Glenn Greenwald – U.S. State Department “Welcomes” News That Saudi Arabia Will Head U.N. Human Rights Panel

Last week’s announcement that Saudi Arabia — easily one of the world’s most brutally repressive regimes — was chosen to head a U.N. Human Rights Council panel provokedindignation around the world. That reaction was triggered for obvious reasons. Not only has Saudi Arabia executed more than 100 people already this year, mostly by beheading (a rate of 1 execution every two days), and not only is it serially flogging …

John Kerry Arrives in Saudi Arabia Amidst Unprecedented Rise in State Executions

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Saudi Arabia coincides with a recent surge of executions in that country. So far this year, at least 39 people have reportedly been put to death by authorities. Amnesty International’s researcher on Saudi Arabia, Sevag Kechichian, told The Independent, “Since the beginning of the year we’ve seen an unprecedented rate of executions in the …