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Fresh protest rally held in Qatif

21 November 2011 20:32 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Saudis have held a fresh anti-government protest rally in the town of Qatif to condemn the killing of a teenager by security forces, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Scores of Saudis took to the streets of Qatif on Monday to mourn the 19-year-old Nasser al-Mahishi who was shot by regime forces late on Sunday while walking down a street with his friends.

He succumbed to his wounds on Monday.

There were no immediate reports of police intervention to disperse the crowd. In Saudi Arabia, protests and political gatherings of any kind are prohibited.

A protest gathering was reported near his home after he was shot with protesters chanting slogans against the US-backed Al Saud royal family.

Saudi security forces have injured and arrested dozens of people in Eastern Province over the past few days.

Tension has been high in the province after Riyadh decided to increase its troop presence in the region in a bid to quash anti-government protest there.

Saudi Arabia’s east has been the scene of anti-government protests over the past months with demonstrators demanding human rights reform, freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners.

Human Rights Watch says more than 160 dissidents have been arrested since February as part of the Saudi government’s crackdown on anti-government protesters. The rights group called on Saudi authorities in October to stop ’’arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters, relatives of wanted persons, and human rights activists’’ in Eastern Province.

According to the Saudi-based Human Rights First Society (HRFS), the detainees suffered both physical and mental torture.

The arrests in Saudi Arabia have been carried out despite the fact that the kingdom is a party to the Arab Charter on Human Rights. Article 14 of the charter prohibits arbitrary detention.