#OpNimr: Upcoming Protests at Saudi Arabian Embassy & White House to Halt Crucifixion of Free Speech Activist

Protests will take place on Friday, November 13th, in Washington D.C. against the impending crucifixion of activist Ali al-Nimr by the Saudi Arabian government. Protests are planned at two locations: from 11:00–2:00 ET at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia and at 2:00–3:00 ET at the White House.

This brutal sentence could be carried out at any time now. Nimr’s appeals, following his court sentencing have been exhausted, “so guards may lead Nimr to a public square and hack off his head with a sword as onlookers jeer. Then, following Saudi protocol for crucifixion, they would hang his body as a warning to others.” Nimr was arrested at age 17 for participating in anti-government protests. The government claims he attacked police officers and rioted, but “the only known evidence is a confession apparently extracted under torture that left him a bloody mess.”

“When I visited my son for the first time I didn’t recognize him,” his mother, Nusra al-Ahmed, exclaimed. “I didn’t know whether this really was my son Ali or not.” The United Nations has called for a retrial and has said it is particularly concerned about this case because Nimr was a child at the time of his arrest. Nimr has been moved to solitary confinement in preparation for the execution.

The New York Times describes the appalling hypocrisy that permeates this case and countless other, similar cases in Saudi Arabia:

“There’s also an underlying hypocrisy in Saudi behavior. This is a country that sentenced a 74-year-old British man to 350 lashes for possessing alcohol (some British reports say he may be allowed to leave Saudi Arabia following international outrage), yet I’ve rarely seen as much hard liquor as at Riyadh parties attended by government officials.

A Saudi prince, Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud, was just arrested in Los Angeles in a $37 million mansion he had rented, after allegedly drinking heavily, hiring escorts, using cocaine, terrorizing women and threatening to kill people. ‘I am a prince,’ he declared, according to an account in The Los Angeles Times. “And I do what I want.’”

There are numerous Saudis who have courageously been pushing for reform. Raif Badawi, a well-known 31-year-old blogger, has called for freedom of thought, women’s rights and education reform. For this, Saudi Arabia sentenced him to 10 years in prison, a $267,000 fine and a flogging of 1,000 lashes (50 at a time).

The United States government has been glaringly silent on this issue and has been much criticized across the political spectrum. The White House did issue a statement expressing deep concern, but it has continued the allied relationship with Saudi Arabia, providing them with weapons and continuing to rely (unnecessarily) on the country for oil.

Amnesty International has highlighted some of the disturbing practices of the Saudi Arabian government:

• Cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments, including beheadings, crucifixions and lashings — during which some actually die.
• A spike in executions, recently.
• “Saudi Arabia is among the world’s top executioners, with dozens of people being put to death annually, many in public beheadings.”
• Crackdown on activists — In addition to Raif Badawi, many outspoken activists remain behind bars, just for exercising their rights to freedom of speech, association and assembly.
• Dissent is not allowed. All public gatherings, including demonstrations, are prohibited.
• Systemic discrimination against women and girls.
• Routine torture of those in custody. “Former detainees, trial defendants and others have told Amnesty International that the security forces’ use of torture and other ill-treatment remains common and widespread, and that those responsible are never brought to justice.”
• Dubious and inconsistent arrests and detentions.
• “Scores of people have been arrested and detained in pre-trial detention for six months or more, which breaches the Kingdom’s own criminal codes. Detainees are frequently held incommunicado during their interrogation and denied access to their lawyers. Some human rights activists have been detained without charge or trial for more than two years.”
• Discrimination against religious minorities.
• “Mass deportation of migrant workers. According to the Interior Ministry, a crackdown on irregular foreign migrant workers in November 2013 led to the deportation of more than 370,000 people. Some 18,000 were still being detained last March. Thousands of people were summarily returned to Somalia, Yemen or other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses.”

Additionally, “what happens in the Kingdom, stays in the Kingdom.” The Saudi Arabian government denies access to human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International. They have also taken punitive action against activists and family members of victims who contact human rights organizations.

According to Raincoaster, who writes for The Cryptosphere, OpNimr was launched in response to Nimr’s deeply troubling case. An OpNimr YouTube video was released on September 22nd, and was followed by the operation taking off with major impact on Twitter. Raincoaster explains that, “the Op is well-coordinated, with a significant Twitter following of both the @OpNimr account and the hashtag, a dedicated IRC channel, two YouTube videos, and several Pastebins laying out the goals, tactics, and targets of the operation.” OpNimr made the following statement regarding its mission and purpose:

“Greetings from Anonymous and LevelTwo Security. It has come to our attention that the Government of Saudi Arabia has condemned to execute a 17-year-old boy named Ali Mohammed al-Nimr for his actions in anti-Government protests against them. They have thrown false charges at him such as the possession of a firearm even thou that there has been no evidence to support that claim. It is clear that the Government of Saudi Arabia simply doesn’t want activists(or the people) to expose their wrongdoings. We have already infiltrated servers belonging to the Gov’t of Saudi Arabia. TO THE GOVERNMENT OF SAUDI ARABIA: We will not allow you to slide with this act of inhumanity. Free Nimir and attacks will cease, keep up that attitude and this will just be the beginning.”

Consequently, the government of Saudi Arabia has been the recipient of a copious amount of DDoS attacks, doxes and other unpleasantness bestowed upon it by Anonymous. These actions were taken in defiance of the barbarous sentence given to Ali al-Nimr, by the Saudi Arabian government.

For more information on #OpNimr, you can follow the operation’s Twitter thread. If you are unable to attend the protests, you can simply participate in the movement online.