Saudi Arabia arrested thousands without trial: HRW

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Reuters

RIYADH, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has detained thousands of people as part of its anti-terrorism drive without charging them and sometimes even ignoring court rulings ordering their release, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

New York-based HRW is the second international rights body to criticise the U.S. ally and the world's biggest oil exporter for violating human rights on security grounds. Amnesty International issued a similar report in July.

In a report, HRW said the General Directorate for Investigations, the domestic intelligence agency, was holding an unknown number of people in its prisons, among them foreigners, and dissidents demanding democratic reforms.

HRW estimated that more than 9,000 had been held since al Qaeda launched a campaign in 2003, of whom probably between 2,000 and 4,000 were still detained, said Christoph Wilcke, the author of the report.


Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-41659220090810

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snip

"Saudi Arabia's response to terrorism for years has been to lock up thousands of suspects and throw away the key," the organisation said, listing several cases of people held under what it said were questionable circumstances.

[DerekJ]

1. Replace Saudia Arabia with The United States in this article, and you will have as much of a valid

story as the original.

[AlphaCentauri]

2. OK, this is not Iran

these princes are our friends and oil suppliers

:sarcasm: