Human rights in Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia

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Human rights in Saudi Arabia are intended to be based on Islamic religious laws under rule of the Saudi royal family.[1] The government of Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi legal system, has been criticized for its treatment of religious and political minorities, homosexuals, apostates, and women. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ratified the International Convention against Torture in October 1997 according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Human rights of Saudi Arabia are specified in article 26 of the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia. Recently created human rights organisations include Human Rights First Society (2002),[2] Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia (2007),[3] Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (2009)[4][5] and the government-associated National Society for Human Rights (2004).[6][7] In 2008, the Shura Council ratified the Arab Charter on Human Rights.[8]

At the U.N. Third Millennium Summit in New York City, The King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz defended Saudi Arabia's position on human rights, saying "It is absurd to impose on an individual or a society rights that are alien to its beliefs or principles."[citation needed].

Contents

[edit] Corporal and capital punishment; right to representation

Further information: Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is one of approximately thirty countries in the world with judicial corporal punishment. In Saudi Arabia's case this includes amputations of hands and feet for robbery, and flogging for lesser crimes such as "sexual deviance" and drunkenness. The number of lashes is not clearly prescribed by law and is varied according to the discretion of judges, and ranges from dozens of lashes to several hundreds, usually applied over a period of weeks or months. In 2004, the United Nations Committee Against Torture criticized Saudi Arabia over the amputations and floggings it carries out under Sharia. The Saudi delegation responded defending "legal traditions" held since the inception of Islam 1,400 years ago and rejected interference in its legal system.

Saudi Arabia also engages in capital punishment, including public executions by beheading.[9] The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences[10] including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy,[11] adultery,[12] witchcraft and sorcery[13] and can be carried out by beheading with a sword,[11] stoning or firing squad,[12] followed by crucifixion.[13] In 2005 there were 191 executions, in 2006 there were 38, in 2007 there were 153, and in 2008 there were 102.[14]

A spokesman for Saudi Arabia's National Society for Human Rights has said that numbers of executions are rising because crime rates are rising, that prisoners are treated humanely, and that the beheadings deter crime, saying, "Allah, our creator, knows best what's good for His people...Should we just think of and preserve the rights of the murderer and not think of the rights of others?"[15]

[edit] Women's rights

Main article: Women's rights in Saudi Arabia

Saudi women face discrimination in many aspects of their lives, such as the justice system. Although they make up 70% of those enrolled in universities, for social reasons, women make up 5% of the workforce in Saudi Arabia,[16] the lowest proportion in the world. The treatment of women has been referred to as "sex segregation"[17][18] and "gender apartheid".[19][20] Implementation of a government resolution supporting expanded employment opportunities for women met resistance from within the labor ministry,[21] from the religious police,[22] and from the male citizenry.[23]

In many parts of Saudi Arabia, it is believed that a woman's place is in the home caring for her husband and family. There is also segregation inside their own homes as some rooms have separate entrances for men and women.[24]

The driving ban for women was unofficial until 1990 when it was introduced as official legislation after 47 Saudi women drove cars through the streets of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Even though illegal, women in rural areas and other areas outside cities do drive cars.[25] Women are allowed to fly aircraft, though they must be chauffeured to the airport.[26]

Women's rights are at the heart of calls for reform in Saudi Arabia - calls that are challenging the kingdom's political status quo.[24] Local and international women's groups are also pushing governments to respond, taking advantage of the fact that some rulers are eager to project a more progressive image to the West.

The presence of powerful businesswomen—still a rare sight—in some of these groups helps get them heard.[27] Prior to 2008, women were not allowed to enter hotels and furnished apartments without a chaperon or mahram. With a 2008 Royal Decree, however, the only requirement for a woman to be allowed to enter hotels is a national ID card, and the hotel must inform the nearest police station of their room reservation and length of stay; however, this happens with everybody staying in the hotel.[28]

Many Saudis believe that allowing women the right to drive could lead to Western-style openness and an erosion of traditional values.[29]

According to the CIA world factbook, 70.8% of females are literate, in comparison to 84.7% literacy rates in males.[30]

[edit] Religious freedoms

Main article: Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia
A road sign for a bypass used to restrict non-Muslims from Mecca

Saudi Arabian law does not recognize religious freedom, and the public practice of non-Muslim religions is actively prohibited.[31] No law specifically requires citizens to be Muslims, but article 12.4 of the Naturalization Law requires that applicants attest to their religious affiliation, and article 14.1 requires that applicants to get a certificate endorsed by their local cleric.[32] The Government has declared the Holy Quran and the Sunna (tradition) of the Prophet Muhammad to be the country’s constitution. Neither the Government nor society in general accepts the concepts of separation of religion and state, and such separation does not exist. The legal system is based on Sharia (Islamic law), with Shari'a courts basing their judgments largely on a code derived from the Quran and the Sunna. The Government permits Shi'a Muslims to use their own legal tradition to adjudicate noncriminal cases within their community.[32]

Under Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican officials have raised the issue of Christians being forbidden from worshipping openly in Saudi Arabia.[33] As an Islamic State, Saudi Arabia gives preferential treatment for Muslims. While allowing foreigners to come and work, Saudi Arabia prohibits the burial of Non-Muslims on Saudi soil.[34] During Ramadan, eating, drinking, or smoking in public during daylight hours is not allowed.[35] Foreign schools are often required to teach a yearly introductory segment on Islam. Saudi religious police have detained Shi'ite pilgrims participating in the Hajj, allegedly calling them "infidels in Mecca".[36] The restrictions on the Shi'a branch of Islam in the Kingdom along with the banning of displaying Jewish, Hindu and Christian symbols have been referred to as apartheid.[37]

The Saudi government has gone further than stopping Christians from worshipping in publicly designated buildings to even raid private prayer meetings among Christian believers in their own homes. On December 15th, 2011, Saudi security forces arrested 35 Ethiopian Christians in Jeddah who were praying in a home, beating them and threatening them with death. When the Ethiopian workers' employers asked security forces for what reason they where arrested, they said "for practising Christianity". Later, under mounting international pressure, this charge was changed to "mixing with the opposite sex". The freedom of religion, including the freedom of assembling together to worship and pray, is a basic right recognised under international human rights law. [38]

[edit] LGBT rights

Main article: LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia

[edit] HIV and AIDS

By law, all Saudi citizens who are infected with HIV or AIDS are entitled to free medical care, protection of their privacy and employment opportunities. However, most hospitals will not treat patients who are infected, and many schools and hospitals are reluctant to distribute government information about the disease because of the strong taboos and stigma that are attached to how the virus can be spread.[39]

Until the late 1990s, information on HIV/AIDS was not widely available to the public, but this has started to change. In the late 1990s, the government started to recognize World AIDS Day and allowed information about the disease to be published in newspapers.[citation needed]. The number of people living in the kingdom who were infected was a closely guarded secret. However, in 2003 the government announced the number of known cases of HIV/AIDS in the country to be 6,700, and over 10,000 in June 2008.[40]

Any foreigner found to be infected with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS (or, indeed, any other serious medical condition), is deported to their country of origin. Condoms are available in hospitals and pharmacies, and in some supermarkets as well.

[edit] Freedom of press and communication

Main article: censorship in Saudi Arabia

Speech, the press and other forms of communicative media, including television and radio broadcasting and Internet reception, are actively censored by the government to prevent political dissident and anything deemed, by the government, to be offensive to the Arab culture or Islamic morality.[41]

In 2008, a prominent Saudi blogger and reformist Fouad al-Farhan was jailed for posting comments online that were critical of Saudi business, religious and media figures, signifying a move by the government to step up its censorship polices of the Internet within its borders.[42] He was released on April 26, 2008.[43]

Online social media has increasingly come under government scrutiny for dealing with the "forbidden" topics. In 2010 a Saudi man was fined and given jail time for his sexually suggestive YouTube video production. That same year another man was also jailed and ordered to pay a fine for boasting about his sex life on television [2].

D+Z, a magazine focused on development, reports that hundreds were arrested in order to limit freedom of expression. Many of these individuals were held without trial and in secret. The torture of these prisoners was also found to be prevalent.[44]

[edit] Political freedom

See also: Saudi Arabian municipal elections, 2005 and Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia

The 1990s marked a slow period of political liberalization in the kingdom as the government created a written constitution, and the advisory Consultative Council, the latter being an appointed delegation of Saudi scholars and professionals that are allowed to advise the king. Some political dissidents were released from prison, after agreeing to disband their political parties. In 2005, adult male citizens were allowed to vote for some municipal seats, although plans for future elections, which may include adult women, have been put on hold indefinitely.

Political parties are banned, but some political dissidents were freed in the 1990s on the condition that they disband their political parties. Today, only the Green Party of Saudi Arabia remains, although it is an illegal organization. Trade unions are also banned, but the government has granted permission for Saudi citizens to form some private societies, which are allowed to do some humanitarian work within the kingdom.

Public demonstrations or any public act of dissent are forbidden. In April 2011, during the Arab Spring, the kingdom made it a crime to publish any criticism harming the reputation of government or religious leaders, or which harms the interests of the state.[45]

[edit] Human rights organizations

The Human Rights First Society applied unsuccessfully for a governmental licence in 2002, but was allowed to function informally.[2] In 2004, the National Society for Human Rights, associated with the Saudi government, was created.[6][7] The Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia was created in 2007 and is also unlicensed.[3] The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) was created in 2009.[46] One of its co-founders, Mohammed Saleh Albejadi, was arbitrarily arrested by Mabahith, the internal security agency, on 21 March 2011, during the 2011 Saudi Arabian protests.[4][5]

[edit] See also

Portal icon Human rights portal
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[edit] References

  1. ^ Unattributed (February 28, 2005). "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004". US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41731.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  2. ^ a b "2008 Human Rights Report: Saudi Arabia". United States State Department. 2009-02-25. Archived from the original on 2011-03-25. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/nea/119126.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
  3. ^ a b http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/nea/119126.htm
  4. ^ a b "ACPRA demands the immediate unconditional release of its co-founder, Mohammed Al-Bjady". Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. 2011-03. Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.acpra.net/news.php?action=list&cat_id=12. Retrieved 2011-03-24. 
  5. ^ a b "Human Rights First Society - Human Rights Monitoring and Advocacy in Saudi Arabia". Human Rights First Society. 2011-03. Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://hrfssaudiarabia.org/. Retrieved 2011-03-24. 
  6. ^ a b "Saudi polls, aid sweeteners not enough: activists". Karavali Times. 2011-03-24. Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.karavalitimes.com/middle-east/saudi-polls-aid-sweeteners-not-enough-activists/. Retrieved 2011-03-24. 
  7. ^ a b First independent human rights organization in Saudi Arabia
  8. ^ Shura Council ratifies Arab Charter on Human Rights
  9. ^ "Rights group condemns Saudi beheadings". Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27184784/. Retrieved 2008-10-14. 
  10. ^ "Saudi system condemned". The Guardian. 9 August 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/aug/09/saudiarabia.brianwhitaker. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
  11. ^ a b "Saudi executioner tells all". BBC News. 5 June 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2966790.stm. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  12. ^ a b Federal Research Division (2004). Saudi Arabia A Country Study. p. 304. ISBN 9781419146213. 
  13. ^ a b Miethe, Terance D.; Lu, Hong (2004). Punishment: a comparative historical perspective. p. 63. ISBN 9780521605168. 
  14. ^ ["http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/saudi-arabia#death-penalty" "Amnesty International Report 2009, Saudi Arabia"]. Amnesty International. "http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/saudi-arabia#death-penalty". Retrieved 2009-08-17. 
  15. ^ Tim Butcher (July 16, 2007). "Saudis prepare to behead teenage maid". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=45BQVYBAZNEV1QFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/07/16/wsaudi116.xml. Retrieved 2008-10-14. .
  16. ^ Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 23, 2006, translated at Public Debate in Saudi Arabia on Employment Opportunities for Women
  17. ^ "Human Rights Tribune - ed. Spring 2001" (PDF). Human Rights Tribune. International Human Rights Documentation Network. Spring 2001. http://www.hri.ca/pdfs/HRT%20Spring,%20Volume%208,%20No.%201,%202001.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-21. 
  18. ^ Andrea Dworkin (1978). "A Feminist Looks at Saudi Arabia". Andrea Dworkin on nostatusquo.com. http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/WarZoneChaptIIIA.html. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  19. ^ Handrahan LM (Spring 2001). "Gender Apartheid and Cultural Absolution: Saudi Arabia and the International Criminal Court". Human Rights Tribune' (Human Rights Internet) 8 (1). http://www.hri.ca/tribune/viewArticle.asp?ID=2603. [dead link]
  20. ^ "The Australian who has become a prisoner of gender apartheid". The Sydney Morning Herald. November 14, 2009. http://www.smh.com.au/world/the-australian-who-has-become-a-prisoner-of-gender-apartheid-20091113-ier0.html. Retrieved March 6, 2010. 
  21. ^ Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), May 18, 2006 translated at Public Debate in Saudi Arabia on Employment Opportunities for Women
  22. ^ Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), June 26, 2006 translated at Public Debate in Saudi Arabia on Employment Opportunities for Women
  23. ^ [1] translated at Public Debate in Saudi Arabia on Employment Opportunities for Women
  24. ^ a b "Women Speak Out In Saudi Arabia". CBS News. March 24, 2005. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/23/60minutes/main682565.shtml. Retrieved 2008-02-25. 
  25. ^ "Women's transport: Solutions needed". Arab News. June 27, 2009. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=124071. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 
  26. ^ "Saudi Arabia gets its first woman pilot". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2007-01-12. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071026003928/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200701121543.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  27. ^ "Women in the Middle East, A weak breeze of change". The Economist. February 2, 2008. http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10632747. Retrieved 2008-02-26. 
  28. ^ Jomar Canlas, Reporter (January 25, 2008). "Saudi prince assures RP govt they respect rights of women". The Manila Times. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/25/yehey/top_stories/20080125top4.html. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 
  29. ^ "Saudi Women See a Brighter Road on Rights". The Washington Post. January 31, 2008. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/30/AR2008013003805.html. Retrieved 2008-02-26. 
  30. ^ "CIA The World Factbook, Saudi Arabia". CIA. September 20, 2007. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  31. ^ "2009 Human Rights Report: Saudi Arabia". United States Department of State. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136079.htm. 
  32. ^ a b "2009 International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Saudi Arabia". United States Department of State. October 26, 2009. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127357.htm. 
  33. ^ "Pope meets Saudi king to discuss Christian worship in Muslim kingdom". Daily Mail (London). November 6, 2007. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-492052/Pope-meets-Saudi-king-discuss-Christian-worship-Muslim-kingdom.html. 
  34. ^ http://www.hvk.org/articles/0402/78.html
  35. ^ P.K. Abdul Ghafour (October 11, 2004). "Non-Muslims Urged to Respect Ramadan". Arab News. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=52719&d=11&m=10&y=2004&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  36. ^ "Saudi religious police accused of beating pilgrims". Middle East Online. August 7, 2007. http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=21680. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  37. ^ Bascio, Patrick (2007). Defeating Islamic Terrorism: An Alternative Strategy. Branden Books. p. 60. ISBN 9780828321525. http://books.google.com/?id=bqJjhalQ3wkC&pg=PA60. Retrieved March 6, 2010. 
  38. ^ "42 Ethiopian Christians Arrested in Saudi Arabia". International Christian Concern. December 17, 2011. http://www.persecution.org/2011/12/21/saudi-arabia-arrests-ethiopian-christians-for-mixing-with-opposite-sex/. Retrieved 2011-12-24. 
  39. ^ Manal Quota & Maryam Yamani (August 7, 2005). "AIDS? What AIDS?". Arab news. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=68051&d=7&m=8&y=2005. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  40. ^ Hassan M. Fattah (August 8, 2006). "Saudi Arabia Begins to Face Hidden AIDS Problem". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/middleeast/08saudi.html. 
  41. ^ "Documentation of Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia"
  42. ^ "No freedom for 'dean of Saudi bloggers'", by Nic Robertson and Wayne Drash, February 27, 2008, CNN
  43. ^ "Saudi official: Why popular blogger Farhan was jailed", by Caryle Murphy, Christian Science Monitor, April 28, 2008
  44. ^ Miller, Joseph (March 2003). "Open secrets". D+Z. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. http://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/192821/index.en.shtml. Retrieved 2011-04-05. 
  45. ^ "Saudis Impatient For King's Promised 'Reforms'". http://www.npr.org/2011/05/23/136570798/saudis-impatient-for-kings-promised-reforms. Retrieved 2011-06-04. 
  46. ^ "Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) (An Establishing Declaration) — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Monday, October 12, 2009". Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. 2009-10-12. Archived from the original on 2011-03-25. http://www.acpra.net/news_view_5.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Laube, Lydia (2003). Behind the Veil: A Nurse's Arabian Nightmare. Eye Books. ISBN 1-903070-19-8. OCLC 51994153. 
  • Mitchell, Sandy Hollingsworth, Mark (2006). Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover-up Inside the House of Saud. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84596-185-4. OCLC 225546299. 
  • Sasson, Jean (2001). Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia. Windsor-Brooke Books. ISBN 0-96767-374-7. OCLC 46766141. 
  • Jones, John Paul. If Olaya Street Could Talk: Saudi Arabia- The Heartland of Oil and Islam. The Taza Press (2007) ISBN 0-97904-360-3. 

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