National Post (National Edition)
LIBERALS REBUKE SAUDI ARABIA OVER ACTIVIST
Shi’ite woman, 28, is facing the death penalty
The Trudeau government, already embroiled in a diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia over its human rights record, is again speaking out against the kingdom’s treatment of an activist.
This time, it’s the case of a 28-year-old woman who is facing the death penalty for her “peaceful activism,” according to the nonprofit organization Human Rights Watch.
If found guilty, Israa al-ghomgham, a Shi’ite Muslim activist who has documented and participated in protests about the systemic discrimination her people face from the dominant Sunni Muslims, would become the first female activist to be executed.
She and four other activists are on trial in Saudi Arabia’s terrorism tribunal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office rebuked Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, saying “Canada is extremely concerned by the arrests of women’s right’s activists.”
“These concerns have been raised with the Saudi government,” spokesman Adam Austen said. “Canada will always stand up for the protection of human rights, including women’s rights and freedom of expression around the world.”
Freeland stopped short of calling for alGhomgham’s release, an impulse in early August that resulted in Saudi Arabia expelling Canada’s ambassador, ordering the return of its 16,000 students studying abroad and halting trade between the two countries.
The minister and her Department of Global Affairs on Aug. 6 called in a tweet for the “immediate release” of Samar Badawi, a human-rights activist and sister of imprisoned writer and activist Raif Badawi.
The tweets set off Riyadh, leading the Saudi government to accuse Canada of lying about Badawi and interfering in its internal affairs. Soon after, Saudi Arabia began taking retaliatory measures against the Canadian government.
Al-ghomgham has been in custody since Dec. 6, 2015 when police arrested her and her husband, Moussa al-hashem, at their home in the middle of the night. She’s been detained without access to a lawyer in the Dammam Mabahith prison, where prisoners are “tortured and ill-treated,” according to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights.
The activists face a handful of charges, including “incitement to protest,” “chanting slogans hostile to the regime,” and “filming protests and publishing them on social media.”
In a system that operates under Islamic law, sentences to crimes in Saudi Arabia are usually determined with guidance from the Qu’ran. However, in cases such as this one where the Qur’an does not outline potential punishments, the Saudi courts turn to the principle of ta’zir, which allows a judge to select the punishment based on his own discretion. In most cases, sentences involve corporal punishment or execution. In 2017, 146 people were executed — usually by beheading — in Saudi Arabia.
“Any execution is appalling, but seeking the death penalty for activists like Israa alGhomgham, who are not even accused of violent behaviour, is monstrous,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
The Saudi government did not immediately reply to requests for comment on al-ghomgham’s case.
Al-ghomgham and the other activists are expected back in court on Oct. 28.