores of expert roles in countries where the UN has a mandate on human rights.
Such experts are often described as the ‘crown jewels’ of the HRC, according to UN Watch, which has obtained official UN documents, dated 17 September, confirming the appointment.
UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said that the appointment, made in June but unreported until now, may have been a consolation prize for the Saudis after they withdrew their bid to head the 47-nation council following international condemnation of the kingdom’s human rights record.
The Saudis’ bid emerged shortly after it posted a job advertisement for eight new executioners, to cope with what Amnesty International branded a “macabre spike” in the use of capital punishment, including beheadings, this year.
The HRC, the UN body responsible for promoting human rights around the world, has long been the subject of criticism for granting membership to countries with dubious human rights records. As well as Saudi Arabia, current members include China, Qatar, Russia and Venezuela.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-head-key-un-human-rights-panel-10509716.html
apparently two crowds were walking in opposite direction and ran into each other at an intersection
The Saudis blame the Africans... but I read somewhere that one of the princes shut down a corridor because he wanted to go through and this caused the problem.
Saudi prince blames African pilgrims for over 700 dead
Saudi Arabia's head of the central Hajj commitee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, has blamed the crush outside the holy city of Mecca that killed at least 717 people and injured 850 more on "some pilgrims with African nationalities", according to Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV.
People from several different countries are reported to have died in the stampede, which took place when two groups of pilgrims arrived at a crossroads on Street 204 at the tent city of Mina for a traditional stone-throwing ritual.
Prince Khaled's controversial remarks on undisciplined pilgrims were echoed by Saudi health minister Khaled al-Falih, who was quoted by El-Ekhbariya television as saying that "many pilgrims move without respecting the timetables [set by authorities, which was the] principal reason for this type of accident. If the pilgrims had followed instructions, this type of accident could have been avoided."
Among the casualties of the incident, which happened on first day of the Eid al-Adha festival (24 September), are at least 43 Iranian nationals. Iranian officials accused Saudi Arabia of mismanagement and lack of safety in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The head of Iran's Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, said the incident was caused by the authorities' decision to close two paths near the scene of the symbolic 'stoning of the devil' ritual. "Today's incident shows mismanagement and lack of serious attention to the safety of pilgrims. There is no other explanation. The Saudi officials should be held accountable," he said on Iranian state television according to AFP.
Iran's deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said a Saudi diplomatic envoy would be summoned over the incident. "We can in no way be indifferent to this irresponsible behaviour of Saudi Arabia. This will be dealt with through diplomatic channels. Saudi Arabian officials are responsible for this incident and they should immediately endeavour to take effective measures for managing the existing crisis and providing full security for pilgrims."
The stone-throwing ritual emulates the actions of Prophet Abraham, who is believed to have stoned the devil at three locations when he attempted to discourage Abraham from God's order to sacrifice his son Ishmael. God eventually spares the boy and sends a sheep to be sacrificed in his place.
Muslims gathered until dawn at the Muzdalifah where they picked their pebbles and put them in empty water bottles. They had spent a day of prayer on a vast Saudi plain and Mount Arafat, which sits 10km from Mina. The ritual itself takes place at a five-storey, 1km-long structure known as the Jamarat Bridge, near the scene of the crush.
The structure, which cost more than $1bn (£660m), has a capacity of 300,000 pilgrims an hour. The area and number of entry and exit points have been increased over the years in an effort to improve safety. Reuters said that an officer kept repeating through a loudspeaker at Jamarat: "Please pilgrims do not push one another. Please leave from the exit and don't come back by the same route".
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mecca-eid-...blames-african-pilgrims-over-700-dead-1521050
I heard parts of the Pope's speech to-day (yesterday). I'm pretty sure he said at one point to "not mess with alien culture, leave them as you found them, do not try to re-make them in your image". I think this means we should not criticize nor try to improve Saudi's human rights record.
I love all things Royal......butt arabs don't qualify as royal hahaha.
Just a factual opinion, mind it if you want
Just a factual opinion, mind it if you want
The need for oil imports in the U.S. is expected to evaporate in the 2030s. That would be a nice way to stick it to the Arabs.
In the same way that Hillsborough disaster or that at the Soccer stadium in Accra, Ghana occurred.
It is a matter of fluid dynamics the crowd being the fluid.
Suadi Arabia is a fucked up stone age theocracy. But what's even more fucked up is that the US is one of its biggest allies and supporters, that our beloved Canadian government just did a major arms deal with Saudi Arabia and the fossil fuel industry and all those who buy gas guzzlers for selfish egotistical reasons support Saudi Arabia and all that they stand for.
that would be fujis law of linear forward momentum
things want to stay in their state of forward momentum unless a greater, opposite force acts upon them
