SAKHAROV PRIZE FOR
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT
WEDNESDAY 16 DECEMBER2015
Raif Badawi, Sakharov laureate 2015
The European Parliament press service is holding a seminar for journal ists on the
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
This year's laureate is Raif Badawi, a Saudi Arabian blogger and activist. He is the author
of the website Free Saudi Liberals.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison,1,000 lashes and a
hefty fine for insulting Islamic values on his website. He was administered the first set of 50
lashes in January 2015, the remainder postponed following international protests.
poltical dissidentAndrei Sakharov, has been awardedby the EuropeanParliament every
yearsince 1988 to individuals or organisations, which have made an important contribution
to the fight forhuman rights or democracy .
Nominations for the prize require the support of a European Parliament politicalgroup or
at least 40 MEPs. The political group leaders then choose the winner , who is invited to
the award ceremony in Strasbourg.
The Sakharov Prize Network, made up of former laureates,was launched in 2008 to link up
past winners of the prize, thereby enabling the EP to support any campaigns being
conducted by the laureates, who would in their turn play a role as ambassadors for
human rights and freedom of thought.
The European Parliament strongly believes that any violations of such rights, anywhere in
the world, should be condemned and combatted.
The European Parliament has voicedits support for these principles in numerous
resolutions over the years. It plays a practical role in this area by taking part in election
observationmissions and by using its legislative powers to ensure that human rights are
firmly anchoredin the EU's externaleconomic and trade agreements. It also believes in
the value of high-profile symbolic events, such as the award of the Sakharov Prize, in
raising awareness not only of individual cases but also of the general importance of these
rights.
Raif Badawi is a jailed and flogged young Saudi Arabian blogger and advocate of freedom of thought and expression.
He foundedand ran the Saudi Liberals,and later the Free Saudi Liberal Network,online forumsfor the discussion of religion and politics in the conservative country, and had a thousand registered users when he was detained for a day in 2008 and interrogated on suspicio n of apostasy, a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, he was banned indefinitely from leaving Saudi Arabia, his bank accountswere frozen and his wife's family attempted to force a divorce. A fatwa was put on his head by a hardlineimam.
Badawi valiantly continued to air his moderately liberal views. He wrote, amongst other issues, in defence of the right to freedom of thought and expression and called for a society open to the views of others. A free thinker in an Arab society whimpering under the theocratic yoke, Badawi wrote,just needed to express an opinion to bring down on their head a fatwa.
This, he feared, would cause the brightest minds to flee. A voice of liberalism in Saudi Arabia, Badawi was engaging with his writings, online and in traditional media, in enlightening his community and defeating ignorance, eroding the untouchability of the clergy and promotingrespect for freedom of expression, women's rights and those of minorities and poor peoplein Saudi Arabia,as he wrote from prisonin 2015 in a preface to a book of writingsof his salvaged despitethe permanent closureof his websites.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 and indicted on severalcharges including apostasy, though no court has ruledon the latter. He was convicted for establishing a forum hosting blasphemous commentary and blasphemous online posts, and sentenced to seven yearsin prison and 600 lashesin 2013, only to be resentenced to ten yearsin prison and 1,000 lashes plus a fine of a million riyals (€226 000) in 2014.
He was flogged 50 timesin January 2015 in what was meant to be the first in a series of 1,000 floggingsto be carried out over twenty weeks. The international outcry and concerns about his health have stopped further lashings for the time being, but his sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2015. He is banned from using any media outlets and from travelling abroadfor 1O years afterhis release from prison.
Ensaf Haidar, Badawi's wife, and their three children live in Canada, having fled Saudi Arabia in 2013 because of anonymous death threats. Haidar will receive the Sakharov Prize on her husband'sbehalf.
Texts adoptedThursday, 12 February 2015 • Strasbourg
Saudi Arabia: the case of Raif Badawi
P8_TA-PR0V(2015)0037 1 88-0143, 0145, 0147, 0149, 0151 and 0158/2015
Provisional edition
European Parliament resolution of 12 Februa ry 2015 on the case of Mr Raif Badawi, Saudi Arabia (2015/2550(RSP))
The European Parliament ,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Saudi Arabia, notably those concerning human rights and, in particu lar, that of 11 March 2014 on Saudi Arabia, its relationswith the EU and its role in the Middle East and Notth Africa!ll ,
- having regard to the statement of 9 January 2015 by the Spokesperson of the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini ,
- having regard to the statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, appealing to the Saudi authorities to halt the punishment of Raif Badawi,
- havi ng regard to Article 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
- having regard to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
- having regard to the Arab Charter on Human Rights, ratified by Saudi Arabia in 2009, of which A1ticle 32( l ) guarantees the right to inforn1ation and freedom of opinion and expression, and Atiicle 8 prohibits physical or psychological torture or cruel, degrading, humil iating or inhuman treatment,
- having regard to the European Union Guidelines on To1ture and IJI-Treatment, and on Human Rights Defenders,
- having regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas Raif Badawi, a blogger and human rights activist, was charged with apostasy and sentenced by the Criminal Court of Jeddah in May 2014 to 10 years in prison, 1 000 lashes and a fine of.SAR 1 million (EUR 228 000) after creating the website 'Free Saudi Liberals Network' for social, political and religious debate which was deemed to be an insult to Islam; whereas the sentence also bans Mr Badawi from using any media outlets and from travelling abroad for IO years after his release from prison;
B. whereas on 9 January 2015, Mr Badawi received his first set of 50 lashes in front of the al -Jafali mosque in Jeddah, resultingin wounds so profound that when he was taken to aprison clinic for a medical check-up, it was found by the doctors that he would not be able to withstand another round of lashes;
C. whereas judicial verdicts imposing corporal punishment, including flogging, are strictly prohibited under international human rights law, including the UN Convention against To1ture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Saudi Arabia has ratified;
D. whereas on 6 July 2014, Raif Badawi 's lawyer, prominent human rights defender Waleed Abu al Khair, was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court to 15 years in prison, to be followed by a 15-year travel ban, after setting up the human rights organisation 'Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia';
E. whereas the case of Mr Badawi is one of many cases in which harsh sentences and harassment have been used against Saudi human rights activists and other reform advocates persecuted for expressing their views, several of whom have been convicted, under procedures which fall shott of international fair tri al standards, as was confirmed by the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Ju ly 2014 ;
F. whereas Saudi Arabia has a lively community of online activists and the highest number of Twitter
users in the Middle East; whereas, however, the internet is heavily censored, with thousands of websites being blocked and new biogs and websites needing a licence from the Ministry of Information; whereas Saudi Arabia is on the Reporters Without Borders list of 'Enemies of the Internet' due to the censorship of the Saudi media and the intrnet and the punishment of those who criticise the government or religion;A. whereas freedom of expression and freedom of the press and media, both online and offline, are crucial preconditions and catalysts for democratisation and reform and are essential checks on power;
B. whereas in spite of the introduction of some cautious reforms during the rule of the late King Abdullah, the Saudi political and social system remains profoundly undemocratic, makes women and Shia Muslims second-class citizens, seriously discriminates against the country's large foreign workforce and severely represses all voices of dissent;
I. whereas the number and pace of executions are a matter of serious concern; whereas over 87 people were executed in 2014, mostly by public beheading; whereas at least 21 people have been executed since the beginning of 2015; whereas 423 executions were reported between 2007 and 2012; whereas tne death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offenses;
J. whereas the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an influential political, economic, cultural and religious actor in the Middle East and the Islamic world, and a founder and leading member of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the G-20;
K. whereas in November 2013 Saudi Arabia was elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council for a three-year period;
L, whereas the so-called Islamic State and Saudi Arabia prescribe near-identical punishments for a host of crimes, including the death penalty for blasphemy, murder, acts of homosexuality, theft or treason, death by stoning for adultery and the amputation of hands and feet for banditry;
· M. whereas Saudi Arabia plays a leading role in financing, disseminating and promoting worldwide a particularly extremist interpretation oflslam; whereas the most sectarian vision of Islam has inspired terrorist organisations such as the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda;
N. whereas Saudi Arabian authorities claim to be a partner to Member States, notably in the global fight against terror; whereas a new counter-terrorism law adopted in January 2014 includes provisions which allow for all dissenting expressions or independent associations to be interpreted as terrorist crimes;
1. Strongly condemns the flogging of Raif Badawi as a cruel and shocking act by the Saudi Arabian authorities; calls on the Saudi authorities to put a stop to any further flogging of Raif Badawi and to release himimmediately and unconditionally, as he is considered a prisoner of conscience,detai ned and sentenced solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression; calls on the Saudi authorities to ensure that his conviction and sentence, including his travel ban, are quashed;
2. Calls on the Saudi authorities to ensure that Raif Badawi be protected from torture and other ill treatment, and be given any medical attention he may require, as well as immediate and regular access to his family and lawyers of his choice;
3. Calls on the Saudi authorities to release unconditionally Raif Badawi's lawyer, and all human rights defenders and other prisoners of conscience detained and sentenced for merely exercising their right to freedom of expression;
4. Condemns firmly all forms of corporal punishment as unacceptable and degrading treatment contrary to human dignity and voices concern about states' use of flogging, strongly calling for its strict abolition; calls on the Saudi authorities to respect the prohibition of torture, as is most notably enshrined in the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Saudi Arabia has signed and ratified; calls on Saudi Arabia to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
5. Highlights the process ofjudicial reform undertaken by Saudi Arabia with a view to strengthening the possibility for improved protection of individual rights, but remains gravely concerned by the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, which continues to rank among the most repressive counes in tM world; considers the case of Raif Badawi a symbol of the assault on freedom of expression and peaceful dissent in
the country, and more broadly of the Kingdom's characteristic policies of intolerance and extrem ist interpretation of Islamic law;1. Urges the Saudi authorities to abolish the Specialised Criminal Court, set up in 2008 to try terrorism cases but increasingly used to prosecute peaceful dissidents on apparently politically motivated charges and in proceedings that violate the fundamental right to a fair trial;
2. Calls on the Saudi authorities to allow independent press and media and ensure freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly for all inhabitants of Saudi Arabia; condemns the repression of activists and protesters when they demonstrate peacefully; stresses that the peaceful advocacy of basic legal rights or making critical remarks using social media are expressions of an indispensable right;
3. Reminds Saudi Arabia's leadership of its pledge to 'uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights' when it applied successfully for membership to the UNHuman Rights Council in 2013;
4. Believes that Saudi Arabia would be a more credible and effective paiiner in fighting terrorist organisations such as the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda if it did not engage in anachronistic and extremist practices, such as public beheadi ngs, stoning and other forms of torture, si milar to those committed by IS;
5. Calls on the European External Action Service and the Commission to suppoti, in an active and creative manner, civil society groups and individuals defending human rights in Saudi Arabia, including through the arrangement of prison visits, trial monitoring and public statements;
11 . Instructs its Delegation for Relations with the Arab Peninsula to raise the issue ofRaif Badawi and the other prisoners of conscience during the course of its forthcoming visit to Saudi Arabia and to report back to its Subcom mitteeon Human Rights;
12. Calls for the EU and its Member States to reconsider their relationship with Saudi Arabia, in a way that allows it to pursue its economic, energy and security interests, while not undermining the credibil ity of its core human rights commitments;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council. the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for H uman Rights, His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Secretary General of the Centre for National Dialogue of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
(1) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2014)0207.
Last updated: 13 February 2015
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