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On 12 March 2022, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia carried out the mass execution of 81 men, including 7 Yemenis, 1 Syrian and 37 Saudi nationals on terrorism related charges and for holding deviant beliefs. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights understood that 41 were minority Shia Muslims who had participated in anti-government demonstrations calling for greater political participation in 2011–2012. Rights groups accused the government of adopting restrictive regulations against religious expression and political beliefs, as well as criticising its use of the death sentence, even for children arrested, and citing the execution as a violation of human rights.
References
- ↑ "Pleas for condemned Saudi 'witch'", BBC , 14 February 2008
- ↑ "An ally who kills women" Archived 2011-04-16 at the Wayback Machine , DePers.nl , 12 April 2011
- ↑ Letter to HRH King Abdullah bin Abd al-’Aziz Al Saud on "Witchcraft" Case Archived 2008-02-18 at the Wayback Machine from Human Rights Watch
- ↑ "IHRC Urgent Alert: KSA – Woman on death penalty". Archived from the original on 2016-07-09. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ↑ Human Rights Watch Archived 2008-11-02 at the Wayback Machine , February 13, 2008