A Saudi man was sentenced to paralysis for a stabbing crime committed a decade ago, which was condemned by rights groups and Western governments.
Amnesty International described the sentencing as “outrageous” and it added it “should on no account be carried out.”
Ali al-Khawahir, 24, was reportedly sentenced under the Saudi crime of qiasas, or retribution, in the town of al-Ahsa. He could be paralyzed from the wrist down unless he pays the equivalent of $270,000 in compensation to the victim.
The Saudi Gazette reported that he should be “fully paralyzed” for stabbing and paralyzing his best friend 10 years ago, when he was 14. The victim, the paper said, “has been completely paralyzed ever since and has not been able to lead a normal life and has been deprived of being a father.”
But, according to Amnesty’s Ann Harrison, “paralyzing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture. That such a punishment might be implemented is utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offences, as happens in Saudi Arabia.”
She added: “It is time the authorities in Saudi Arabia start respecting their international legal obligations and remove these terrible punishments from the law.”
Amnesty noted that a similar sentence to paralysis was issued in 2010, but it is unclear if it was actually carried out. The punishment goes against the United Nation’s charter against torture.
The punishment is derived from the ancient Code of Hammurabi, a king who ruled over the Babylonian Empire nearly 4,000 years ago. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” reads one of the most well-known laws that comprised the code.
Ali’s mother told the Gazette: “Ten years have passed with hundreds of sleepless nights. My hair has become grey at a young age because of my son’s problem. I have been frightened to death whenever I think about my son’s fate and that he will have to be paralyzed.”
