CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. I called my friend Mireille. See paragraphs 24 and 29-31 for the Saudi official response to accusations that judicial flogging constitutes torture. If Im not mistaken it was a Thursday again when Raif was allowed to call us. In very quick succession he took the blows all over the back of his body: he was lashed from shoulders to calves, while the men around him clapped and uttered pious phrases. After the first 50 lashes and the international public outcry that followed the men with the whips in Riyadh did not at first dare to repeat the punishment. It is not absolutely certain that this is official JCP ordered by a court. Some of those offenses are now seen as less grave in Saudi Arabia because of changes pushed through by Prince Mohammed. A man is seen being whipped in public. I need to tell you something, I said, and tried to find the right words. Saudi Justice Through British Eyes Hundreds of Saudis were flogged every week, according to this January 2004 report from MEMRI, which gives a flavour of the debate inside the country at that time. Judicial floggings continued in 1997. However, no news reports to that effect have come to hand. Repeat offenders can lose both hands, and legs are sometimes taken for other offences. In July he was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment and a fine, followed by deportation . Then, the skin was intended as a bodys shield. On 2 April, an Asian housemaid was. I can take pretty much anything. Andrew Buchan and Leila Farzad 'touchy-feely' on . ), where a very specific number of strokes is delivered slowly and carefully. And, as is common in the Arab world, the prisoner keeps all his clothes on. Saudi officials hailed the flogging ban as part of these changes. Copyright Ensaf Haidar, Andrea C. Hoffmann. Excerpted from Raif Badawi, The Voice of Freedom: My Husband, Our Story. Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. I saw Raifs delicate frame from behind, in the middle of a big crowd of people. by Human Rights Watch) claim that floggings are "often" public. At all events, this punishment is being inflicted by officials in uniform, who are presumably police or judicial officers of some sort. In 19th century Britain, the case of a young soldier who died after a similar assault provoked a national outcry. Report of the Special Rapporteur Required fields are marked *, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, VIDEO: Ghanaian lady receives 100 lashes for fornicating in Saudi Arabia, Why You Need to Read Business News Everyday, Drivers directed to reduce transport fares, The Shocking Moment Pastor Calls God During Church Service -WATCH VIDEO. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Badawi's feet and hands were shackled during the flogging but his face was visible. Convicted killer Alex Murdaughs new mugshot after double life sentence. In April, a Yemeni blogger living in Saudi Arabia was arrested for advocating for equality for LGBT people. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson iran lashes punishment video. A Warner Bros. I simply couldnt imagine the authorities going ahead with it. It was as if I was being operated by remote control. My children and I are grateful for every day when they dont whip Raif again. Well say: Wed like you to meet them quite normally. (Image credit: Melissa Golden) By Michele . The first 50 lashes. John White was not the only person who had died after a flogging but this was the occasion on which the explanation for a dynamic relationship between superficial marks and injuries left on the body and internal organs of the punished was used as a political argument against corporal punishment. Never before seen Amazon tribe filmed by drone, Camera catches mailman stealing family's tomatoes, Video shows self-driving Uber hit pedestrian, Racist chants caught on camera at university, Policemen catch child falling from balcony, Camera captures kangaroo collide with cyclist, Surveillance shows Turpin siblings' escape, Million-dollar jewel heist caught on camera, See terrifying boat crash caught on video. Even in the playground I noticed the other children looking at me and whispering. He was wearing a white shirt and dark trousers, and his hair hung down to his shoulders. In public, in front of a big crowd of people. In the morning, before the children woke up, I confiscated all the computers, tablets and telephones in the apartment, and I unplugged the television. States that at least 27 individuals were sentenced to flogging in 1996. The inquest into the Hounslow case sparked a national outcry. Cites several whipping cases, with some detail of how particular floggings were carried out. In earlier years' editions it was "frequently". Some reports (e.g. The caning, if so it can be described, is targeted very approximately at the culprit's buttocks, but its administration is so hasty and slapdash that some of the strokes appear to fall on the small of his back. A few days earlier, White, under the effects of alcohol, had had an argument with his sergeant and, during the fight he had stroked the sergeants chest with a metal bar. When flogging in the army was legally abolished in 1881, a few people knew it was still in law. They didnt react at all. He didnt level any accusations at me. Drinking alcohol is a criminal offense, and drug trafficking often a capital crime. He looked thin. 1.8k. The children know about it, too. Again the tears came. They already guessed that my serious face didnt bode well. Tomorrow theyre going to start enforcing my sentence. "Raif called me. Punishment for drinking, possessing or trading alcohol is severe in the kingdom. Charges: Violating Islamic values and propagating liberal thought. They are then forced to kneel facing Mecca, over a blue plastic sheet, before the executioner severs the head with a sword in one stroke. Ensaf, I need to tell you something. November 1997: Behind Closed Doors: Unfair Trials In Saudi Arabia Or Stop this inhuman regime. Many also drew parallels with the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices: Both are acts of violence aimed at gagging journalists. And there were many other comments of that kind. When would they lead him in front of the mosque in handcuffs? Are you in great pain? Its all fine. This was provoked by a 1997 case in which two British nurses were convicted of murder (but later released). One of the prison warders told me. It took me a moment to understand what he was telling me. After Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was arrested and sentenced to prison and 1,000 lashes, Ensaf Haidar wondered what to say when the person you love tells you that hes going to be abused in the most horrible way. Had they broken his bones? The quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. Paragraphs 587 to 589 of this 1995 UN document refer to various Saudi flogging cases. Badawai was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and ordered to pay one million Saudi riyals (157,220) for setting up the Saudi Arabian Free Liberals Forum. You cant stop them doing that. Its better if they find out from you, Robert, the social worker, tried to convince me. As part of his plans to diversify the economy and open up society, he has taken the power to arrest away from the kingdoms religious police and expanded entertainment opportunities by opening movie theaters and bringing in rock concerts, professional wrestling tournaments and monster truck rallies. Discovery Company. On Sunday evening, however, the subject was still in the headlines, and I wondered whether I would even be able to send the children to school the next day. But they remained persistently silent, even among themselves. The colonel and the regiments doctor stood with their arms folded. CNN's Becky Anderson reports. On Wednesday, Prince of Saudi Arabia's ruling Al Saud family was given lashes in a prison in Jeddah as a part of court-ordered punishment, as reported by Saudi newspaper. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 3 February 2015 What actually happens when you get flogged Thanks to Saudi Arabia's brutal and inhumane treatment of blogger Raif Badawi, flogging as a punishment is back in the news. Ensaf Haidar believes a YouTube video shows her husband receiving a public flogging for "insulting Islam." I hurried over. Ensaf Haidar, wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, holds a picture of her husband in the European parliament in Strasbourg, France. Badawai will continue to be flogged for the next 19 weeks unless a prison doctor finds him in poor health to continue. That needs to change, The autonomous future is nearly here with Wejo, The need to grow Londons EV infrastructure at speed and scale, SNP leadership candidates need to abandon the independence delusion, The strange death of moderate conservatism Audio Long Reads, Axis of Autocrats: Putin, Xi and Lukashenko, Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance, HR, Training and Organisational Development, Information and Communications Technology, Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives, Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities, Science and Technical Research and Development. In one or two reports the offender was said to be tied upright to a post. Middle East Eye. A very conservative version of Koranic law is in force in this exceptionally backward, corrupt and repressive country, a ruthless totalitarian dictatorship run by an absolute monarchy. punishment." Saudi Arabia has sentenced people convicted of homosexuality and "sodomy" to a range of penalties including corporal CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. The most high-profile flogging in recent years was of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes on charges of insulting Islam. As soon as she had set off with them, I checked my Facebook page. The report for 2000 adds that 5 persons were sentenced to 2,600 lashes, and 4 persons to 2,400 lashes, for "deviant sexual behavior". Around 100 people are beheaded in Saudi Arabia every year, with the country beheading nearly twice as many people as Isis so far in 2015. Support 100 years of independent journalism. The jurys verdict, given on 4 August 1846, was that Frederick John White died from the mortal effects of the flogging that he had received at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow. 02:28 - Source: CNN. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. In a May 2008 opinion column in Arab News, it was claimed that lashes were now being given out by traffic police, presumably meaning "on the spot" and without a court sentence. US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2005 HRW has sometimes been prone to exaggeration in the past, but if this is true, I should think it must make Saudi Arabia pretty well unique in the world. Saudi Arabia was recently condemned for sentencing liberal blogger Raif Badawi to 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam through electronic channels". I nervously fumbled a cigarette from the pack in front of me. A 2015 demonstration in Paris in support of Raif Badawi. In 2014, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, fined more than a quarter-million dollars, and ordered to endure 1,000 blows with a cane in weekly installments over several months. Image: WikiCommons. Death sentences are almost exclusively based on the system of judicial sentencing discretion (), following the classical principle of avoiding Sharia-prescribed penalties when possible.In recent decades, the government and the courts have increasingly issued these sentences, reacting to a rise in violent crime during the 1970s. Mentions that hundreds of political demonstrators were sentenced to flogging, but it was not known whether these sentences had been carried out. It seems not to occur to any of the writers that, since the whole Saudi set-up, including the judicial system, is ruthlessly corrupt from top to bottom, convictions of innocent people are even more likely than in Britain. Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is a legal penalty. The Saudi Media Debates Flogging by the Saudi Religious Police In the above video, IBTimes UK explains five of the most barbaric punishments you can receive in Saudi Arabia. He offered to come home with me and jump in when I couldnt cope any more. Since then our little flat in Sherbrooke has turned into a campaign office for Raifs liberation. Saudi Arabian blogger and activist, Raif Badawi, is due to face his second round of 50 lashes on Friday (16 January) after being accused ofinsulting Islam. Then all of a sudden we received the call we were so desperate for. Saudi blogger receives first 50 of 1,000 lashes. Saudi Arabia Abolishes Flogging as a Punishment for Crime The most high-profile flogging in recent years was of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and. All OK where you are? Saudi blogger Raif Badawi - jailed and sentenced to 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam online" - has been freed, his wife says. The men around him were wearing the usual white gowns and shouting Allahu Akbar. 2023 Cable News Network. Lots of people had shared my message and passed it on. (I suspect they are wrong about that. All Rights Reserved. Ill get them in front of the big mosque in Jeddah.. Supreme Court stops order of controversial lashings for convicts, Protesters in Washington DC simulate flogging of imprisoned blogger Raif al-Badawi (AFP), Abdullah al-Hamid: Saudi human rights advocate and 'national hero', Saudi Arabia courts abolish flogging as punishment. His punishment began. Did he get medical treatment for his wounds? Saudi judges can still order the beheading of murderers and drug dealers, but lower-level offenders will now be spared the rod and will get fines or jail time instead. Youre doing what you can. Crime and punishment in Saudi Arabia: Lashing, imprisonment, and other unusual punishments About one-half of all rulings examined in the current study were presided over by a lone judge. If authorities ignore widespread criticism and unashamedly continue with the flogging of Raif Badawi, Saudi Arabia would be demonstrating contempt for international law and disregard for world opinion. In 2015, he was awarded the European Unions top human rights award and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I was disconcerted to see his familiar picture behind the face of a blonde newsreader. As one would expect when there are so many of them, the strokes are not particularly hard. Saudi officials hailed the move to abolish flogging, which was confirmed by the kingdoms state-run human rights commission on Saturday, as another bold reform by Prince Mohammed. In the future, judges will have to choose between fines and/or jail sentences, or non-custodial alternatives like community service, the court said in a statement seen by AFP on Saturday. Everythings great, but the prison warders are very bad people. The principal had already assembled a council of teachers, a social worker and the school psychologist. Robert leapt in and picked up the thread of the conversation for me. Amnesty International Report 1998 Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters. The next day, I spoke to Raif. Sentence: Ten years in prison, 1,000 lashes, a fine of 1 million riyals (equal to about $266,000), and is banned from any media work or foreign travel for 10 years after his release from prison. Various references to flogging, including a 1996 case in which two secondary school students were whipped for assault in front of their fellow-pupils and teachers. Then you have the experience of the floggers. For almost a week we heard nothing more about Raif. On returning the verdict the jury called upon the public to send petitions to the British Legislature for the abolition of this form of military punishment. The coroner asked many questions to find out how many lashes a human being can endure. 1) Flogging Flogging, whipping or lashing are all used in Saudi Arabia and. One reader describes being himself judicially caned in Saudi Arabia in 1994 (probably a hoax: it was in the Daily Mail). On occasions they have been carried out in public, as in this 1970s photograph and also this one. June 2001 article in The Guardian (London), largely recycling information from Amnesty reports, including a first-person account of being flogged. The second round has so far been postponed on health grounds. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. A circular issued by the Ministry of Justice and sent to the courts of the kingdom reports an abolition demanded for years by human rights organizations, which, however, harbors a small print: lashes will continue to be applied in crimes such as adultery, attack on . The violence of the blows almost made me suspect as much. Can you talk? It was the principal of the school. "The strokes, delivered through a thin shirt, are not supposed to leave permanent damage, but to leave painful welts that bleed and bruise.". On 7 January 2015, two masked men stormed the editorial offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris and shot 11 journalists. US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2003 One of them had been sentenced to lashes, which were never inflicted. Flogging with a cane is administered for less serious offences, such as drinking alcohol. Saudi blogger receives first 50 of 1,000 lashes. Did you encounter any technical issues? They stared at him. Copyright 2014 - 2023. Local courts routinely order floggings, often of hundreds of lashes -- or even thousands, inflicted in instalments. Capital punishment as a criminal punishment for homosexuality has been implemented by a number of countries in their history. Anyone can read what you share. By continuing to dole out this inhuman punishment the Saudi Arabian authorities are flagrantly flouting basic human rights principles.". General of the British Empire, Sir James Charles Napier, in his Remarks of Military Law wrote that sentences of thousands lashes were common at the end of the eighteenth century. This difference in approach is supposed to reflect the idea that Saudi floggings are intended primarily as symbolic humiliation rather than intensely painful retribution, and is in line with a rule in the Koran that the operator is required to keep a copy of the holy book under his arm, so that he will not swing the whip from the shoulder but only from the elbow. Last month two gay men in the Saudi city of Al-Bahah were convicted of sodomy and sentenced to 7,000 lashes each. CNN's Becky Anderson reports. Criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record has grown since King Salman named his son Mohammed crown prince and heir to the throne in June 2017. I surely hope he intends to go after the whole justice system, because it is very flawed in both regulations and implementation, Mr. Coogle said of Prince Mohammed. Reportedly, those flogged do not receive medical treatment. RT now to #FreeRaif! In 1998 judicial floggings continued to be imposed "routinely". appreciated. Saudi Blogger Lashed 50 Times For Insulting Islam (Video) 73,864 views Jan 14, 2015 Video has appeared on YouTube that seems to show Saudi rights activist Raif Badawi receiving his first 50. SAUDI Arabia's medieval punishments are in the spotlight as the country's investment fund looks to set to take over Newcastle United.Public beheading . UN Committee Against Torture, 10 May 2002 Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters. Amnesty International Report 1997 00:46. Women as well as men may be flogged. 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Badawai is not the only Saudi activist to have faced punishment over exercising his right to freedom of speech. It is the extreme rapidity of the strokes -- about four per second -- which is perhaps most surprising, and which makes this seem quite a different kind of thing from the formal and ceremonial manner in which JCP has typically been conducted in the British world (Malaysia, Pakistan, etc. If only I could have done something for him! In the above video, IBTimes UK explains five of the most barbaric punishments you can receive in Saudi Arabia. While he remains in prison, he has been embraced by some in the West as symbol of the kingdoms intolerance of freedom of thought and expression. I woke them up at half past seven on the dot, as always. All rights reserved. Right hands have been cut off at the wrist as punishment for theft in Saudi Arabia. The phone rang several times, but I didnt answer. 2. All Rights Reserved. However, some observers, notably Amnesty International (see external links below), reject these claims as mere propaganda by the regime; they say this Koranic rule is by no means always followed, and suggest that the floggings, at least in some cases, do in fact cause injury to the recipient. I managed to keep the children away from the internet, from television and from the newspaper kiosks in Sherbrooke all weekend. Literal eye-for-an-eye sentences have been given in the country. It currently remains a legal punishment in several countries and regions, all of which have sharia-based criminal laws.Gay people also face extrajudicial killings by state and non-state actors, as in Chechnya in 2019, though it is denied by the Chechen authorities and . It is evident that practice in Saudi Arabia is far from uniform. 1.6k. All Rights Reserved. The farriers used the cat o nine tails, a tool made up of nine knotted thongs of cotton that could be found in veterinary shops. How severe were the wounds that he had suffered from this brutal abuse? How are they? Theyre strong, I lied, and full of fight. Did you expect anything else? The man himself could not be made out in the video. According to reports, the lady who is assumed to be in her late twenties was caught seriously been chopped by a Sudanese who lives in the same house with her. The New Statesmans weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. This comes less than a month after the kingdom executed another prince for murder. Theyve beaten your father, he told the children. US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2000 My husband was the second item, immediately after the events in France. What do you say when the person you love tells you that hes going to be abused in the most horrible way? 1994: Unwelcome "guests": The plight of Iraqi refugees The punishment lasted half an hour: one lash every twelve seconds. Flogging, whipping or lashing are all used in Saudi Arabia and can be administered for offences such as spending time with the opposite sex, being gay or even for bringing liqueur chocolates into the country. Hes fine, I lied. HRW describes the implement used as "a bamboo whip about 7 feet long". The children eagerly join in. End secrecy, end suffering - an Amnesty International briefing UK prime minister David Cameron personally urged Saudi authorities not to administer the 350 lashings that 74-year-old oil executive Karl Andree was sentenced to for being caught with bootleg wine in his car. @HRHPSalman, Amnesty New Zealand (@AmnestyNZ) January 15, 2015, Today front of Saudi embassy in Germany Berlin, Amnesty stand for #RaifBadawi pic.twitter.com/Os850JtRyX, (@raif_badawi) January 15, 2015, today front of Saudi embassy in Paris for #RaifBadawi pic.twitter.com/ISc0l6ahiu (@raif_badawi) January 15, 2015. 02:28. Reprinted by permission of Other Press. The Saudi supreme court said the latest reform was intended to "bring the kingdom into line with international human rights norms against corporal punishment". The punishment roused outrage and condemnation from around the world, including from many of Saudi Arabia's allies. Its important that we think together about how to ensure that your children dont suffer any harm from this. Raifs face smiles from the banner over our sofa, while we get together to make posters for the next demonstration. Local courts routinely order floggings, often of hundreds of lashes -- or even thousands, inflicted in instalments. He was convicted on multiple charges, including "breaking allegiance" to the Saudi ruler, "inciting disorder" and seeking to disrupt state security, Amnesty International said. One will surely land himself into hot waters for being under the influence of alcohol on the plane en route to Saudi Arabia. It can be seen clearly that the official administering this whipping does not have a book under his arm (see commentary above). SAUDI Arabia's medieval punishments are in the spotlight as the country's investment fund looks to set to take over Newcastle United. Did you encounter any technical issues? Most of the floggings were suspended, but he eventually suffered 50 lashes before hundreds of spectators in the city of Jiddah in 2015. (In other countries where JCP is used a lot, such as Singapore and Malaysia, there are still very many court sentences that do not include caning.) The USSD has now decided to refer to all Saudi JCP as "lashing" and makes no reference to different implements. Raifs head was bowed. According to the press, 1846 recorded an unusually hot summer and this might have impaired the ability of White to recover. Public beheading, crucifixion and paralysis are all part of its ruthless and medieval justice system, which has seen record numbers executed. His hands were cuffed in front of his body. Raif Badawi's family have warned he could die if the 1,000 lashes are carried out. The October 2018 murder of vocal critic Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and the increased repression of dissidents at home have overshadowed the prince's pledge to modernise the economy and society. Is that why we arent allowed on the internet? How is he? Najwa already surprised that her father hadnt phoned over the weekend as he usually did asked anxiously. Sighting from the video, the lady who had landed herself into this dire trouble had received over 70 lashes with less than 20 more to take whiles the scene was been recorded. Flogging in the military, navy, schools and private homes was a common disciplinary measure in the nineteenth century. Despite the change attributed to reforms under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Amnesty International reported last week that Saudi Arabia executed a record 184 people in 2019, accusing the kingdom of using the death penalty notably against ShiaMuslim dissidents. The new year began with an act of violence. Discovery Company. The Flogging of liberal blogger Raif Badawi has placed a spotlight on Saudi Arabia's justice system Lashes for liberalism, prison for female driving, death for dissent are among recent. But I cant do that! Theyll find out anyway, she argued. The change has followed increased criticism of Saudi Arabia's treatment of prisoners, especially political opponents under bin Salman, after scholar Abdullah al-Hamiddied in prison on Friday. Take the case of the small Arab emirate of Sharjah. Well, in Saudi Arabia, the punishment for fornication, however, is 100 lashes. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. The same information is repeated in the 2002 USSD report. After fifty more had been given he took the whip again and inflicted the final fifty lashes. appreciated. for bringing liqueur chocolates into the country. The document casts doubt on past claims that these are relatively lightly administered and meant as a symbolic humiliation rather than as serious pain. Our weekly culture newsletter from books and art to pop culture and memes sent every Friday. The post mortem examination of the soldiers corpse, extensively reported by the Victorian press, provoked a burning political and medical debate on the effects of flogging on the health of a human being. The teachers and I, along with the psychologist, will talk to the pupils. Men are buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts, with the stones used deliberately small enough to not kill the condemned in just a couple of strikes.