Who Needs Evidence

Director’s Comment: On May 15, 2008, a contingent of the omnipresent Saudi secret police went to Dr. Matrook Al-Faleh’s university office and took him to prison without any charges or explanation. Prisons and harassment are not new to Dr. Al-Faleh. He is a visionary, a courageous and peaceful Saudi professor who opposes violence and promotes accountability, transparency, religious freedom, rule of law, and freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia. Sources assert that Dr. Al-Faleh was taken to prison on May 15 because he criticized the condition of another prison where two of his former colleagues are serving prison sentences. They allegedly encouraged a group of women to protest against the authorities for keeping their relatives in prison without charges.

Dr. Al-Faleh, along with two of his courageous colleagues Abdullah Al-Hamid and Ali Al-Doumani, were rounded up and thrown in one of the Saudis’ notorious prisons in March 2004 because they petitioned their government to share power with its disenfranchised population by creating a constitutional monarchy. The three men, along with other prisoners, were pardoned by King Abdullah when he ascended to the throne in August 2005; a tradition of Saudi kings when they inherit the throne. These three courageous men made news and gained respect at home and abroad. They demanded open court hearings, lawyers to represent them as well as the presence of their families and friends during the court deliberations. These basic demands infuriated the Saudi religious judges and the Saudi government in general. It also brought international attention to the arbitrary Saudi judicial system where verdicts and sentences are up to the presiding judge and the mood he happens to be in.

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, located in Washington DC, condemns the unjustified arrest of Dr. Al-Faleh and the Al-Hamids brothers and ask for their immediate release and open court hearing if charges do exist. The Saudi government must be held accountable to abide by the rules and spirits of the many declarations of human rights which it has signed throughout the years . The international community should not look the other way while advocates of democracy, justice and fairness are thrown in prisons without charges. Read More

Women: Small Steps Taken Where Giant Strides (are) Needed

Director’s Comment: Despite mostly token steps taken by the Saudi government and Chambers of Commerce, Saudi women remain marginalized and their languishing society denied their desperately needed contributions, without which it is sure to remain dependent on foreign brains and workers, as well as on a subsidized way of life that is controlled by an autocratic government. The royal family’s primary concern is to remain in control of all aspects of the nation’s wealth, decision making, security and institutions. Even the miniscule steps that have been taken by the government are mostly designed to silence domestic demands and the external condemnation of its discriminatory policies toward women. These policies are structured to maintain existing segregationist policies and to ensure men’s general domination over women. One of Saudi Arabia’s mortal ills affecting social, political, religious, educational and economic spheres, is its severe gender segregation and defining women’s existence as irrel evant to the building of a sound, tolerant, participatory and egalitarian society. Granted, religious misinterpretation and applications, centuries’ old traditions and desert men’s sense of supremacy contribute to the gender inequality and depraved official policies against women. However, this is only the visible official charade, with which many educated, non-sectarian and analytical Saudis do not agree or accept as the real reason behind the official marginalization of women.

Perpetuating gender segregation and the disempowerment of Saudi women serves the ruling religious and political elites’ agendas exceedingly well. Denying women the right to work, to earn their own living, to think for themselves and mingle with their male compatriots prevents the growth of a wholesome and united society, where citizens work together, share ideas, challenge each other and debate issues and policies that affect them all, regardless of gender. Gender segregation and the relegation of women to second class citizen status exonerate the system from attending to and meeting the needs of all citizens. For example, half of the 26 million people (a figure determined by the government) are women, yet it has been estimated (no scientific polling is allowed) that only 10 to 20% of women are working in segregated work places. That forces 80% of many highly educated, intelligent and aspiring women to stay cloistered in fortified homes or to wander aimlessly in imposing mall s, as well as to shop for imported goods while looking for opportunities to meet the opposite sex. Many men escape school and go to work in the hope of communicating with women in sign language, since they are prohibited from talking to each other in public, or face to face.

By ignoring half of its population, the Saudi government relieves itself from creating meaningful and challenging jobs, labor benefits, a united society, an efficient health care system, communication and transportation systems, and more detrimental, it denies women their natural and divine rights to use their minds and creativity to help themselves and their society. One of the governing elites’ daunting fears is a self-reliant, confident and fearless society where people are in charge of their own lives. In fact, the system strives to prevent this from happening. The governing rulers control the national revenues and treasury. They subsidize education, food, water, electricity, and medicine, and give long term government interest-free loans, as well as provide jobs that pay well even if employees do not report to work. (1)

In addition, men are held responsible for the social conduct, behavior and actions of their female relatives. Male relatives are held responsible for any perceived socially, religiously, morally, and politically improper actions taken by women. This policy has harmful impacts on families, especially where women are concerned. The policy is designed to re-enforce the authority of men over women, turn families against each other, and ensure obedience to the rulers at all times. This practice prevents individuals from having the ability to act or speak out against the system, because if they had this power, they would most likely begin to overtly question the legitimacy and unlimited authority of those in power, for their mismanagement of public wealth, their abuse of authority, and their control over all aspects of people’s lives.

Many Saudis would at least like to have the liberty to debate these issues, but they cannot. All forms of expression, other than prayers and profuse praises of the royal family, are not only forbidden, but are also considered an invention of “infidels” designed to destroy Islam and God’s will, which also means defying the authority of Wali Al-Amr, the King and his family. As mentioned above, traditions and religion play some role in denying women their full and equal rights, but the real underlying factors for the marginalization of Saudi women are economic and political. Saudi segregation can also be blamed on the unwillingness of the ruling family to meet its obligations toward all of its citizens (subjects), an undertaking that the present governing structure cannot handle without sharing power with millions of capable Saudi men and women. The resistance to societal power sharing among powerful ruling princes seems to be impenetrable at this time. However, the royal famil y is faced with a world in which women now play a central role. It can therefore no longer insist on keeping women behind closed doors. Read More

Propaganda or Not, It is a Positive Move

Director’s Comment: It does not take a genius to figure out that the Bahraini monarchy is not known for its egalitarian rule, nor does it treat its large Shiite population and expatriate laborers kindly. However, naming Huda Nunu, a Jewish Bahraini citizen, as its ambassador to Washington is a positive milestone for two major reasons. The autocratic Arab monarchies, especially in the tyrannically ruled Gulf region, have diverted their public attention from dealing with their massive home grown problems by blaming the Jews for all ills that have plagued their societies for centuries, long before Israel existed. Regardless of her religion, Ms. Nunu is a woman and this, in itself, is vivid proof of the ability of women to do any job that men can do, to the same extent, if not better.

Washington may have some input in Ms. Nunu’s appointment, and if this is the case, then it is a welcome move by our government, who protects the Khalifah ruling family and other autocratic monarchies in the Gulf region, especially from Iran and local upheavals. This appointment should be seen and treated as an impetus for Bahraini and other Arab women, especially minorities, to demand their equal rights and full citizenship.

The Al-Khalifah Bahraini monarchy, like the rest of the Gulf Arab Sheikhs, Amir and Kings, was installed and protected by the West. Consequently, Washington should make it clear to these undemocratic rulers that it expects them to remove their unnatural obstacles, so that women in the Gulf region, regardless of religion and ethnicity, can gain their proper and legitimate place in society. Washington should use the influence it has in the Arab Gulf States to help empower women so they can gain access to their civil rights and participate fully in all decision-making processes.

Arab commentators, as well as democracy and human rights advocates, should see the appointment of one of their sisters as a positive move, and use it to gain more power in their countries. CDHR welcome this move for what it is, the appointment of an Arab woman, Jewish, Muslim or Christian, to an important position. It is equally important for Washington, its media, and its think tanks to understand that this is partially propaganda, as opposed to a genuine caring for women. Read More

Archaic Judicial System

Director’s Comment: The torture of the Indonesian maid Noor Miyati by her Saudi Arabian employers (masters), generated international protest three years ago. The husband and wife of the household where she laboriously served (on call 24 hours a day) for a meager salary confessed to their tortuous crime because the evidence could not be hidden. She lost her figures and toes due to starvation, beating and sleeplessness. After confessing to their crime against the helpless and defenseless maid, the husband and wife were sentence to flogging and imprisonment. However, they retracted their confessions and were found not guilty. A presiding judge recently cleared the guilty party and offered the victim 2500 Saudi Riyal ($667).

The sad story of this unlucky maid is not an isolated case. It’s estimated that there are between 7 and 9 million expatriates, most of them poverty stricken people, laboring to keep Saudi society afloat. Unfortunately for them however, the Saudi courts are staffed by religious zealots who consider their system, religion and people superior to all others, including other Muslims. There are no civil codes to guide judges when sentencing people. Verdicts are mostly based on the mood of the residing judge at the time of the sentencing. They invoke religious laws that can be interpreted in hundreds of different ways. If the victim is not a Muslim or a minority, then he or she is guilty before even entering court. The courts system is ostensibly based on Islamic law (Shari’ah) which does not recognize non-Muslims (infidels) and Muslim minorities (heretics) as complete human beings, in accordance with Saudi religious interpretations.

The transformation and modernization of the Saudi court system and new interpretation of Shari’ah is not only overdue, but will serve the best interest of the Saudi people, the safety of their country, and the rest of the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia plays a major religious role domestically, regionally and globally for Muslims; therefore the Saudis must live up to the responsibilities and obligations that this leadership entails before it is too late. If King Abdullah is a reformer, the judicial system is where he should start, not by simply spending money but by transforming the court system, getting rid of religious extremist judges and staffing the courts with men and women who have worldly education in addition to deep knowledge of Islam. Read More

Foreign Policy Blunder.

Director’s Comment: In the past, Saudi prince after Saudi prince has insisted that Iran nuclear program was for peaceful energy only. Now the kingdom is stating that Iran poses a threat to them with its nuclear program, and wants the US to help them build their own. How can we expect the international community to support American efforts to force Iran into ending its nuclear program if we are supporting a Saudi Arabian nuclear program? With this agenda, not too long from now two additional unstable and dictatorially ruled Muslim states, Saudi Arabia and Iran, (Pakistan already has nukes,) will have the means to make nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons in the hands of these regimes have the potential to be used against states in the Middle East and beyond. Read More

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