Guess Which Middle-East 'State' Just Beheaded Its 100th Person This Year?
Nope, not ISIS... US ally Saudi Arabia just beheaded its 100th person of the year, as AFP reports, topping 2014's entire year's total of 97 already...
As AFP reports,
Saudi Arabia on Monday beheaded a Syrian drug trafficker and a national convicted of murder, taking to 100 the number of executions in the kingdom this year.The number of executions has surged in 2015 compared with the 87 recorded by AFP for all of last year. But it is still far below the record 192 which rights group Amnesty International said took place in 1995.Syrian Ismael al-Tawm smuggled "a large amount of banned amphetamine pills into the kingdom", said an interior ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.He was beheaded in the northern region of Jawf.A separate statement said that Rami al-Khaldi was convicted of stabbing another Saudi to death and was executed in the western province of Taef.Drug and murder convictions account for the bulk of executions in Saudi Arabia.
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The government severely restricted freedoms of expression, association and assembly, and cracked down on dissent, arresting and imprisoning critics, including human rights defenders. Many received unfair trials before courts that failed to respect due process, including a special anti-terrorism court that handed down death sentences. New legislation effectively equated criticism of the government and other peaceful activities with terrorism. The authorities clamped down on online activism and intimidated activists and family members who reported human rights violations. Discrimination against the Shi’a minority remained entrenched; some Shi’a activists were sentenced to death and scores received lengthy prison terms. Torture of detainees was reportedly common; courts convicted defendants on the basis of torture-tainted “confessions” and sentenced others to flogging. Women faced discrimination in law and practice, and were inadequately protected against sexual and other violence despite a new law criminalizing domestic violence. The authorities detained and summarily expelled thousands of foreign migrants, returning some to countries where they were at risk of serious human rights abuses. The authorities made extensive use of the death penalty and carried out dozens of public executions.
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With 'friends' like that, who needs enemies?
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