SHAFAQNA| by Leila Yazdani: Sheikh Nimr Baqir Al-Nimr as a prominent and popular voice played a large role in protests against multi-faceted discrimination of Shia. The Scholar was an outspoken critic of the Saudi government, calling for more rights for the country’s marginalized Shia community; Shia Muslims that say they’re treated like “second-class citizens in Saudi Arabia. The life-long experience of being treated as a second-class citizen in the Eastern Province prompted Sheikh Nimr to become a vocal activist for human rights and reform.
Sheikh Al-Nimr was from Awamiya, a village in Saudi Arabia’s far east, near the Persian Gulf. Born in 1959, Al-Nimr came from a Shia family famous for its history of resistance, latimes told. He spent some 15 years in exile, returning in the mid-’90s, NPR reported. His political and social activism began in the 1990s and continued through 2012 as he demanded reforms, an end to fear, intimidation, persecution, and abuse at the hands of the state.
“From the day I was born and to this day, I’ve never felt safe or secure in this country,” Nimr said in a speech in 2011. “What is this country? The regime that oppresses me? The regime that steals my money, sheds my blood, and violates my honor?” He advocated for freedom for all citizens as he called for a peaceful reform movement. Sheikh Al-Nimr was a Shia cleric who pushed for equality for Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslim population, while also promoting increased political freedom for the kingdom’s Sunni Muslims.
While he was not a journalist, prominent Shia Scholar and Activist Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr certainly practiced- and suffered- for the right to free expression. Sheikh Al-Nimr’s sermons and speeches drew international attention to ongoing human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, as he dared to publicaly say what many others only thought. Sheikh Nimr Baqir Al-Nimr was an ardent advocate against all forms of oppression.
Human rights organizations: Saudi authorities “violently arrested” Sheikh Al-Nimr
Sheikh Al-Nimr played a major role in demonstrations by Saudi’s Shias in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring. At a protest in July 2012, he was arrested after being shot in the leg by police. Human rights organizations reported that Saudi authorities “violently arrested” Sheikh Al-Nimr, resulting in his injuries. For the next three years, he endured torture, solitary confinement, and limited access to medical care.
In 2013, Saudi government tried him in its Specialized Criminal Court, a court separate from the traditional Saudi criminal justice system and mired in allegations of due process violations. In October 2014, the Specialized Criminal Court convicted him on these charges, and in October 2015 he lost his final appeal. Throughout his time in detention, Sheikh Al-Nimr had inconsistent access to both his family and his legal representation. Moreover, the Government of Saudi Arabia repeatedly violated Sheikh Al-Nimr’s due process rights over the course of the legal proceedings.
Mass execution in 2016
On 2 January 2016, the Government of Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of 47 individuals including prominent Muslim Shia cleric and political activist Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr. Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), and the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) condemned in the strongest and most absolute terms the actions of the Saudi government, and called on the governments of the international community to intervene in order to prevent any further bloodshed.
The execution of Sheikh Al-Nimr is not only the most serious crime imaginable against a single person – it is also a crime against human rights, democracy, and human dignity. Since his execution, the kingdom has continued to target dissident Shia clerics. Since arresting leading Shia cleric Sheikh Al-Nimr in July 2012, the government of Saudi Arabia has worked to propagate a series of misperceptions aimed at degrading Sheikh Al-Nimr’s record as a peaceful opposition figure. However, a review of Sheikh Nimr’s speeches and opposition activities demonstrates that government claims do not hold up to scrutiny.
Sheikh Al-Nimr: We are not loyal to other countries or authorities
The Saudi government accused him of having contacts with Iran, a charge that observers believe was untrue. Sheikh Al-Nimr called for improvements in the situation of the Saudi Shia and an end to government injustice against them, independent of any outside considerations. His efforts to draw attention to the systematic discrimination suffered by Shia in education, employment, religion, and the judiciary, have won him the stern disapproval of the Saudi government, which did not hesitate to label him as a Shia agent of Iran promoting unrest and cross-border sectarian unity.
In a sermon given in spring 2012, after providing a detailed history of how Saudi Shia uprisings predated the Iranian revolution, Sheikh Al-Nimr stated, “We have no ties with Iran or any other country. We are connected to our values, and we will defend them, even if your media continues with its distortions”, Adhrb mentioned.
Sheikh Al-Nimr: The roar of word is mightier than the sound of bullets
The Saudi government claimed that Sheikh Al-Nimr incited violent resistance through his sermons and activities in the Eastern Province. In November 2015, advisors to Saudi Defense Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman published a statement claiming, “the Al-Nimr family members pursued violence and attacks on security forces and government facilities beside terrorizing civilians.” During Sheikh Al-Nimr’s trial, the government accused and convicted him of inciting sectarian strife and encouraging rioting and the destruction of property.
But Sheikh Al-Nimr’s speeches outline a different vision for resistance to the Saudi government. In explaining how the movement should operate, Sheikh Al-Nimr repeatedly emphasized that “the roar of the word” is mightier than the sound of bullets. Prior to his arrest, Sheikh Al-Nimr had told the BBC in a 2011 interview that he called for “the roar of the word against authorities rather than weapons… the weapon of the word is stronger than bullets, because authorities will profit from a battle with weapons.”
Almost all of the charges raised against Sheikh Nimr directly related to his peaceful speeches, sermons, and protest activities. The prosecutor stated that the sermons and speeches disrupted “national unity,” “insulted the king,” “supported anti-state chants,” and encouraged people to demonstrate. An Amnesty International review of the 21 speeches delivered by the prosecutor during Sheikh Nimr’s trial concluded that he did not advocate for violence and was simply exercising his right to free expression.
Sheikh Al-Nimr had no connections to any terrorist cells
The Saudi government tried and convicted Sheikh Al-Nimr in the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), a national security tribunal ostensibly tasked with prosecuting crimes related to terrorism, Adhrb.org told. But, Sheikh Al-Nimr had no connections to any terrorist cells and has not engaged in any violent activities directed toward the Saudi government or Saudi civilians. Sheikh Al-Nimr’s death was the result of discrimination and injustice at the hands of the Saudi government. Following a deeply flawed trial, which failed to follow the kingdom’s own laws. He’s a martyr now and he will never be forgotten.