UN Condemns Saudi Executions, US Barely Reacts

Amnesty International and members of the US Congress are expressing outrage over the mass execution of 37 prisoners in Saudi Arabia. While their trials failed to meet international standards of fairness and their deaths have drawn worldwide rebuke, the US State Department has refused to condemn them. RT America’s Dan Cohen reports for News.Views.Hughes.

37 Men Were Executed and Court Filings Show Some Protested Their Innocence

Saudi Arabia says 37 men have been executed after being convicted of terror-related crimes, but documents reviewed by CNN show that many said they were totally innocent and their confessions had been written by the same people who had tortured them.

UK Condemns Saudi Arabia over 'Repulsive' Mass Executions

THE GUARDIAN: Foreign Office minister criticises country’s human rights after 37 people killed

Britain has issued its sharpest condemnation of the direction of Saudi Arabian human rights policy, describing its mass executions as “repulsive” and “utterly unacceptable in the modern world”.

The remarks came after further details emerged of the Saudi government’s execution on Tuesday of 37 people, including three who were minors at the time of their alleged offence.

One of those executed was then crucified, according to Saudi state media.

The Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan, answering an urgent question in the Commons, spurned the usual diplomatic niceties, saying the mass executions were “a deeply backward step which we deplore”. He added it was “deplorable and totally unacceptable” that at least one of those executed had been a minor at the time of the arrest.

He highlighted reports that one of those executed was displayed on a cross, saying that anyone in the House, just two days after Easter, would find “more repulsive than anything we could picture”.

He added: “Any country needs to realise that when it uses methods like this they will eventually backfire. The practical benefit is entirely negative.” » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Saudi Execution of Shia Cleric Sparks Outrage in Middle East

THE GUARDIAN: Iranian government and religious leaders say killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr will have serious repercussions for royal family

The Iranian government and religious leaders across the Middle East have condemned Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shia cleric and warned of repercussions that could bring down the country’s royal family.

In a serious escalation of religious and diplomatic tensions in the region, councils and clerics in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon said the killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr would prompt widespread anger.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaber Ansari, accused Riyadh of hypocrisy. “The Saudi government supports terrorists and takfiri [radical Sunni] extremists, while executing and suppressing critics inside the country,” he told the Iranian state news agency. » | Nicola Slawson | Saturday, January 2, 2016

Middle East condemns Saudi execution of Shia cleric - live »