Saudi execution toll highest in two decades –Amnesty

Rights group Amnesty International sounded alarm bells Monday over a spike in executions in Saudi Arabia, where at least 151 people have been put to death this year.
The latest execution was on Monday of a Saudi convicted of killing a policeman trying to arrest him for smuggling drugs, the interior ministry said.
"So far in 2015, on average, one person has been executed every other day," said Amnesty.
It said this rate far exceeds annual execution tolls in recent years which "have rarely exceeded 90 for the entire year."
Last year, there were 90 executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom, "meaning that so far there has been a 68 percent increase in executions" over all of 2014.
This year's toll is the highest since 1995 when 192 executions were recorded, the London-based rights watchdog said.
"The use of the death penalty is abhorrent in any circumstance but it is especially alarming that the Saudi Arabian authorities continue to use it in violation of international human rights law and standards, on such a wide scale, and after trials which are grossly unfair and sometimes politically motivated," Amnesty's MENA program deputy director James Lynch said.
Saudi executions are usually carried out by beheading with a sword.
The watchdog renewed previous criticism of Riyadh for imposing the death penalty for non-lethal offences, such as those relating to drugs.
Lynch urged Saudi authorities to "halt all impending executions and urgently establish a moratorium on executions as well as overhaul the kingdom’s deeply flawed justice system".
Out of the 151 executed so far this year in Saudi, 71 are foreign nationals, said Amnesty.
It warned that "foreign nationals, mostly migrant workers from developing countries, are particularly vulnerable as they typically lack knowledge of Arabic and are denied adequate translation during their trials."
In the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said as of April this year, 28 Filipinos are facing the death sentence in Saudi Arabia, 26 of them for murder.
Amnesty also raised concerns over "the apparent use of the death penalty as a political tool to clamp down on Saudi Arabian Shiite Muslim dissidents."
Last month, the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence against Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a leader of anti-government protests.
His nephew, Ali al-Nimr, was also sentenced to death along with two other activists who were minors when they were arrested over anti-government protests that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring.
"The use of the threat of executions as a tool to punish and intimidate political dissidents by the Saudi Arabian authorities is an appalling abuse of power," Lynch said.  —Agence France-Presse

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more