Saudi Arabia Annuls Death Sentence on Minors
- The chairman of the Saudi Arabia Human Rights Commission, Awwad Alawwad, has assured that there will be no death penalty for crimes committed by minors. Instead, the maximum period of stay in juvenile centres shall be ten years.
Many have defined Saudi Arabia as one of the lowest countries in the world. Mohammed bin Salman is the prince who de facto governs the interpretation of Islam by the strict Wahhabist. It has received many criticisms from human rights defenders and has denounced that the sanctions imposed by the country violate human rights.
In fact, at least 187 people were executed in 2019, the highest number since 1995. Another year, twelve people have been executed since January of this year. The decision to ban the execution of minors has been taken following a famous case in which six young people accused of participating in the Arab Spring, minors in the event of an uprising, were to be executed.
Trying to establish a more modern penal code
The Saudi Arabian Penal Code is, from an international point of view, controversial. So far the penal code allowed not only executions, but even blows with the roof. Now, in order to make the penal code "more modern", not only executions of minors but also beatings with the scourge have been banned.
The scourge has been used in the country as a punishment for numerous crimes, such as making statements against Islam, having sex with someone other than their partner, stealing, etc. The case of blogger Raif Badawi was famous and sentenced to 1,000 shootings in 2014 for mocking Islam, plus a 10-year prison sentence.
For years he has been criticized by human rights activists, not only for his own condemnation, but also for the credibility of the trial. The judgments of the National Court are based on the readings that Islam based on its convictions.
This year marks the 51st anniversary of the United Nations proclamation of International Human Rights Day on 10 December. This date has become important in Euskal Herria and the Human Rights Observatory of Euskal Herria wants to offer some elements of reflection.
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