SAUDI ARABIA: Human rights group urges authorities to flog crime suspect instead of imposing spinal cord punishment

You know a country's human rights situation is bad when even Amnesty International is urging that a guy be methodically whipped or caned on his back as a compromise to avoid an even harsher sentence.

Human rights monitors have grown alarmed over the case of a Saudi man who might have his spinal cord severed as punishment for badly injuring another guy during a fight a few years ago.

Amnesty International has urged Saudi Arabian authorities not to deliberately paralyze the man as a form of retribution for injuries he allegedly caused with a cleaver during a fight.

"We urge the Saudi Arabian authorities not to carry out such a punishment, which amounts to nothing less than torture," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, acting director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Program, said in a statement. "While those guilty of a crime should be held accountable, intentionally paralyzing a man in this way would constitute torture, and be a breach of its international human rights obligations."

According to Amnesty International, a court in the northwestern Saudi Arabian town of Tabuk had asked hospitals whether they could mutilate the man's spinal cord as requested by his alleged victim. One hospital apparently said it could create the injury.

Amnesty said the court could decide not to impose the punishment and instead sentence the suspect to jail, hand him a stiff a fine or at the very worst, systematically whip or cane him on the back.

Basically, Amnesty, among the world's leading human rights groups, is advocating one form of torture in place of an even more horrific punishment.

The man's name has not been publicized. He was originally sentenced to seven months in prison. Amnesty says he was tried without a lawyer.

-- Los Angeles Times

 

Comments

[Michael]

I am neither Saudi, nor Muslim, and this form of judicial punishment is really barbaric. Besides the stiff fine, how about a re-trial, this time with a lawyer, and forcing the man, if he's still found guilty, to pay for all the paralyzed man's medical care for life? Monetary punitive and compensatory payments sound just to me.

[John Arthur]

What a mad, foolish and insane country!!

[crppplll]

Don't forget Osama is from Saudi Arabia . This is another example of why we have no business interfering in the Middle Eastern Affairs. We need to get the H out of there and let them do their own thing , it is none of our business .

[sam]

an eye for an eye.
during biblical times this would and may have been the case, but men were given the job of judges,it was also in their interest to impose the correct punishment, if it was found later to be too harsh or wrong they could then be made to suffer the same punishment as they had handed down,a chicken or goat may be the fine,or the cane and such like for more serious crimes or be banished,yes people were stoned,but judges took extra care if this was to be the case for obvious reasons , people did not get 40 lashes(people could not count well and so 40 rearly means a lot)
i have no idea how muslims dealt with crime at the time but it looks as if things have not changed a lot,the article does not mention how badly the other man was hurt,but these days to hand down such a barbaric punishment, tells not just the world but our muslim cousins that things have gone way to far and they have to stop.
this has to be done from the inside,as outside help would be viewed as interference. thank you.

[Clare]

What a psychotic punishment.

[stevejohnson]

this is one of the reasons that I, as a Muslim, will not do Hajj. I do not support anything about the Saudi Arabian government. Imagine, in the modern era, a government that would even consider such a heinous punishment. I hope Allah condemns all of the Saudi leaders to a life in the hellfire at judgement day.

[Khalid Z.]

I'm not sure where in their article does Amnesty advocate flogging in this case? They only mention some of the alternatives the court has:

"The court may decide not to impose the paralysis punishment and could instead sentence the man to imprisonment, financial compensation, or flogging."

That doesn't mean they're condoning such actions.

[gregdn]

Gee, maybe we just need to bring these guys Democracy since it seems to be working so well for the Iraqis and Afghanis.