Obama needs to do something about this situation like sanctions against the
Saugi government as well as providing political asylum to this young man and
his entire family.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Miriam Vieni
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 6:46 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Mother of Saudi Teen Sentenced to Crucifixion
Urges Obama: 'Rescue My Son'
Mother of Saudi Teen Sentenced to Crucifixion Urges Obama: 'Rescue My Son'
Published on
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
by
Common Dreams
Mother of Saudi Teen Sentenced to Crucifixion Urges Obama: 'Rescue My Son'
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was sentenced to death at the age of 17 after taking
part in a rally for equal Shia rights in Saudi Arabia
by
Sarah Lazare, staff writer
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was sentenced to death by crucifixion when he was just
17 years old. (Image: Reprieve)
The mother of teenage pro-democracy protester Ali Mohammed al-Nimr,
sentenced to crucifixion by Saudi Arabia, pleaded with President Barack
Obama to use his power to pressure the close U.S. ally to spare her son.
In her first interview with foreign media outlets, Nusra al-Ahmed told the
Guardian that Obama "can interfere and rescue my son."
"To rescue someone from harm, there is nothing greater than that," she
continued. "My son and I are simple people and we don't carry any
significance in this world but despite that, if he [Obama] carried out this
act, I feel it would raise his esteem in the eyes of the world. He would be
rescuing us from a great tragedy."
Al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was just 17 years old following his
attendance of a rally for Shia rights in the eastern city of Qatif,
according to his mother. After being denied access to a lawyer, al-Nimr was
sentenced to death by beheading and crucifixion in May 2014 on charges that
include taking part in demonstrations against the government and possessing
a gun-the latter of which his family strongly denies. "The court seems to
have based its decision solely on 'confessions' which Ali al-Nimr has said
were extracted under torture and other ill-treatment," noted Amnesty
International.
Al-Ahmed confirmed to the Guardian that her son had been tortured and
brutalized. "When I visited my son for the first time I didn't recognize
him," she said. "I didn't know whether this really was my son Ali or not. I
could clearly see a wound on his forehead. Another wound in his nose. They
disfigured it. Even his body, he was too thin."
Al-Nimr is not alone. Dawoud al-Marhoon was also sentenced to die at the age
of 17 under similar circumstances, and both executions are imminent. Between
August 2014 and June 2015, at least 175 people were executed by the Saudi
state after unfair trials, in a country where adultery is punishable by
death and neither children nor the mentally handicapped are spared from
execution.
Al-Nimr's case has shined a global spotlight on Saudi human rights
abuses-within its own borders and around the world, including in Yemen where
the state stands accused of numerous war crimes in its ongoing military
onslaught. The pending execution has also called attention to the complicity
of global superpowers that maintain close relations-and sell weapons to-the
Gulf state, particularly the U.S. and UK.
Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at human rights organization
Reprieve, charged Wednesday that "the response of the U.S.-the Saudis'
closest ally-to these outrages has been woefully inadequate."
"The beheading of these two boys, who were arrested and tortured for merely
attending protests, would be a grotesque miscarriage of justice," Foa
continued. "President Obama must listen to the call from Ali's desperate
family, and step in now to urge the Saudis to change course."
When questioned by a reporter last month, U.S. State Department spokesperson
Mark Toner expressed "concerns" but declined to condemn al-Nimr's sentence.
He went on to "welcome" Saudi Arabia's recent appointment to head a U.N.
Human Rights Council panel.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
Mother of Saudi Teen Sentenced to Crucifixion Urges Obama: 'Rescue My Son'
Published on
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
by
Common Dreams
Mother of Saudi Teen Sentenced to Crucifixion Urges Obama: 'Rescue My Son'
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was sentenced to death at the age of 17 after taking
part in a rally for equal Shia rights in Saudi Arabia
by
Sarah Lazare, staff writer
. 8 Comments
.
. Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was sentenced to death by crucifixion when he
was just 17 years old. (Image: Reprieve)
. The mother of teenage pro-democracy protester Ali Mohammed al-Nimr,
sentenced to crucifixion by Saudi Arabia, pleaded with President Barack
Obama to use his power to pressure the close U.S. ally to spare her son.
. In her first interview with foreign media outlets, Nusra al-Ahmed
told the Guardian that Obama "can interfere and rescue my son."
. "To rescue someone from harm, there is nothing greater than that,"
she continued. "My son and I are simple people and we don't carry any
significance in this world but despite that, if he [Obama] carried out this
act, I feel it would raise his esteem in the eyes of the world. He would be
rescuing us from a great tragedy."
. Al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was just 17 years old following
his attendance of a rally for Shia rights in the eastern city of Qatif,
according to his mother. After being denied access to a lawyer, al-Nimr was
sentenced to death by beheading and crucifixion in May 2014 on charges that
include taking part in demonstrations against the government and possessing
a gun-the latter of which his family strongly denies. "The court seems to
have based its decision solely on 'confessions' which Ali al-Nimr has said
were extracted under torture and other ill-treatment," noted Amnesty
International.
Al-Ahmed confirmed to the Guardian that her son had been tortured and
brutalized. "When I visited my son for the first time I didn't recognize
him," she said. "I didn't know whether this really was my son Ali or not. I
could clearly see a wound on his forehead. Another wound in his nose. They
disfigured it. Even his body, he was too thin."
Al-Nimr is not alone. Dawoud al-Marhoon was also sentenced to die at the age
of 17 under similar circumstances, and both executions are imminent. Between
August 2014 and June 2015, at least 175 people were executed by the Saudi
state after unfair trials, in a country where adultery is punishable by
death and neither children nor the mentally handicapped are spared from
execution.
Al-Nimr's case has shined a global spotlight on Saudi human rights
abuses-within its own borders and around the world, including in Yemen where
the state stands accused of numerous war crimes in its ongoing military
onslaught. The pending execution has also called attention to the complicity
of global superpowers that maintain close relations-and sell weapons to-the
Gulf state, particularly the U.S. and UK.
Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at human rights organization
Reprieve, charged Wednesday that "the response of the U.S.-the Saudis'
closest ally-to these outrages has been woefully inadequate."
"The beheading of these two boys, who were arrested and tortured for merely
attending protests, would be a grotesque miscarriage of justice," Foa
continued. "President Obama must listen to the call from Ali's desperate
family, and step in now to urge the Saudis to change course."
When questioned by a reporter last month, U.S. State Department spokesperson
Mark Toner expressed "concerns" but declined to condemn al-Nimr's sentence.
He went on to "welcome" Saudi Arabia's recent appointment to head a U.N.
Human Rights Council panel.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License