HRW’s attempt to defame Saudi Arabia exposed

Jeddah, Mar 7: A top human rights official has admitted that he was wrong to publish a photograph of a woman being caned publicly in Indonesia alongside an article on the Saudi judicial system.

Kenneth Roth, the director of Human Rights Watch, acknowledged that it created the impression that the incident took place in Saudi Arabia. He had taken the picture down from his Twitter account because it was “causing confusion,” he told media.

However, his mistake has resulted in several Twitter users slandering the Kingdom, a news paper found out.

The picture he published alongside the article was in fact of an Indonesian woman being caned publicly in Aceh, a province of that Far Eastern country, for selling food during Ramadan in October.

The picture was used to illustrate articles published in an Indonesian newspaper, The Age, on May 6, 2014 and Jan. 9, 2015, to highlight that the country’s judicial system, which is based on Islamic law and permits public flogging.

Roth was, however, insistent that the article on the Saudi judicial system, which was published alongside the photograph on his Twitter account, was correct because it described a case that he claims had taken place in the Kingdom.

“No one, neither I nor the original article, ever claimed that the photo was from Saudi Arabia, which rarely releases photos of floggings. Rather, the photo was an illustration of a woman being flogged, given the lack of Saudi photos. However, the case described was in fact from Saudi Arabia. I’ve taken the post down since it was causing confusion in light of the photo,” Roth said in response to Arab News’ questions.

However, Roth’s response to Arab News was never mentioned in his tweet, which has since disappeared from the Internet.

Roth was apparently referring to an incident about a woman in Qatif that occurred in 2006, which was widely reported in the Saudi media at the time. It ended with the intervention of the late King Abdullah. The woman was proven innocent and her tormentors punished.

Roth said: “As I said, the photo came with the article. No one disputes that the case happened several years ago in Saudi Arabia. It is an appropriate case to recall as we celebrate International Women’s Day. That the king ultimately stepped in to save the woman is fortunate for her but still an indictment of a system that permits such cases ...”

He added: “Similarly, I would welcome the chance to improve Saudi Arabia’s reputation by announcing an end to guardianship and other restrictions for women—once that happens.”