HRW: KSA must Stop Prosecuting Protesters

Local Editor

Human Rights Watch urged Saudi Arabia on Sunday to stop prosecuting and punishing people for peaceful protests, after the kingdom charged 19 men for staging a sit-down demonstration outside a prison last month.

Security forces arrested dozens of men after the September 23 protest near Tarfiya prison in central Saudi Arabia to press for the release of detained relatives.
Demonstrators and a rights activist said police had kept the protesters, including women and children, without food or water for nearly a day, Reuters reported.
In a separate demonstration on the same day, dozens of protesters gathered in front of the government-linked Saudi Human Rights Commission also calling for the release of jailed relatives.
Meanwhile, HRW stated that the Saudi Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution charged the 19 men on October 17 with "instigating chaos and sedition" as well as "gathering illegally".
The following day, 15 of them were sentenced to between three and 15 days in jail. The court also handed the men suspended sentences of between 50 and 90 lashes and suspended jail terms of between two and five months.
The rest are scheduled to be tried on November 4.

"Instead of addressing the protesters' concerns, the Saudi government has used the judicial system to punish them," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
"The sentences handed to these men are part of a wider effort to target and harass activists across the country."
Saudi Arabia, a key Gulf ally of the United States and the world's top oil exporter, banned protests in March 2011.

Activists say there are over 30,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. Most of them are held without charge. Human rights groups have accused the House of Saud of imprisoning political dissidents.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime "routinely represses expression critical of the government."


Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org