In one of several stories on the case of Qatif Girl, CNN quotes Democratic Party candidates for President in their condemnation of the verdict. It looks as though even with a change in political party in the White House—assuming one of the candidates wins—there will be continued pressure on the Saudi government for reform.
In this coverage, CNN notes that the girl’s attorney says that the verdicts are in contradiction to judicial reforms announced by the King last month. Those reforms are going to take some time to accomplish, however, as they will require a complete make-over of the system. That doesn’t happen simply because a royal decree is signed, unfortunately.
Candidates slam Saudi rape verdict
(CNN) — U.S. presidential candidates Wednesday condemned Saudi justice after a rape victim was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail.
Calling the decision “an outrage,” Sen. Hillary Clinton urged President Bush to protest the decision to the Saudi authorities.
“The Bush administration has refused to condemn the sentence and said it will not protest an internal Saudi decision,” the Democrat presidential front-runner said in a statement.
“I urge President Bush to call on King Abdullah [of Saudi Arabia] to cancel the ruling and drop all charges against this woman.”
Some of Clinton’s rivals also weighed in.
The decision to punish the victim of a gang rape “is an appalling breach of the most fundamental human rights,” said Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.
“I am outraged that President Bush has refused to condemn the sentence,” he said.
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November:22:2007 - 01:39
Qatif is a largely Shi’ite town which experienced a major incident of unrest in 1979. My guess is that the Saudi Sunni establishment could possibly be behind the judge’s ruling. I doubt if this kind of sentence would be applied in Jidda, for instance, where I lived for several years. The application of strict punishments was always pretty lenient in Jidda while I was there.
November:22:2007 - 08:12
daveinboca: Whenever anything untoward happens in the EP, the fact of sectarian differences has to be considered. I’m told by Saudis that both the victims and the perpetrators were Shi’a; the judges, likely Sunni. So it’s a possibility.
I don’t think you can use the differences between Jeddah and any other Saudi city as indicative of much though. Jeddah is just very different, far more liberal, and with a complex and lengthy history and culture of its own. A better comparison might be with Dammam.
I do’nt know when you were last in the KSA, but things have at least marginally improved in Qatif. They’ve greatly improved relative to 1979. They had already started to improve by 1981, when I went first to Qatif.