USTPAC Appeals to Saudi King to Pardon Sri Lankan Rizana Nafeek from Execution

 USTPAC today sent an urgent request to the King of Saudi Arabia requesting clemency for the Tamil-speaking Sri Lankan maid sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. In a letter to the King which was sent via the Saudi Embassy in Washington DC, the president of USTPAC, Dr. Elias Jeyarajah urged the king to show compassion for Ms. Nafeek for the alleged crime committed when she was still a minor, an appeal also made by Amnesty International in MDE 23/026/2007 and Human Rights Watch on October 26, 2010, since Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

(July 31, Washington DC, Sri Lanka Guardian) The USTPAC today (July 30) sent an urgent request to the King of Saudi Arabia requesting clemency for the Tamil-speaking Sri Lankan maid sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. In a letter to the King which was sent via the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC, the president of USTPAC, Dr. Elias Jeyarajah urged the king to show compassion for Ms. Nafeek for the alleged crime committed when she was still a minor, an appeal also made by Amnesty International in MDE 23/026/2007 and Human Rights Watch on October 26, 2010, since Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Commenting on the letter, Dr. Jeyarajah said, “It is important that we lend a voice to the voiceless regardless of the situation or the location, and that is what USTPAC has been doing.” He added, “We have urged the King of Saudi Arabia to show mercy and pardon Ms. Nafeek from execution.”

USTPAC extended condolences to the parents of the infant, Mr. and Mrs. Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al-Otaibi, for the tragic loss of their young son. “We also appeal to the goodness of the Al-Otaibi family to pardon Rizana Nafeek,” said the spokesperson for USTAPC.

About USTPAC: The United States Tamil Political Action Council is a registered non-profit organization in the U.S. with the mission of achieving a peaceful political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka by democratic, non-violent and lawful means. Founded in 2009, USTPAC is a grassroots-advocacy organization which coordinates advocacy and political activism on a national scale.

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