The Washington Post carries the Associated Press report on the hunger strike taking place in Saudi Arabia today in support of jailed activists. This public hunger strike, the first in the history of the country, is drawing international attention to the status of detainees as well as the vagaries of the Saudi judicial system.
Don’t miss Saudi Jeans take: Making the Case for the Hunger Strike.
Saudis on hunger strike to demand judiciary reform
DONNA ABU-NASRRIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A group of Saudi activists began a rare public hunger strike Thursday to demand judiciary reform and draw attention to the detention without trial of 11 political reformists.
The 65 mostly male protesters plan to continue the strike they are holding in their homes on Friday. Their action in a country that bans public gatherings, protests and political parties could land them in jail.
Mohammad al-Qahtani, one of 13 activists who called for the protest, said the group resorted to the strike after the government failed to respond to letters sent to influential officials asking them to release the reformists, improve prison conditions and reform the legal system.
ad_icon“We used all legal means to make our voice heard but we were ignored,” said al-Qahtani, a college professor. “That’s why we don’t fear any government retribution.”
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Here’s the take from Christian Science Monitor.
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November:06:2008 - 21:33
[...] Arabia links to international media coverage on the story here. Posted by Amira Al Hussaini Print Version Share [...]
November:07:2008 - 00:07
Poem: Cry of the Oppressed
Oppressed
Forced or is there a choice
The food I forego is not a sacrifice
It is not but as the earth is to the Universe
Only minuteness in a vast sea of space and time
Shall I be made to suffer forever?
A question I would secretly ask myself over and over again.
Instead scoffed at for wanting more
Should I not be content with my lot?
Should I not be content with the simplest of restrictions that a caged bird could never flee?
Should I not be content with all the pain and misery?
Oppressors
Nay, have we not told you repeatedly
You desires are nothing but a barren tree.
You shall not receive the rays of the warm sun to penetrate thee;
You shall not feel the drops of rain as they gracefully fall from the heavens on thee;
You see we have thought this up well a long time ago…you are my servant and nothing to me.
Your desires “hah” how dare you want?
Are you not thankful for what Allah has given to thee from above? Such ingrates have no other fate but burn in hell…But my servant if you pray real hard I promise thee…
Surely Allah forgives your outright blasphemy. Wants and desires are sinful…you we brought here for nothing else but serve thy master unquestionably.
SO please remember we will bind thee into silence and ultimately lock you up and throw away the key
We deceive the best of deceptors because you see..We truly believe that We are Almighty In DEED !!!
Destruction is on the way and so the whole world will come to see…
Oppressed
And all of this for nothing more than your Selfish Creed and Selfish Greed?
God will provide a way out of this hell you have made…I only pray that it won’t bring about more misery…