Raif Badawi Receives PEN Canada Award
Saudi blogger Raif Badawi is serving a 10-year sentence in a prison in Jeddah, with 1000 lashes -- given 50 at a time in public -- for "insulting Islam."
In 2014, PEN Canada awarded him the One Humanity Award in absentia, which was received at his request by Pakistani secular activist Alishba Zarmeen (@SecularlyYours).
Her acceptance speech (starting at 2:54):
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Since the beginning of human societies, we have seen injustice and violence justified in the name of nationalism and religious duty. Countless innocent men, women, and children have been victims of torture and genocide because of our poor understanding of human rights and civil liberties. Before the advent of modern science, human beings had resorted to the tactics of dehumanizing the “other” simply because of a different skin color or spoken language.
Today, we live in a modern scientific era where our species has seen the universe beyond our solar system and where racism, sexism, and censorship are not accepted norms but taboos which have no place in a civilized society.
Alas, not every citizen of this planet knows what it feels like to have equal opportunities and the freedom of thought and expression. Raif Badawi is one such victim of gross injustice and a prisoner of conscience, suffering from blatant violation of human rights. He is imprisoned for nothing more than daring to think for himself and having an opinion about the world he lives in.
Raif Badawi is a father of three young children and the loving husband of Ensaf Haider. His wife’s name literally translates into “justice.” She is spending her days in Quebec, fighting the injustices her husband is a victim of.
Raif is a friend and brother in humanity who wants nothing more than to make this planet a better place for its inhabitants. And he is not alone in this fight. We stand with him and support him.
Raif’s sister, Samar Badawi, is also a dedicated human rights activist, fighting for women’s equality in Saudi Arabia and trying to free her lawyer husband, Waleed Abulkhair, from the same injustice her brother is being subjected to.
I want to take this opportunity to call upon the Saudi authorities to take a moment and seriously reflect on how it wants to be seen as a country in the international community.
Does Saudi Arabia want to be a country which is admired for its cultural gifts and seen as symbol of tolerance which it claims the Islamic religion preaches? Or does it wish to continue to serve as a reminder of outdated legislations and an example of a dystopia which refuses accept humanity, compassion, freedom, and reason as the fundamentals of a society?
It is time for Saudi authorities to decide if they really want to treat Raif, his family, and others like him the same inhumane way the Quraish tribe of Mecca treated Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.
I will close my statement with a message from Raif Badawi:
“We want life for those who wish death to us; and we want rationality for those who want ignorance for us."
Thank you.
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