CRIME OF OPINION..Saudi Arabia’s violations against intellectuals and opinion-makers

also available in: العربية

London/UK

A legal report, issued by SALAM International Organization for the protection of human rights - SPH, monitoring many violations, the most important of which are:

• Violations of the kingdom, against intellectuals and opinion-makers within the kingdom.
• Jamal Khashoggi, the blatant example of the assassination of freedom of thought and opinion.
• The most important legislation that violates international charters within the kingdom.
• Women in the kingdom and the most important violations to which they are subjected to.
• The repression of the Saudi opposition, and the most important cases that have been repressed by the security.

Freedom of opinion and expression is one of the most fundamental human rights recognized in international instruments, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its article 19 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in article 19, and freedom of expression is the cornerstone for obtaining all the other civil rights, which States should respect and abide by, and work to strengthen them by all means.

However, what is happening in Saudi Arabia is contrary to these universal principles and charters;

The expression of opinion is not a right, but a crime, who use it is subject to arrest, disappearance, torture and even extrajudicial execution, under a legal system that does not apply and does not comply with international fair trial standards; Most notably, the criterion of “public prosecution”.

In this report, we will review the most prominent of these violations by the Saudi ruling regime in order to suppress dissent, opinion and aspirations of a democratic country that respects and upholds the human being.