<p>The US has condemned a reported Saudi court ruling sentencing a man to be paralysed for an attack which left another man paralysed as "incredibly disturbing".<br /><br />"If these reports are true, they would be incredibly disturbing," the State Department said in an email statement yesterday in response to a question asked during its daily press briefing.<br /><br />"We expect the Saudi Government to respect international human rights norms. We regularly make this point as part of our bilateral dialogue," the State Department said.<br />According to news reports, Ali al-Khawaher, 24, was convicted of stabbing a childhood friend in the spine during a dispute a decade ago.<br /><br />Under sharia law, courts may set an eye-for-an-eye punishment for crimes – but victims may pardon convicts in exchange for so-called blood money.<br /><br />In this case, the court determined the figure to be USD 266,000, which Ali's mother told the local media that she was unable to pay even a fraction of it.<br /><br />The stabbing happened in 2003 and the court order was passed last Saturday.</p>.<p>Amnesty International has condemned the punishment. "Paralysing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture," said Amnesty's Ann Harrison.<br /><br />"That such a punishment might be implemented is utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offences, as happens in Saudi Arabia.<br /><br />It is time the authorities in Saudi Arabia start respecting their international legal obligations and remove these terrible punishments from the law," Harrison added. </p>
<p>The US has condemned a reported Saudi court ruling sentencing a man to be paralysed for an attack which left another man paralysed as "incredibly disturbing".<br /><br />"If these reports are true, they would be incredibly disturbing," the State Department said in an email statement yesterday in response to a question asked during its daily press briefing.<br /><br />"We expect the Saudi Government to respect international human rights norms. We regularly make this point as part of our bilateral dialogue," the State Department said.<br />According to news reports, Ali al-Khawaher, 24, was convicted of stabbing a childhood friend in the spine during a dispute a decade ago.<br /><br />Under sharia law, courts may set an eye-for-an-eye punishment for crimes – but victims may pardon convicts in exchange for so-called blood money.<br /><br />In this case, the court determined the figure to be USD 266,000, which Ali's mother told the local media that she was unable to pay even a fraction of it.<br /><br />The stabbing happened in 2003 and the court order was passed last Saturday.</p>.<p>Amnesty International has condemned the punishment. "Paralysing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture," said Amnesty's Ann Harrison.<br /><br />"That such a punishment might be implemented is utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offences, as happens in Saudi Arabia.<br /><br />It is time the authorities in Saudi Arabia start respecting their international legal obligations and remove these terrible punishments from the law," Harrison added. </p>