This implies that the Saudi authorities draw a distinction between "moral" offences to do with sex or alcohol, punished by caning, and political or religious crimes, punished by flogging with a leather strap. The decision to replace flogging as a punishment with jail time and fines was made sometime this month and announced internally by the kingdoms top court, Reuters reported. As one would expect when there are so many of them, the strokes are not particularly hard. US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2005 The men around him were wearing the usual white gowns and shouting Allahu Akbar. Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison. Middle East Eye. They, they I couldnt go on because with every word I wanted to say I immediately felt the tears welling up. The colonel and the regiments doctor stood with their arms folded. Even when a cane is used, the punishment is normally referred to as "flogging" rather than "caning"; and the lashes (rarely "strokes") are reportedly not (or anyway not usually) inflicted with the full strength of the operator, as they are required to be in countries with a British judicial caning tradition such as Singapore and Malaysia, with their maximum of 24 strokes at any one infliction; indeed, if Saudi-style sentences of hundreds of lashes were inflicted in the Singapore manner, the prisoner would surely not survive. Raifs face smiles from the banner over our sofa, while we get together to make posters for the next demonstration. Oh, great! said Dodi, who is very fond of the creatures. Defend labour rights It seems not to occur to any of the writers that, since the whole Saudi set-up, including the judicial system, is ruthlessly corrupt from top to bottom, convictions of innocent people are even more likely than in Britain. "I told our children about the news last week so that they would not find out about it from friends at school. If only I could have done something for him! I managed to keep the children away from the internet, from television and from the newspaper kiosks in Sherbrooke all weekend. While stoning as a punishment for adultery and the amputation of limbs for theft remain technically on the books, they are rarely, if ever, carried out. My children and I are grateful for every day when they dont whip Raif again. He is free," Ensaf Haidar told AFP news agency from . In 2014, a former colleague of Badawi, Su'ad al-Shammari, was charged with "insulting the messenger and the hadith" on Twitter. Your email address will not be published. HRW has sometimes been prone to exaggeration in the past, but if this is true, I should think it must make Saudi Arabia pretty well unique in the world. Death sentences are almost exclusively based on the system of judicial sentencing discretion (), following the classical principle of avoiding Sharia-prescribed penalties when possible.In recent decades, the government and the courts have increasingly issued these sentences, reacting to a rise in violent crime during the 1970s. April 2005 release from Human Rights Watch gives a bit more information about the case of 35 men sentenced to jail and lashes for "deviant sexual behaviour" at an alleged gay party. Page updated May 2021, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2000, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2001, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2003, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2004, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2005, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2006, End secrecy, end suffering - an Amnesty International briefing, case of 35 men sentenced to jail and lashes, UN Committee Against Torture, 10 May 2002, The Saudi Media Debates Flogging by the Saudi Religious Police, UN Human Rights Commission: 1997: Thematic Reports, 1994: Unwelcome "guests": The plight of Iraqi refugees, November 1997: Behind Closed Doors: Unfair Trials In Saudi Arabia. Im afraid so, Ensaf, Raif said. In the above video, IBTimes UK explains five of the most barbaric punishments you can receive in Saudi Arabia. 00:46. A post shared by News Stand (@smartandstuck) on Jul 29, 2020 at 2:53am PDT, A post shared by Ghpage TV (@ghpage_tv) on Jul 29, 2020 at 8:14am PDT, Your email address will not be published. Public beheading, crucifixion and paralysis are all part of its ruthless and medieval justice system, which has seen record numbers executed. He offered to come home with me and jump in when I couldnt cope any more. You cant stop them doing that. Its better if they find out from you, Robert, the social worker, tried to convince me. A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. The New Statesmans global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. Robert did his best to explain what had happened. I saw Raifs delicate frame from behind, in the middle of a big crowd of people. SAUDI ARABIA: Judicial CP. 3 February 2015 What actually happens when you get flogged Thanks to Saudi Arabia's brutal and inhumane treatment of blogger Raif Badawi, flogging as a punishment is back in the news. Andrew Buchan and Leila Farzad 'touchy-feely' on . I was disconcerted to see his familiar picture behind the face of a blonde newsreader. Here, in an excerpt from her new book, Raif Badawi, The Voice of Freedom: My Husband, Our Story (Other Press), she describes learning that his sentence would begin, and how she told her children of their fathers fate. While he remains in prison, he has been embraced by some in the West as symbol of the kingdoms intolerance of freedom of thought and expression. See paragraphs 24 and 29-31 for the Saudi official response to accusations that judicial flogging constitutes torture. I couldnt see his face. Its important that we think together about how to ensure that your children dont suffer any harm from this. After performing an autopsy within Hounslow Barracks, the medical army officers declared that his death was in no way connected with the flogging he had received almost a whole month earlier. (Image credit: Melissa Golden) By Michele . But Ensaf, he said soothingly. Something bad happened this weekend. Is it about Dad again? Dodi asked suspiciously. Excerpted from Raif Badawi, The Voice of Freedom: My Husband, Our Story. I need to tell you something, I said, and tried to find the right words. Raifs head was bowed. This was not because he thought that this number could be established but only to show the jury and the reporters that the number could not be quantified. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Men are buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts, with the stones used deliberately small enough to not kill the condemned in just a couple of strikes. The kingdoms most famous flogging case was that of Raif Badawi, who ran a website that published material criticizing Saudi religious figures, lauding Western legal systems and arguing that atheists should be free to state their views without being punished. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record has grown since King Salman named his son Mohammed crown prince and heir to the throne in June 2017. Saudi Arabian blogger and activist, Raif Badawi, is due to face his second round of 50 lashes on Friday (16 January) after being accused ofinsulting Islam. Ohio band member and family killed in murder-suicide, police say, Police: Mayor of College Park, Maryland, arrested for child pornography, 5 Best Destinations for a Family Safari in Africa, Trade in Your Fitbit: A Smart and Sustainable Way to Upgrade Your Tech, The Reason Why Banks and Other Businesses Require so Many Details. They stared at him. In 2003, a court sentenced Indian migrant worker Puthan Veettil 'Abd ul-Latif Noushad to be punished by having his right eye gouged out in retribution for his role in a brawl in which a Saudi citizen was injured. A photograph of a portrait by W H Egleton, after K Meadows. All Rights Reserved. The report for 2000 adds that 5 persons were sentenced to 2,600 lashes, and 4 persons to 2,400 lashes, for "deviant sexual behavior". The punishment roused outrage and condemnation from around the world, including from many of Saudi Arabia's allies. One of the prison warders told me. It took me a moment to understand what he was telling me. Rights group Prisoners of Conscience claimed the human rights activist died because his health was neglected after doctors recommended he be taken for heart surgery. It wasnt hard to find. Cites several whipping cases, with some detail of how particular floggings were carried out. His punishment began. Local courts routinely order floggings, often of hundreds of lashes -- or even thousands, inflicted in instalments. Floggings tended to be done with a wooden cane, the swift blows going up and down the backside of the sentenced person. One of the most high-profile cases internationally, it began when Badawi was arrested for. The quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. Children talk to each other. Scroll down to "Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia" for a first-person description of a Filipino woman's judicial caning. **Note: The sentence durations listed are according to the Hijri (Islamic Lunar) Calendar used by Saudi . Literal eye-for-an-eye sentences have been given in the country. HRANA News Agency - A prisoner identified as "A-B" was executed on charge of murder in public on the boulevard of Goharbaran in the Surak city, of Mazandaran Province, on 4 th January, and the following video report shows this execution.. HRANA News Agency again invites citizens to get involved in reporting and improving the human rights situation in Iran, by sending observations, photos . But now hes better again. My children reacted very strangely to this new revelation. I can take pretty much anything. At paragraph 32 we are informed that the Saudi Arabian judiciary is "completely independent", a claim not supported by various USSD and Amnesty reports. How severe were the wounds that he had suffered from this brutal abuse? Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam in May 2014. Punishment for drinking, possessing or trading alcohol is severe in the kingdom. by Human Rights Watch) claim that floggings are "often" public. There are highly selective quotes from various naive letters to British newspapers upholding tough sentences. Saudi officials hailed the flogging ban as part of these changes. Saudi Arabia abolishes flogging as punishment 'Convicts who have been sentenced to the lash will from now on receive fines or prison terms instead' April 25, 2020 10:38 pm | Updated 10:40 pm IST We will ask them not to talk to your children explicitly about the subject when they come back. It also appeared immediately on YouTube when you searched for Raif Badawi and lashes. The same information is repeated in the 2002 USSD report. According to reports, the lady who is assumed to be in her late twenties was caught seriously been chopped by a Sudanese who lives in the same house with her. She wanted me to come in. Hundreds of lashes could previously be ordered for a variety of offences, including murder, extramarital sex and breach of the peace. I simply couldnt imagine the authorities going ahead with it. But as a Victorian pamphlet recited: performers and skin materially differ, accidents sometimes happen. Travelers show off decked out RV and tours the world full time. He was due to receive the lashes over 20 weeks and was given the first set of 50 on 9 January. 02:28. Despite the change attributed to reforms under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Amnesty International reported last week that Saudi Arabia executed a record 184 people in 2019, accusing the kingdom of using the death penalty notably against ShiaMuslim dissidents. was given a punishment of 100 lashes after . Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters. Public floggings have grown rare in recent years, either because the punishment was being administered in prisons or not at all. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund says a ruling directing its chief to provide information in an antitrust fight between LIV Golf and PGA Tour Inc. is an "extraordinary infringement" on . Speaking to Amnesty International, Badawi's wife, Ensaf Haidar, who is based in Canada said she fears her husband is not physically fit to endure a second round of lashes. Raif Badawi's family have warned he could die if the 1,000 lashes are carried out. Saudi Arabia: Gang rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes, rapists get away with light punishment New Delhi: In a shocking incident, a court in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia sentenced 200 lashes and a . It was unpredictable, and depended on variables such as the type of whips, the number of knots that the whips may form and, the external temperature. Theyre your children after all.. If (as seems probable) the nurses did not actually do the crime, the question of punishment is irrelevant. 25 Feb/23. Copyright C. Farrell 2006-2021 By continuing to dole out this inhuman punishment the Saudi Arabian authorities are flagrantly flouting basic human rights principles.". Around 100 people are beheaded in Saudi Arabia every year, with the country beheading nearly twice as many people as Isis so far in 2015. Have you heard about the attack in Paris? I asked him. We see roughly 50 lashes, though nobody appears to be counting. Report of the Special Rapporteur He was wearing a white shirt and dark trousers, and his hair hung down to his shoulders. The second round has so far been postponed on health grounds. Saudi blogger receives first 50 of 1,000 lashes. On occasions they have been carried out in public, as in this 1970s photograph and also this one. Saudi blogger receives first 50 of 1,000 lashes. Bamboo is too stiff and brittle to behave like a whip.). On 23 March this year, an Islamic court there ordered two women to receive 180 lashes for alleged adultery. UN Committee Against Torture, 10 May 2002 Its indescribable, watching something like that being done to the person you love. UN Human Rights Commission: 1997: Thematic Reports 02:28 - Source: CNN. How are you and the children? he asked. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. 10 A public execution by beheading in Saudi Arabia Credit: Rex Features What was I supposed to say? But when I told them they werent to go to school that day, but spend the day with my friends Sylvie and Jane and Janes dogs, they were very excited. Dont worry. Is that why we arent allowed on the internet? How is he? Najwa already surprised that her father hadnt phoned over the weekend as he usually did asked anxiously. Convicted killer Alex Murdaughs new mugshot after double life sentence. The caning, if so it can be described, is targeted very approximately at the culprit's buttocks, but its administration is so hasty and slapdash that some of the strokes appear to fall on the small of his back. by Ensaf Haidar & Andrea C. Hoffmann, published by Other Press on 17 May 2016. On Wednesday, Prince of Saudi Arabia's ruling Al Saud family was given lashes in a prison in Jeddah as a part of court-ordered punishment, as reported by Saudi newspaper. It is a huge shock for them. Dermatologist Erasmus Wilson was called by Wakley to perform a third autopsy on the body of White. Can you talk? It was the principal of the school. Wilson, by analysing the cutaneous layer and the organs underneath, argued, in times prior to the discovery of the effects of bacteria in the bloodstream, that there was a connection between the external lacerations caused by the lashes and the internal state of the organs. All OK where you are? He couldnt tell me how things would go after that. Charges: Violating Islamic values and propagating liberal thought. Western human rights campaigners gave more muted reactions. Ms Haidar, asked a womans voice. Saudi Arabia Abolishes Flogging as a Punishment for Crime, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-abolishes-flogging.html. Men 'Behaving Like Women' Face Flogging Now, as part of his effort to reshape how the kingdom is run, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has done away with flogging as punishment, and perhaps dampened the international condemnation that came with it. These were divided into instalments: when the skin had started to heal it was time to whip again. Saudi Arabia has officially eliminated flogging as punishment as of Wednesday. This difference in approach is supposed to reflect the idea that Saudi floggings are intended primarily as symbolic humiliation rather than intensely painful retribution, and is in line with a rule in the Koran that the operator is required to keep a copy of the holy book under his arm, so that he will not swing the whip from the shoulder but only from the elbow. Or Stop this inhuman regime. Many also drew parallels with the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices: Both are acts of violence aimed at gagging journalists. And there were many other comments of that kind. The change has followed increased criticism of Saudi Arabia's treatment of prisoners, especially political opponents under bin Salman, after scholar Abdullah al-Hamiddied in prison on Friday. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. Ill get them in front of the big mosque in Jeddah.. The man himself could not be made out in the video. Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has upheld the sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years of imprisonment on blogger Raif Badawi, despite a foreign outcry. On Sunday evening, however, the subject was still in the headlines, and I wondered whether I would even be able to send the children to school the next day. For another video clip, showing a quite different kind of Saudi JCP or prison CP (falaka - whipping of the feet), see this separate page. Amnesty International Report 1999 Ensaf Haidar believes a YouTube video shows her husband receiving a public flogging for "insulting Islam." All Rights Reserved. There have been several other reported and unreported convictions of journalists and activists in Saudi Arabia who have attempted to voice their concerns on Islam or the Saudi culture. Youre not going to weep in front of the children? How are you? I sniffed. Its a scandal, they wrote. Required fields are marked *, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, VIDEO: Ghanaian lady receives 100 lashes for fornicating in Saudi Arabia, Why You Need to Read Business News Everyday, Drivers directed to reduce transport fares, The Shocking Moment Pastor Calls God During Church Service -WATCH VIDEO. A weekly round-up of some of the best articles featured in the most recent issue of the New Statesman, sent each Saturday. All Rights Reserved. Camera catches mailman stealing . Theyve beaten your father, he told the children. General of the British Empire, Sir James Charles Napier, in his Remarks of Military Law wrote that sentences of thousands lashes were common at the end of the eighteenth century.
