Sister of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi arrested and jailed in same prison

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Sister of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi arrested and jailed in same prison

Jessica Murphy in Ottawa
Tuesday 12 January 2016 23.51 GMT

Samar Badawi, a prominent Saudi human rights advocate – and the sister of jailed blogger Raif Badawi – has been arrested and is being held in the same prison as her brother, according to activists and family members.

In a series of tweets Raif Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, said Samar had been arrested and transferred to Dharhan central prison after four hours of questioning.

According to Haidar, Amnesty International and the Raif Badawi Foundation – a Canadian advocacy group – Samar is believed to have been arrested Tuesday for posting to a Twitter account used to campaign for the release of her former husband, Waleed Abu al-Khair, and for publishing of photo of him in jail.

Abu al-Khair is a Saudi human rights lawyer currently serving a 15-year sentence, in part for defending Raif Badawi.

In a statement, Amnesty called Samar’s arrest “the latest example of Saudi Arabia’s utter contempt for its human rights obligations and provides further damning proof of the authorities’ intent to suppress all signs of peaceful dissent”.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/samar-badawi-sister-blogger-raif-badawi-arrested-saudi-arabia

[EdwardBernays]

1. at least

we're helping SA starve millions of kids in Yemen...

"More than half a million children in Yemen face life-threatening malnutrition as a risk of famine grows, a senior official of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/half-a-million-children-are-starving-in-yemen-report_5623bac5e4b02f6a900ca5c2

Saudi-led naval blockade leaves 20m Yemenis facing humanitarian disaster
Aid agencies say embargo imposed by US and UK-backed Arab coalition has had dramatic effect, with almost 80% of population in urgent need of food, water and medical supplies
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/saudi-led-naval-blockade-worsens-yemen-humanitarian-disaster

U.S. Support for Saudi Strikes in Yemen Raises War Crime Concerns
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/15/u-s-support-for-saudi-strikes-in-yemen-raises-war-crime-concerns/

Arab coalition accused of war crimes in Yemen
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/yemen-151007015252750.html

Saudi Arabia’s US-Backed Air War in Yemen May Have Committed War Crimes—Again
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/01/us-backed-saudi-led-airwar-yemen-condemned-potentially-committing-war-crimes-again

On Oct. 27, coalition airstrikes destroyed a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical clinic, one of the few still functioning in the northern Yemeni province of Saada. Inflicting widespread civilian hardship amounts to collective punishment, fueling the devastation that the MSF says has claimed as many lives as the bombings.

The US (and UK) offers logistical support for the coalition, in addition to selling billions of dollars in weapons to its members, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. US officials say American personnel are also involved in providing targeting assistance for airstrikes, which the UN says are responsible for the majority of the more than 2,300 civilian deaths in the conflict in the past six months.

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/11/us-may-be-complicit-in-war-crimes-in-yemen.html

A Dutch-led effort to create a human rights mission for Yemen was abandoned Wednesday amid intense Saudi opposition at the UN, but human rights experts are laying blame in part at the feet of the United States, which failed to vigorously back the Netherlands — and may have worked behind the scenes to head off the independent investigation.

https://news.vice.com/article/as-saudis-block-a-human-rights-inquiry-in-yemen-the-us-stays-quiet

Earlier this week Britain was accused of entering into a secret vote-trading deal with Saudi Arabia to ensure both countries obtained membership of the Human Rights Council. Secret Saudi cables, obtained by WikiLeaks, indicated the UK had asked the Saudis for support in elections that took place in 2013.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/middle-east/un-inquiry-into-saudi-arabia-war-crimes-in-yemen-shelved-after-saudi-opposition-a6676141.html

[potone]

3. God, this makes me sick!

When are we going to pull ourselves together and stop supporting this regime?

[EdwardBernays]

4. Well...

Considering that Hillarys Campaign Manager owns a lobbying firm that has military weapons contractors AND Saudi Arabia as clients... Not any time soon.

[MisterP]

2. yes, usually people who can resist having their ribs snapped will talk the moment someone they

love is put into the cell next to them