Greetings all,
After reading the below, please consider writing a letter to your local
newspaper, calling your favorite talk show, writing or calling your
Congressional representatives, picketing the Saudi embassy or consulate in
your city, distributing leaflets on the street or in your school or senior
center, or expressing your protest in another way that can help.
For justice and peace,
Sylvie
Suspend Saudi Arabia from the Human Rights Council
Amnesty International USA And Human Rights Watch
June 29, 2016, updated: July 19, 2016
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/06/suspend-Saudi-Arabia-from-un-human-rights-council/
Saudi Arabia has committed "gross and systematic violations of human rights"
abroad and at home, and used its position on the UN Human Rights Council to
effectively obstruct justice for possible war crimes, Amnesty International
and Human Rights Watch said in a joint statement today, making a resounding
call for the UN General Assembly to suspend the country’s membership of the
world’s top human rights body.
The groups are calling for Saudi Arabia to be stripped of its rights of
membership in the Human Rights Council until it ends unlawful attacks by the
military coalition it leads in Yemen and these are credibly and impartially
investigated.
"The credibility of the UN Human Rights Council is at stake. Since joining
the Council, Saudi Arabia’s dire human rights record at home has continued
to deteriorate and the coalition it leads has unlawfully killed and injured
thousands of civilians in the conflict in Yemen. To allow it to remain an
active member of the Council, where it has used this position to shield
itself from accountability for possible war crimes, smacks of deep
hypocrisy. It would bring the world’s top human rights body into disrepute,"
said Richard Bennett, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office.
This is intolerable.
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.
Demand that Saudi Arabia's government respect human rights. We are
pressuring all UN member states to take action.
The list of violations is long: More than 350 people including children have
been executed In Saudi Arabia 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 sentenced hundreds of activists including Raif Badawi and
his lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair to lengthy prison terms, and even to death,
after grossly unfair trials. In May 2014, Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10
years in prison and 1,000 lashes for blogging about religious freedom.
The international community including the United States and the U.K has been
deafeningly silent. President Obama even sold Saudi Arabia a billion dollars
in additional bombs.
When it comes to Saudi Arabia, we must make sure the international community
does not put business and arms deals before human rights.
