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Resources updated between Monday, December 14, 2015 and Sunday, December 20, 2015
December 18, 2015
December 17, 2015
Abdullah ah-Zaher became the youngest person given the death sentence, according to campaigners Reprieve.
Campaigners claim Abdullah ah-Zaher, who attended the protest four years ago was put on death row as part of a crackdown on political dissent.
The 19-year-old has been moved to solitary confinement and could be beheaded at any moment.
Despite possible repercussions, his family have gone public with his story, in a final bid to save his life.
His father Hassan al-Zaher said: "Please help me save my son from the imminent threat of death. He doesn't deserve to die just because he participated in a protest rally."
According to the campaign group, Reprieve, Abdullah was arrested for being in the area of a protest in March 2012, beaten by police and tortured.
He was then allegedly forced to sign papers police fabricated.
Saudi media reports suggest 52 prisoners will be executed at any time.
Abdullah was held alongside Ali al-Nimr, who has been sentenced to a death penalty for allegedly instigating a revolution using his Blackberry.
A Reprieve spokeswoman said: "What we know from the families of the three is that they are in solitary confinement and being prepared for execution.
"They have been moved and undergone medical examinations, which seem to suggest their beheading is imminent.
The whole business of executions in Saudi Arabia is shrouded in secrecy, and prisoners are often beheaded without any notice to family or lawyers."
His father has said his health is deteriorating and when he attended this protest at the age of 15, he wasn't even fully aware what they were protesting for.
Saudi Arabia Orders Execution Of Teenager For Attending A PROTEST Document
December 16, 2015
Don't Fold on UNESCO Article
December 15, 2015
A two-day conference "On the Question of Jerusalem" held in Jakarta on December 14 and 15, 2015, was a platform to spread hate speech against Israel. Speakers at the opening session of the conference, which was convened by the UN's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), accused Israel of committing terrorism and multiple war crimes, while ignoring the actual terrorism and war crimes perpetrated by Palestinians and Hamas. In the words of the UN Press release:
"Riad Al-Malki, Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine, spoke on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas: ... The city was also a symbol, he continued, but today it stood as a testimony to double standards, injustice, racism and apartheid...illegal acts, war crimes and crimes against humanity... He stressed that settler terrorism must be outlawed...
RETNO LESTARI PRIANSARI MARSUDI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, said ... Israel had continued to impose a reign of terror throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory...
SAMIR BAKR, Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said ... the grave practices perpetrated by Israel continued to be a concern as they represented an act of ethnic cleansing that amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity..."
UN-Sponsored Conference "On Jerusalem" is an Israel Hate-Fest Development
December 14, 2015
The trial of one of China's most high profile human rights lawyers, on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and provoking trouble, lasted just three hours on Monday, with police blocking diplomats, foreign reporters and protesters from the Beijing court.
Pu Zhiqiang, who has spent nearly 19 months in detention, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted, according to one of his lawyers, Shang Baojun.
As many as 11 diplomats from countries including the United States, Germany and France congregated near the courthouse seeking to observe the trial. They were refused admittance by the police.
Dan Biers, deputy political counselor of the U.S. embassy in Beijing, called for Pu's release and criticized the "vague charges" that have been handed down against Pu.
Police tried to prevent Biers from reading out a statement near the courthouse, pushing him and foreign reporters out of the way. Dozens of police and plain clothes security surrounded the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, where they blocked foreign journalists attempting to report on the trial.
Neither the court nor public security authorities could immediately be reached for comment. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said "law enforcement authorities carried out order management at the scene in accordance with the law".
"The relevant people should cooperate," Hong said at a daily news briefing, urging all foreign countries to "respect China's judicial sovereignty".
China has charged many rights activists with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", saying it is a country with rule of law and dismissing any international criticism on its rights record.
The main accusations against Pu revolve around seven microblog posts on his online accounts, his lawyers say. The posts had criticized China's ethnic policy in the troubled western region of Xinjiang and denounced several officials.
Pu's trial lasted a little over three hours, Mo Shaoping, another one of his lawyers, told Reuters.
"He admitted the seven microblogs were written by him, there was no issue with it, this is a fact," Mo said, recounting what Pu said in court. "Secondly, he said that if these microblog posts had caused injury to other people, he apologizes for it. Thirdly, he had no intention to incite ethnic hatred or pick quarrels and provoke trouble."
Mo said the court did not ask Pu specifically whether he was pleading guilty.
CLAMPDOWN
Pu's case will be seen by rights groups and the West as a measure of what they say is the most severe clampdown on human rights in two decades in China.
"Pu's trial is extremely important - he's the ultimate canary in the coalmine," said Maya Wang, a China researcher for Human Rights Watch. "If they decide to be harsh against him, I'd say it'll signify a further escalation of hostility towards human rights activism."
Pu has represented many well-known dissidents, including artist Ai Weiwei and activists of the "New Citizens' Movement", a group that has called on Chinese leaders to make their wealth public.
Despite being pushed back by the police, about 40 supporters gathered outside the courthouse and chanted slogans to show their solidarity with Pu.
"Pu Zhiqiang is not a criminal. He will be judged by history," said Qu Biao, 53, a teacher from northern Shaanxi province who had traveled to Beijing to show his support for Pu.
"The Chinese constitution protects freedom of speech, so putting him on trial is unjust and shameless. If Pu Zhiqiang is guilty, then we are all guilty."
Pu, 50, was detained in May 2014 after he attended a meeting in a private home to commemorate the suppression of pro-democracy protests in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989. Pu, who had participated in the protests, had vowed to commemorate the anniversary every year.
Authorities had rejected his lawyers' request for medical parole earlier in September, his lawyer, Shang, said.
In the past two years, the government has launched a crackdown on online rumors, detained hundreds of human rights lawyers in a nationwide sweep, and jailed a journalist on a charge of leaking state secrets.
Trial Of China Rights Lawyer Lasts Three Hours, Police Block Court Access Document