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Two men who were juveniles
at the time of their alleged crimes were beheaded by Saudi Arabian authorities
yesterday (Sunday), Amnesty International revealed today. The death sentences
against Sultan Bin Sulayman Bin Muslim al-Muwallad, a Saudi Arabian, and
'Issa bin Muhammad 'Umar Muhammad, a Chadian, were imposed after grossly
unfair trial proceedings.
The two men were beheaded, along with three
other men, after being convicted of a number of offenses committed when
they were 17 years old, including the abduction and rape of children, theft
and consumption of alcohol and drugs. These offenses had, according to
the judgment, amounted to "corruption on earth," a charge that
can carry the death penalty even when the offenses do not result in lethal
consequences.
"Yesterday's beheadings are a deplorable
addition to Saudi Arabia's grim tally of executions," said Philip Luther,
deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa program. "It is cruel
and inhumane to put anyone to death, but it is particularly outrageous
to do so when the executions take place after grossly unfair procedures
and when they take the lives of individuals accused of committing crimes
when they were still minors."
The men were among seven arrested in 2004
and held incommunicado at police stations in Madina, where they were allegedly
beaten in an attempt to make them confess. Four years later, in February
2008, the Madina General Court sentenced five of them to death after a
trial that was held in secret. Their sentences were upheld by the Court
of Cassation in Makkah in July 2008.
Two other men in the same case--Bilal Bin
Muslih Bin Jabir al-Muwallad, a Saudi Arabian, and Ahmad Hamid Muhammad
Sabir, a Chadian, who were just 15 and 13 respectively at the time of their
alleged offenses--were sentenced to "severe flogging" on the same charges,
in addition to terms of imprisonment. Specifically, they will receive 1,500
and 1,250 severe lashes respectively, administered in installments at 10-day
intervals in public at the scene of the offences. Saudi Arabia is a state
party to the U.N.
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment, which expressly prohibits the use of punishments such as
flogging.
Due to the strict secrecy of the criminal
justice system, it is not possible to know how many of those convicted
of crimes committed when they were under 18 have been put to death in Saudi
Arabia, but Amnesty International is aware of at least eight other juveniles
who are feared to be on death row. They include Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan
national who was 17 at the time of the alleged murder for which she was
sentenced to death following her arrest in 2005. They may also include
Sultan Kohail, a 16-year-old Canadian national who is facing trial in an
adult court on murder charges, along with his brother Mohamed Kohail, aged
22, who has been sentenced to death.
Saudi Arabia is also a state party to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which expressly prohibits the execution
of juveniles. Saudi Arabian officials have maintained that they comply
with this obligation because they do not execute children. In fact, the
Convention prohibits executions for crimes committed while a person is
under 18, regardless of when the sentence is carried out.
Amnesty International has repeatedly raised
the cases of these seven men with the Saudi Arabian authorities in the
past year.
Background
These executions increase to 36 the number
of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year. In 2008, a total of 102 people
were killed by Saudi authorities.
Trial proceedings usually take place behind
closed doors without adequate legal representation, and invariably fall
short of international fair trial standards. Both children and adults are
often convicted on the basis of "confessions" obtained under
duress, including torture or other ill-treatment during incommunicado detention.
In a recent report on the use of the death
penalty in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International highlighted the extensive
use of the death penalty as well as the disproportionately high number
of executions of foreign nationals from developing countries.
For further information please see Saudi
Arabia: Affront to Justice: Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia: https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/saudi-arabia-executions-target-foreign-nationals-20081014
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
(212) 807-8400"These are some of the best protections of any city out there," said one trans rights advocate.
In a near-unanimous vote on Thursday, local Missouri officials approved a resolution declaring Kansas City a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ people after Republican state lawmakers passed legislation that would ban gender-affirming care for minors and some adults—part of a nationwide GOP assault on trans rights.
The resolution, approved in an 11-1 vote, states that "city personnel shall not criminally prosecute or impose administrative penalties on an individual or organization for providing, seeking, receiving, or assisting another individual who is seeking or receiving gender-affirming healthcare."
"In the event any law or regulation is passed in the state of Missouri which imposes criminal punishment, civil liability, administrative penalties, or professional sanctions on an individual or organization for providing, seeking, receiving, or assisting another individual who is seeking or receiving gender-affirming healthcare," the resolution continues, "city personnel shall make enforcement of said law or regulation their lowest priority."
Kansas City Councilmember Heather Hall cast the only no vote against the measure, the passage of which local trans rights advocates celebrated as "an important first step."
"I look forward to trans leaders and Kansas City working together to address the health disparities in our communities and ways we can have sustainable funding and programming reaching all trans people," Merrique Jenson, the founder of Transformations KC, said following Thursday's vote.
\u201cIncredible!\n\nKansas city, Missouri votes 11-1 to make the city a sanctuary city for gender affirming care.\n\nIt has looked at the anti-trans laws passed in the legislature, and said, "enforce it yourself."\n\nThese are some of the best protections of any city out there.\u201d— Erin Reed (@Erin Reed) 1683857819
As The Kansas City Beaconreported Thursday, trans Missourians and their families "have been shuttling back and forth to the capitol in Jefferson City to testify against legislation aimed at banning gender-affirming healthcare."
"But for the first time on Wednesday, trans Kansas Citians flocked to City Hall to support a measure that could protect these treatments from statewide bans," the outlet added. "The LGBTQ Commission brought the resolution to the City Council in April as a way to formally preserve access to gender-affirming care before the state passes restrictions on healthcare, instead of reacting afterward."
In the coming days, Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign into law the newly passed legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors, making the state one of more than a dozen that have approved laws or policies prohibiting the lifesaving healthcare.
The Associated Pressnoted Thursday that the Kansas City sanctuary resolution passed as a judge is considering "a proposed emergency rule from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy—and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment."
After state Republicans passed a pair of anti-trans bills earlier this week, the ACLU of Missouri pledged to "explore all options to fight these bans and to expand the rights of trans Missourians."
"Both bans attempt to erase transness from Missouri," the group warned, referring to the state GOP's attempt to ban gender-affirming care and prevent trans girls and women from playing on female sports teams.
"Every person in the state should be alarmed by this weaponization of the government to intimidate people through the denial of basic healthcare and exclusion from extracurricular activities," the group said.
President Joe Biden "should not give in to hostage-taking," said one economist.
After meeting with congressional leaders earlier this week as the U.S. barrels toward a catastrophic debt default, President Joe Biden said that "we should be cutting spending," a remark that fueled concerns among progressives that the White House is preparing to cede to at least some Republican demands in exchange for a deal to lift the debt ceiling.
President Joe Biden has said repeatedly that he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling, and that the arguably unconstitutional limit must be raised without any preconditions.
But the president has also expressed openness to budget negotiations with House Republicans, who are using the threat of default as leverage to push for steep cuts to federal nutrition assistance, Medicaid, and other key government programs.
Biden insists the debt limit and budget talks are separate, but as Vox's Andrew Prokop noted Wednesday, the president is "negotiating before the GOP has released" the debt ceiling hostage.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday after meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Biden said that "he made clear... that default is not an option."
But the president added that he also "made it clear that we can cut spending and cut the deficit."
Biden offered several examples of what he would prefer to cut, such as "tax subsidies for Big Oil companies" and prescription drug costs in Medicare—budget reforms that progressives support.
House Republicans, though, are pushing for far steeper and broader cuts to government spending, specifically demanding a cap on federal spending at fiscal year 2022 levels. Such a cap would entail steep cuts to critical government agencies and programs, particularly if the Pentagon budget is shielded.
While Biden has publicly rejected that GOP demand, Reutersreported Thursday that "White House officials acknowledge that they must accept some spending cuts or strict caps on future spending if they are to strike a deal."
Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, wrote Thursday that Biden's remarks this week and growing talk of a deal on spending caps are "pretty troubling."
Owens suggested the current negotiations are beginning to look like "2011-light," a reference to the last time the GOP used the debt ceiling as leverage to enact painful spending cuts. Biden, who was then serving as vice president, was the White House's chief negotiator during that standoff, which culminated in austerity legislation that badly hampered the U.S. recovery from the Great Recession.
In a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday, Owens said that Biden "should not give in to hostage-taking."
Instead, Owens added, he should "follow the lead of the majority of Americans who vastly prefer bringing in revenue through tax increases on the rich rather than making harmful spending cuts."
\u201cHere\u2019s the full quote\n\nPossible it\u2019s a purely rhetorical shift and signals no change in policy, but as the WH pushes for a spending deal with Republicans demanding budget cuts it\u2019s worth keeping a close eye on\u201d— Jeff Stein (@Jeff Stein) 1683834247
The president was previously scheduled to sit down with congressional leaders again on Friday, but the meeting was postponed until early next week as staffers for the White House and lawmakers continue to exchange proposals to avoid a default, which would wipe out millions of jobs and potentially spark a global economic crisis.
The Treasury Department recently warned that the debt ceiling could be breached as soon as June 1.
It's far from clear whether Biden's recent comments and signals emerging from the White House indicate a substantive concession to the House GOP's crusade for spending cuts.
But as talks continue with little public evidence of progress, observers are increasingly voicing alarm over the possibility of a deal that includes victories for House Republicans who are eager to boot millions of people off of safety net programs.
"It increasingly seems like the White House has decided to cave and is trying to slowly acclimate people to it, so there's no abrupt blink followed by shock and outrage," Brian Beutler, editor-in-chief of Crooked Media, warned Thursday, pointing to the Reuters reporting. "Just slowly increasing resignation. Pretty pathetic."
Slate's Alex Sammon similarly called the White House's seeming hints at spending concessions to Republicans "a horrific development," particularly "after Republicans routinely raised the debt ceiling under Trump" and "after Democrats had a trifecta for two years and could've raised it any time."
"It's time to finally hold Norfolk Southern and the big rail companies accountable for the harm they have caused in East Palestine and Darlington Township, and the harm they continue to cause with this dangerous, reckless, and selfish behavior."
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman on Thursday demanded accountability for Norfolk Southern and other railroad companies following Wednesday night's freight train derailment in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.
Local media report nine out of more than 200 cars on a Norfolk Southern train went off the track just before midnight in the town of New Castle, 50 miles north of Pittsburgh and about 10 miles east of the Ohio border.
"This has got to end."
Fire officials said that salt, soybeans, and paraffin wax—used to make candles—spilled from the derailed cars, none of which were carrying hazardous materials. A statement from Norfolk Southern said no one was injured in the accident.
New Castle is also located about 20 miles from East Palestine, Ohio, the site of the fiery Norfolk Southern derailment and chemical burn disaster that spilled cancer-causing dioxin and vinyl chloride into the air, soil, and waterways in the vicinity of the accident.
"It's the same shit, different day from Norfolk Southern," Fetterman (D-Pa.) said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
\u201chttps://t.co/lliFDm9xzI\nAnother Norfolk Southern train has derailed, this one in New Castle Pennsylvania. This derailment is 30 minutes away from East Palestine. When is Norfolk Southern going to be held accountable for endangering public safety? #publicownership #norfolksouthern\u201d— Northeast PA DSA (@Northeast PA DSA) 1683826695
"It's time to finally hold Norfolk Southern and the big rail companies accountable for the harm they have caused in East Palestine and Darlington Township, and the harm they continue to cause with this dangerous, reckless, and selfish behavior," the freshman senator continued. Darlington Township, Pennsylvania is located about nine miles east of East Palestine.
"I'm thankful that no one was hurt and no toxic material was spilled in New Castle, but this derailment looks way too similar to the ones we've said can't happen again," Fetterman said. "This has got to end."
"I'm proud that my bipartisan bill, the Railway Safety Act, advanced out of committee yesterday," added Fetterman, who has also introduced the Railroad Accountability Act.
"This bill will finally enact commonsense rail safety procedures that would have prevented last night's derailment," the lawmaker asserted of the measure advanced Wednesday. "It's time to pass this bill on the floor and finally hold Norfolk Southern accountable."