In a striking move, the American Bar Association awarded Saudi lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair its prestigious 2019 ABA International Human Rights Award at its annual meeting that took place August 7-13, in San Francisco.
The world’s largest professional bar association for lawyers with about 400,000 members, the ABA established the award to honor and recognize a lawyer, a human rights luminary, or an international human rights organization that has made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of human rights—outside of the United States.
The award is given on behalf of the ABA Center for Human Rights, the Section of International Law, the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, the Section of Litigation, and the Rule of Law Initiative.
In 2008, Abu al-Khair founded Monitor for Human Rights, one of a few human rights organizations in Saudi Arabia. Since then, he has dedicated his career to defending human rights and the right to freedom of expression, even after government authorities banned him in 2009 from representing specific defendants. Abu al-Khair also has advocated for democratic reforms in Saudi Arabia, such as an elected parliament and an independent judiciary.
In 2014, Abu al-Khair was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison for his human rights activism under an “anti-terrorism” law that was put in effect halfway through his trial.
In 2014, Abu al-Khair was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison for his human rights activism under an “anti-terrorism” law that was put in effect halfway through his trial. When he refused to apologize for his alleged offenses, a Saudi appeals court upheld his full sentence in 2015.
“Waleed Abu al-Khair’s courage promoting human rights in Saudi Arabia should be lauded by all lawyers,” said ABA President Bob Carlson. “He has made tremendous sacrifices, including to his own liberty, to improve the lives of others in his home country. It is our hope that this award shines a spotlight on his work, helps free him from his unwarranted incarceration and inspires legal professionals around the world to continue to work for justice and the rule of law.”
During the annual meeting, the ABA’s new incoming president, Judy Perry Martinez, pledged to champion the rule of law and to ensure access to justice, a commitment that clearly has implications not just within the U.S., but internationally.
“A foundation of good lawyering is a deep belief in the rule of law,” she said. The members of ABA, she continued, desire “the most powerful and influential association that represents their profession to be champions of justice, protectors of democracy, and advocates for the rule of law, at home and abroad.”
Saudi Arabia is a kingdom notorious for its repressive abuses of human rights and systematic crack downs on freedom of speech and expression.
While these are all values highly revered in the US and other Western countries that have longstanding democracies and legal structures, Saudi Arabia is a kingdom notorious for its repressive abuses of human rights and systematic crack downs on freedom of speech and expression, particularly since Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman ascended to power. The most visible, although largely forgotten now 11 months to the day later, is the torture, murder, and dismemberment of Saudi journalist and American resident Jamal Khashoggi by operatives of the Crown Prince in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October, 2018.
In language used by the intelligence community to denote complete certainty, the CIA concluded with “high confidence” that Crown Prince MbS had ordered the assassination. In fact, it was such a brutal murder that CIA Director Gina Haspel, who visited Turkey and listened to the Turkish tape recordings of the crime, said she “broke down and cried” at the moment when she heard his fingers being cut off.
Echoing an earlier piece I wrote on this, 11 months to the day that Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered, the world deserves answers, his fiancée deserves the return of his body (or body parts), and Jamal deserves justice.
But this is only one case. With many other Saudi abuses sailing under the mainstream radar as the Trump administration continues to turn a blind eye in favor of lucrative business and arms deals, it is fitting that the US’s most influential bar association should recognize a Saudi lawyer who has been imprisoned for exposing and combatting these atrocities.
Incoming President Martinez, whose husband came as a toddler to the US from Algeria, said that she had been particularly sensitized to the difference between the freedoms we take for granted in the US and the plight of people who lack basic freedoms and human rights in many parts of the world.
“Our colleagues and our country, and indeed, the world, look to us to lead with knowledge of the law, and respect for the principles on which our nation was founded,” she said. “Our finest moments and most enduring contributions have been when we have used our voice and resources for causes about which we can act with authority, and which we can influence with impact.”
“As lawyers, we know equality. We know liberty. And we know justice.”
“As lawyers, we know equality. We know liberty. And we know justice.”
Abu al-Khair was presented the award in absentia on August 8. It is hoped that this recognition will help to bring justice to the Saudi human rights crusader.
