Tuesday 3 March 2015

Extremism in The Middle East - A Human Rights Nightmare.

A man in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to death; beheading in fact; for the offense of apostasy, deserting his Islam religion. He released a video of himself tearing up a holy book - the Koran.

According to The Human Rights Watch, any deviation from the nation's enforced Sunni faith is brutally chastised. Furthermore, public worship by adherents of any religion other than Islam is prohibited and can be regarded as a crime. The infusion of religion and law is a contentious subject of course, and it's difficult to form an opinion on such matters. However, I feel now is the perfect time to address this matter of Human Rights abuse. 

In recent news, we have all seen ISIS - The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. They are presently being held accountable for a multitude of Human Rights abuses and War Crimes. Amnesty International has reported 'ethnic cleansing' by the religious extremists, on a historical scale. We have all been made aware by the media that ISIS are the face of evil, and that they are definitely a common enemy. This may be true, however, I urge people to do their research, as what you might find is fascinating. Human Rights groups say the Saudi justice system suffers from lack of transparency and legitimacy, which frequently denies defendants basic rights such as legal representation. 
Despite the minor judicial reforms that were made in Saudi Arabia, they show absolutely no sign of reducing the number of executions, as well as remaining reluctant to admit mistake and defend its process as fair. 

With so much turmoil in the world today, it's increasingly appealing to believe what you read and hear on the news. I urge you to question sources and do your own research, formulate your own opinion - politicians and the media often use scapegoats - it's much easier to give evil a face; even if it has several. 

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