Target: Joe Biden, President of the United States
Goal: Take punitive action against imprisonment of Saudi citizens for speaking their minds.
“They charged her for 34 years over 250 characters.” These chilling but accurate words were spoken by an advocacy group in relation to Saudi Arabian citizen Salma al-Shehab. This woman, who was attending graduate school in another country, returned home to visit her family. Within a short time, she was arrested and allegedly threatened and abused while in detention because of her status as a minority Shia Muslim. Now, a Saudi court has sentenced her to decades in prison, where she will likely endure even worse torture and assault. What was her great crime? She advocated for women’s rights and increased freedoms in Saudi Arabia on social media.
This latest injustice demonstrates in stark detail how the Saudi government’s attempts to cast itself as a more enlightened and liberated ruler are nothing more than empty PR. The reality that takes place behind the curtain is far darker, as the nation remains entrenched in flagrant human rights violations, particularly against individuals who dare to speak up or speak out. Record numbers of dissidents are languishing in prison cells, awaiting their own date with draconian punishments. Meanwhile, the sadists in suits and royal attire are being given fist bumps by the current president and high-priced golf tournaments by the former president.
Sign the petition below to once again urge American leaders to stop selling the nation’s soul for the price of a few barrels of oil.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear President Biden,
When an American journalist asked the Saudi Crown Prince if an apology to Jamal Khashoggi’s family would be forthcoming, he received a smile and silence in response. And when 32-year-old female Salma al-Shehab became the latest citizen to receive a decades-long prison sentence for daring to post about freedom and rights on Twitter, the thunderous silence from Saudi leadership continued. The silence speaks volumes, though.
It speaks to a government that realizes it can get away with any number of heinous human rights abuses because it has been enabled and supported by an international community that willfully looks the other way when said community feels it has something to gain. Was the recent trip to Saudi Arabia and cordial meeting, complete with fist-bumps, worth the further denigration of so-called American values in the world’s eyes…and in the eyes of Americans? Please course-correct and honor your campaign pledge to make this wolf in sheep’s clothing government a pariah.
Fully condemn the continued persecution of dissidents through your words and, most importantly, through your actions.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Cottonbro
865 Signatures