Don't look for 'Human Rights Watch' to protest
Don't look for 'Human Rights Watch' to protest against it, but Saudi Arabia has proposed a law that would mandate jail time for criticizing the King, essentially squelching all dissent in the Islamic kingdom. The law would allow prisoners to be held without trial, and trials and appeals to be held secretly, Saudi and international rights advocates said. It would also grant the Interior Ministry broad powers including the ability to tap telephones or search houses without permission from the judiciary.And the Obama administration's response?
Saudi activists have long accused the judicial system and the Interior Ministry of a lack of respect for human rights, even when such rights exist legally. The new law, the activists said, would legalize those practices, removing all restraints.
“Every single thing we criticized them about in the past is going to be legitimate,” Bassem Alim, the defense lawyer for a group of men imprisoned in 2007 on terrorism charges, said by telephone. The men were formally charged only last August, and their real crime, Mr. Alim said, was taking rudimentary steps toward forming a political party.
“Ninety-nine percent of the law has nothing to do with terrorism, it has to do with political dissent,” he said.
...
Critics said the law’s definitions of terrorist crimes are vague enough to encompass all manner of activity. It uses broad terms like “harming the reputation of the state,” for example, according to a translation provided by Amnesty International.
It also mandates a 10-year jail sentence for anyone who declares the king or the crown prince an infidel, a favorite tactic extremist Muslim organizations use to undermine the monarchy. The law would apply the same punishment to anyone who questioned the integrity or honesty of the two men.
But hey - all those Jews will vote to re-elect him anyway. Who cares about human rights?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Human Rights Watch, infidels, insulting the Crown Prince, insulting the King, Sarah Leah Whitson, Saudi Arabia
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:28 PM
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