Help Stop Saudi Arabia From Executing A Teenager

A Saudi juvenile offender is living in a cell, waiting to be beheaded and crucified. His crime? Activism. In 2012, at the age of 17, Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was arrested for protesting against the Saudi Arabian government. After he was taken into custody, Ali was tortured and tricked into giving a confession. His “confession” is the only evidence the government has against him. He was then tried without regular access to his lawyer in what Amnesty International has called a “deeply flawed trial.” Ali was found guilty and sentenced to death by beheading; his body may be displayed publicly. His family is shattered; there is nothing more legally they can do as every appeal has been exhausted. Saudi Arabia is one of America’s allies, but President Obama has not spoken out against this grotesque human rights violation. His voice may be Ali’s only hope. Sign my petition asking President Obama to speak out against Saudi Arabia’s death sentence for Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr. When Ali was taken into custody, he was a juvenile. Sentencing a child to death is against international law, specifically in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Saudi Arabia is a state party. A group of United Nations human rights experts have stated Ali should be given a fair retrial and that “any judgment imposing the death penalty upon persons who were children at the time of the offence, and their execution, are incompatible with Saudi Arabia’s international obligations.” Saudi Arabia has executed 134 people this year alone. If we do not act now, Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr could be next. Truly, the only option Ali now has is for Saudi Arabia to feel international pressure to stop the beheading. With your signature, we’re one step closer to creating that international pressure and support for Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr. Please sign my petition and join me in asking President Obama to help save juvenile offender Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr by denouncing his death sentence. Thank you, Mark Haslam

Sign Mark’s petition