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Congressional Record—Senate S2028 S2028 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 26, 2015 Last month, the Washington Post ran Raif’s lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, a Many had hoped that new Ethiopian a powerful letter on its opinion page prominent human rights activist in his Prime Minister Hailemariam would written recently by Khadija where she own right and head of the Monitor of bring a change to his late predecessor’s states that the reason she is in prison Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, was human rights policies. is because of the regime’s corruption himself arrested and sentenced to 15 Unfortunately, last July the Ethio- and vows to continue to expose that years in prison followed by a ban on pian Government charged six bloggers corruption. Less than a week later the travel for 15 years. and three journalists—known collec- Azeri government suddenly called for a Also concerning is that his case was tively as the Zone 9 Bloggers—under a closed-door trial and found her guilty taken up by the Specialized Criminal broadly used terrorism law, despite any of criminal libel. Court in Jeddah, which was created in credible evidence be offered. To quote her piece in the Post: 2008 to deal with terrorist suspects but Sadly, these bloggers seem to have The fight between good and evil goes on, has also taken to trying human rights been arrested to narrow the already and the most important thing is that this activists on dubious charges. small space for free media expression fight should not end. If we can continue to I sent a letter to Saudi Arabia in in Ethiopia. reject the thinking that is imposed on us and January along with several col- Some of you may have heard of believe that human dignity is not for sale, leagues—Senators LEAHY, SHAHEEN, Eskinder Nega, a prominent inde- then we are the winners, and they, our RUBIO, FEINSTEIN, WYDEN, KIRK, and pendent journalist who was critical of jailers both inside and outside prison, are the BOXER—urging the release of both Raif losers. the Ethiopian Government and was de- and Waleed. tained on eight different occasions be- Sadly, this is just a snapshot of the My staff has also met with Samar fore being convicted in 2012 on ter- many brave Azeris or organizations Badawi—she is Waleed’s wife and Raif’s rorism charges and sentenced to 18 facing trumped-up charges or imprison- sister, and she is an activist in her own years in prison. ment for simply exercising basic polit- right—it is a whole family of activists. Others may know of Reeyot Alemu, a ical freedoms. For years she has been a strong advo- schoolteacher and columnist with one To them, I say, the world is aware of cate for women’s rights in Saudi Ara- of Ethiopia’s last remaining inde- your plight and courage. And to Presi- bia and has served her own time in jail pendent papers was also convicted in dent Aliyev, I urge you to release your for it. 2012 on counts of terrorism and sen- own people whose only offense has been In fact, in 2012, she was one of the re- tenced to 5 years in prison. Reeyot has to ask for a peaceful democratic Azer- cipients of the International Women of breast cancer and is in desperate need baijan. You cannot be a part of the Courage Award from the State Depart- of urgent and proper medical care be- Western community of democracies ment. yond what prison can provide. while violating its core democratic Samar and others have raised the Both Eskinder and Reeyot have won principles. profile of countless women who have prestigious international awards for Second, Mr. President, is Saudi Ara- stood up for their rights in a country their work while serving prison terms. bia—a country that is an important where zealous interpretations of reli- Both represent the plight of their ally to the United States on many gion and traditional customs guide countless colleagues in the industry issues and yet could not be more dif- Saudi laws, like the one requiring all who have suffered threats, intimida- ferent when it comes to basic freedoms. women to have a male guardian. tion, politically motivated prosecu- I have spoken about human rights The guardianship law automatically tions, and even physical abuse. concerns in Saudi Arabia on the floor restricts Saudi women from driving, as I sent a letter with Senators BOXER before—the troubling lack of freedoms many of you know, but also from mak- and MENENDEZ to the Ethiopian Gov- for women and the use of obsolete blas- ing their own choices regarding mar- ernment about the Zone 9 Bloggers last phemy and apostasy laws to stifle free- riage and divorce, employment, travel, summer and I know Secretary Kerry dom of religion and expression. banking, and countless other basic life has also raised their cases. I am trou- In 2012, the Saudi Government im- decisions. bled to hear that a fair and transparent prisoned a young blogger named Hamza Raif, Waleed, and Samar are only a trial for them only continues to be de- Kashgari for tweets considered blas- few of the many independent activists layed. phemous. and peaceful dissidents in Saudi Arabia In fact, their case was adjourned 20 Fortunately, after nearly 2 years, I who have faced persecution. times before the group finally had the was pleased to hear of his release. Now, like many of you, I was sad- opportunity to plead not guilty in Writer and activist Raif Badawi, dened to hear of the passing of King court last month, only to be adjourned however, has not been so fortunate. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on January 23. again for March 30, just shortly before Also imprisoned in 2012, Raif Badawi Many have described him as a man of the Ethiopian general elections in May. was sentenced to 10 years in prison and vision, peace, and reform. Prime Minister Hailemariam, you 1,000 lashes for apparently launching a As his brother, Salman, takes the have an opportunity to turn the page Web site that suggested a peaceful dis- seat as the new King of Saudi Arabia, I on your country’s human rights record cussion about religion. hope he will take every opportunity to by reversing a troubling pattern of He received his first set of 50 lashes free Raif, Waleed, and others jailed on press harassment. in public on January 9, and spent his account of their beliefs, to allow great- These are just a few of the many po- 31st birthday in jail, severely wounded. er room for political debate and free- litical prisoners around the globe that His wife, Ensaf Haidar, who fled to doms, and renounce any further pros- struggle, often at great risk, for a bet- Canada with their three children after ecutions under charges of apostasy or ter future for their fellow countrymen she began receiving anonymous death blasphemy. and women and for their children. I threats because of her husband’s case, Last, Mr. President, I would like to want them and their families—and the fears her husband may not be able to turn the attention toward Ethiopia, a governments unjustly holding them— physically withstand another round of country I last visited in 2010, when I to know that they are not forgotten. lashings. had the opportunity to meet with then- I will continue to draw attention to I was relieved to hear that after Prime Minister Meles. their plight and work for their release, international outrage about this treat- Meles’ government made many ad- along with my colleagues here in Con- ment as well as serious concern about vances and Ethiopia was and remains gress and their countless advocates his health, Raif’s next rounds of an ally and leader a difficult region. It around the world. floggings have been repeatedly post- has also received millions over the poned. His case was referred to the Su- years in development assistance from f preme Court in Riyadh only to be re- the United States. turned back to the Court of Appeals in And yet, Ethiopia continues to be a LYNCH NOMINATION Jeddah, where reports indicate he may country with a troubling human rights Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, one great be retried and even worse, could face record, particularly regarding freedom responsibility that distinguishes the the death penalty. of the press. U.S. Senate is our constitutional role VerDate Sep 11 2014 12:23 Apr 08, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD15\MAR 15\S26MR5.PT2 S26MR5 DSKD7QTVN1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE March 26, 2015 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2029 of advice and consent. We have a sol- tion was announced, the Republican neys General combined: Richard emn duty to consider nominees for po- leader criticized me for not yet having Thornburgh, 1 day; William Barr, 5 sitions of great importance to the Na- set a hearing date, saying that Demo- days; Janet Reno, 1 day; John Ashcroft, tion, some of which are lifetime ap- crats should ‘‘not hold Judge Mukasey 2 days, Alberto Gonzales, 8 days; Mi- pointments. Every day that the nomi- hostage while they play partisan chael Mukasey, 2 days; and Eric Hold- nation of Loretta Lynch to be the next games.’’ That was after 3 weeks. We are er, 5 days. This delay is an embarrass- Attorney General awaits a floor vote is now on week 19 for Ms. Lynch—that is ment for the U.S. Senate. another day the Senate fails to func- more than six times as long and Sen- I am concerned that the Senate will tion as it should.
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