The United States Department of States (DoS) has said it is unaware of the scheduled execution of Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, who was arrested during the 2012 protest in Saudi Arabia, in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Ali has been sentenced to death by beheading and crucifixion. He will be beheaded first and his lifeless body will later be crucified in a public place, according to rights groups.
A United Nations body has said Ali’s trial “fell short of international standards.” He was arrested at the age of 17 for encouraging pro democratic movements to oppose the ruling dynasty of the country, House of Saud, with his BlackBerry device.
The French News Agency-AFP, reports that because the country’s highest court rejected his appeal, Ali’s execution could be carried out at any moment.
However, according to the Intercept, during a press briefing on September 22, DoS’s Deputy Spokesperson, Mark Toner told a journalist from the Associated Press, that the Department is not aware of Ali’s pending execution.
At the briefing, the journalist wanted to know the United States’s position on Saudi Arabia’s appointment to head the UN human rights panel and the beheading of Ali, which has gained prominence in the international media. The country’s appointment has received questions worldwide, due to its human rights record. Outlined below is the discussion between the journalist and Mr. Toner:
QUESTION: Change topic? Saudi Arabia.
TONER: Saudi Arabia.
QUESTION: Yesterday, Saudi Arabia was named to head the Human Rights Council, and today I think they announced they are about to behead a 21-year-old Shia activist named Muhammed al-Nimr. Are you aware of that?
TONER: I’m not aware of the trial — or the verdict — death sentence.
QUESTION: Well, apparently, he was arrested when he was 17 years old and kept in juvenile detention, then moved on. And now, he’s been scheduled to be executed.
TONER: Right. I mean, we’ve talked about our concerns about some of the capital punishment cases in Saudi Arabia in our Human Rights Report, but I don’t have any more to add to it.
QUESTION: So you —
QUESTION: Well, how about a reaction to them heading the council?
TONER: Again, I don’t have any comment, don’t have any reaction to it. I mean, frankly, it’s — we would welcome it. We’re close allies. If we —
QUESTION: Do you think that they’re an appropriate choice given — I mean, how many pages is — does Saudi Arabia get in the Human Rights Report annually?
TONER: I can’t give that off the top of my head, Matt.
QUESTION: I can’t either, but let’s just say that there’s a lot to write about Saudi Arabia and human rights in that report. I’m just wondering if you — that it’s appropriate for them to have a leadership position.
TONER: We have a strong dialogue, obviously a partnership with Saudi Arabia that spans, obviously, many issues. We talk about human rights concerns with them. As to this leadership role, we hope that it’s an occasion for them to look at human rights around the world, but also within their own borders.
QUESTION: But you said that you welcome them in this position. Is it based on [an] improved record? I mean, can you show or point to anything where there is a sort of stark improvement in their human rights record?
TONER: I mean, we have an ongoing discussion with them about all these human rights issues, like we do with every country. We make our concerns clear when we do have concerns, but that dialogue continues. But I don’t have anything to point to in terms of progress.
QUESTION: Would you welcome as a — would you welcome a decision to commute the sentence of this young man?
TONER: Again, I’m not aware of the case, so it’s hard for me to comment on it other than that we believe that any kind of verdict like that should come at the end of a legal process that is just and in accordance with international legal standards.
QUESTION: Change of subject?
TONER: Sure.
So far this year, Saudi Arabia is said to have executed more than 100 people—a rate of one execution every two days. The latest of these cases, which of course is the execution of Ali, has gripped the attention of everyone in the International Community except the U.S., who just returned from the moon.
France has said that Saudi Arabia should reconsider the beheading of Ali and that the country should do more to tolerate dissenting views. Ali has said publicly that he was tortured and forced to admit joining criminal gangs to attack security forces. These statements have since been used against him during his secret trial by the Saudi authorities.
The Free Thought Project reports that Ali’s case is meant to serve as a deterrent to anyone willing to speak out against the brutal and authoritarian rule of the House of Saud Dynasty, a strategic geopolitical ally of the US in the Arabian Peninsula.
In addition, the International Business Times reports that his trial and sentence was deeply politically motivated by the ethno-religious sentiments between the Shia and the Sunni battle for supremacy in the region.
Glenn Greenwald, the author who published this interview between Toner and the journalist, wrote that—courtesy of an equally candid admission from an anonymous senior US official—the US loves human-rights-abusing regimes and always has, provided they cooperate. The only time the US government pretends to care about human rights abuses, is when they are carried out by countries that do not cooperate with the US.
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