Thursday, December 1, 2011

Saudis rally despite tightened security



Thu Dec 1, 2011 6:10PM GMT
Reddit
Saudi protesters demand the release of prisoners held without trail during an anti-regime demonstration in the city of Qatif. (File photo)
Protesters have once again taken to the streets of Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province to condemn the killing of five demonstrators in the past several days.


The demonstrators rallied in the Shia-majority region on Thursday, holding placards bearing the pictures of those killed by the regime forces.

The new street protests come in the face of more military reinforcements in the eastern city of Qatif and nearby towns.

The buildup comes less than 48 hours after the deployment of dozens of military vehicles, including tanks, to crush anti-government demonstrations there.

On Thursday, Amnesty International released a report criticizing Riyadh of a new wave of repression against peaceful protesters and reformists.

In a 73-page report published on its website, Amnesty said thousands of people had been arrested in the ultraconservative kingdom, many of whom without charge or trial, while torture runs high in Saudi jails.

The report also expressed concern over a newly drafted anti-terrorism law that defines dissent against the ruling Saudi family as a 'terrorist crime,' and would strip away more rights from the accused, it added.

The Saudi kingdom has been swept with an uprising for the past months in the face of Riyadh's known intolerance of dissent.

In March, the Saudi Interior Ministry called all public gatherings illegal and authorized regime forces “to take all measures needed” against the people defying the ban.

MRS/JR/IS

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