July 20, 2016
Raif Badawi, a blogger in Saudi Arabia, withstood 50 excruciating lashes. His full sentence requires a total of 1,000 lashes and 10 years of confinement - all because he published a blog that promoted religious freedom.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabia government sits on the world's top human rights body - the UN Human Rights Council.
Saudi Arabia has used its position on the UN Human Rights Council to shield itself from human rights investigations.
Since joining the Council in 2013, Saudi Arabia's dire human rights record at home has plummeted, and the government has also led a devastating campaign of unlawful airstrikes against civilians in the next-door country of Yemen.
The list of violations is long:
- More than 350 people - including children - have been executed in Saudi Araia since it was elected to the Council.
- Saudi Arabia used its membership on the council to derail a resolution that would have investigated war crimes by the Saudi-led military coalition that bombed Yemen.
- Human rights activists in Saudi Arabia have been harshly sentenced for peacefully expressing their opinions. Since 2014, Saudi's Specialized Criminal Court has sentence activists - including Raif Badaw and his lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair - to lengthy p rison terms - in some cases even to death - after grossly unfair trials.
Saudi Arabia Must Free Imprisoned Human Rights Lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair, Amnesty International USA, ONLINE PETITION
Saudi Arabia: A year of bloody repression since flogging of Raif Badawi, Amnesty International, Jan 8, 2016
Suspend Saudi Arabia from UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, June 29, 2016
