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watch One-Minute World News Last Updated: Monday, 17 January,
2005, 14:03 GMT Saudi lashes 'to silence dissent' Saudi special
forces after a parade in Mecca before the Hajj pilgrimage The
Saudi authorities take a dim view of anti-regime activity Saudi
Arabia is using a form of torture - flogging - to silence
dissent in the kingdom, a human rights group says.  Last week, a
Saudi court sentenced 15 people to prison terms and up to 250
lashes for taking part in illegal anti-regime protests on 16
December.  "The sentence is a terrible disappointment," said the
New York-based group Human Rights Watch.  The Saudi state
prosecutor called the sentences too lenient and said the
government would appeal.  HRW Middle East director Sarah Leah
Whitson said: "For all the Saudi government's promises of reform
... [it] is denying Saudis their basic rights to free speech and
association, and then subjects them to flogging when they
attempt to do so."  The group says