CODEPINK PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Alli McCracken, CODEPINK National Coordinator, alli@codepink.org
Ali Al Ahmad, Gulf Institute Director, director@gulfinstitute.org
Activists to Stage Protest of Mass Executions in Saudi Arabia at Saudi Embassy in Washington DC
When: 1 pm, January 5, 2015
Where: The Saudi Arabian Embassy, 601 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC , Washington DC
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/739041072897039/
Washington, DC –– On January 5 at 1pm, activists will hold an emergency protest at the Saudi Embassy against the Saudi monarchy’s recent executions of 47 prisoners, including prominent Sheik Nimr al-Nimr. On January 2, the Saudi government executed 47 people, most of them by beheading. Those executed included outspoken Saudi critic Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr and three others who were arrested when they were still juveniles. Activists will converge at the Saudi Embassy in Washington DC to demand that the repressive Saudi regime stop cruel, ISIS-like forms of capital punishment of government critics, and free political prisoners like Ali Al-Nimr and Raif Badawi. The protest is hosted by CODEPINK, the Gulf Institute, and Muslim4Peace.
The execution of Sheikh Al-Nimr has led to protests all over the world, especially among Shiite communities in Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Bahrain. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the executions.
“The reckless behavior of the Saudi government has fueled sectarian hatred in a region already wracked by violence,” said Ali Al-Ahmad. “The world should condemn not only this act, but the ongoing Saudi discrimination against the Shiite community and other minorities. We can start by demanding that the Saudis free Sheikh Al-Nimr’s young nephew, Ali Al-Nimr.”
“The killing of Sheikh Al-Nimr should serve as a prime moment for the U.S. to reconsider its alliance with the Saudi regime, a regime that not only denies human rights to its own people but exports death and destruction abroad,” said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin.
An upcoming activist-based Saudi Summit, which will be held in Washington DC on March 5-6, is an effort to build a campaign to support challenge this toxic relationship.
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