Saudi Arabia puts in a bid to run the UN Human Rights Council

Which would be the ideal nation to run the UN Human Rights Council? I know, let’s find the one nation that infringes every single human right going, and put them in charge, what could possibly go wrong with that? It sounds bizarre, but that is exactly what is now on the table. UN Watch reports the … Read more

Raif Badawi … one year later – #FreeRaif

Just over 1 year ago in May 2014 Raif Badawi was found guilty of breaking Saudi Arabia’s strict technology laws and insulting Islamic religious figures by creating and managing an online forum, oh and they also jailed Mr Badawi’s lawyer as well, Waleed Abulkhair. Mr Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, a fine of … Read more

Raif Badawi’s deleted posts have today been published in a new book #FreeRaif

Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail and to also be whipped in public every Friday for simply blogging criticism of the religious clerics in Saudi Arabia,  has a new book published today … (sorry but in German). It is entitled – 1,000 lashes: Because I say what I think – and the … Read more

The Islamic alternative to extremism … is even more extremism!!

What can I say on starting this post, except perhaps to advise you to prepare to face-palm. So the news, as reported in the New York Times, is that a Saudi sponsored meeting of Islamic “Scholars” in Mecca have come up with a recommendation for tackling extremism … …they counseled strict, Muslim religious observance of … Read more

Saudi Arabia and Sweden clash over human rights violations

This is truly great news, Saudi Arabia is starting to really feel the heat and Sweden is leading the charge. The UK’s Guardian reports … A clash between Sweden’s progressive foreign policy and the harsh realities of the Middle East has escalated with Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal of its ambassador after Stockholm tore up an arms … Read more

Saudi Arabia accuses western media of attacking its sovereignty – #FreeRaif

The degree of the ongoing human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia is frankly astonishing and so quite rightly they have been receiving rather a lot of robust fact based criticism. What has greatly helped to throw the spotlight upon it all has been their absurd and brutal treatment of Raif Badawi (pictured above), a writer and … Read more