Rasheed (Rasheed’s World) Abou-Alsamh has an article in The New York Times on ‘Qatif Girl’. He notes that the story has incensed human rights organizations both internationally and within Saudi Arabia. In his interviews with others, he also hears criticism of how the judges, legal scholars, are not competent to actually try cases. Worth reading the full article.
Saudi Rape Case Spurs Calls for Reform
RASHEED ABOU-ALSAMHJIDDA, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 30 — The case of a 20-year-old woman who was sentenced to be lashed after pressing charges against seven men who raped her and a male companion has provoked a rare and angry public debate in Saudi Arabia, leading to renewed calls for reform of the Saudi judicial system.
The woman, known here only as “the Qatif girl, †was initially subjected to 90 lashes for being alone with a man to whom she was not married.
Her outspoken human rights lawyer appealed the sentence and brought down the wrath of the court, which doubled the woman’s sentence and stripped her lawyer of his license to practice.
The case is now being appealed to the Kingdom’s highest court. Human rights activists and legal observers said the treatment of the woman from Qatif, the man who was raped with her, and her lawyer, call into question the consistency of Saudi justice and make a mockery of the court system’s commitment to openness and fairness.
The Saudi system still operates without a codified legal system and uses a strict Wahabi interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, to hand down verdicts. Like all institutions in Saudi Arabia, the court system is subject to the absolute authority of the monarchy.
“The system has to be transformed from top to bottom,†said Ali Alyami, the executive director of the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia. “Judges in Saudi Arabia have no more power than the princes want them to have.â€
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November:30:2007 - 20:12
“We can’t blame the judges for not knowing the law,…”
No, I guess we should all blame their flogged, amputated, decapitated victims instead.
Can someone please send the Saudi govt a PR spokesperson who does not have solid tin ear and has something that resembles a brain?
November:30:2007 - 20:43
olivetheoil: I think that comment was meant to mean that judges make crummy decisions because they have crummy legal education. They’re not competent to do their jobs.
Of course, some people, when put in jobs above their level of competency, say so and leave those jobs.
But if everyone did that, there’s be no Peter Principle. This case just shows that that kind of behavior is universal.
Who know we’d find another commonality between Americans and Saudis in this case?!
November:30:2007 - 21:10
John:
I fully agree stupidity and incompetence are universal accomplishments that are present in every country and community.
I am merely pointing out that the Saudi PR response seems to be afflicted by the same aura of stupidity and incompetence and perhaps they can afford to buy PR that is a notch above what they have right now.
November:30:2007 - 21:35
There are too many cases with similar bad judgments, not just this case. The only difference is this one gained international attention. Also, the problem has been around for a long time, now a days we hear about some cases, because there are bold lawyers and the press has taken a few steps (not enough) to uncover them.
Note the press did not make much of a fuss about the 2 Commission members that were found not guilty of murder in a recent case of a man’s beating. They just swept that case under the rug, while the victims family members were sentences to lashing and jail terms.
There is no comparison to the US, where there are relatively fewer cases of incompetence with judges, the lawyers do not get banned for pursuing justice for their clients, laws are codified, and higher courts actually serve their function.
I think shining a spot light on this case and others will help the much needed reforms move faster.
I also agree that a pardon may come later if the upper court upholds the decision.
November:30:2007 - 23:24
Ignorance is not an excuse for incompetence in these court cases. I am amazed at the amount of religion that is taught in Saudi Arabia, yet it seems to go in one ear and out the other. I confront people here concerning this and they are just silenced. It is funny really. Learning and understanding is not a matter of memorizing some verses or listening to what so and so has to say about it. I can read a few books and be able to competently debate with the highest of so called scholars.
Islam is a simple religion, yet people have made it complicated for their own agendas. We all know the truth about the commission’s agenda in the past. In fact many who were recruited as promotion of virtues were criminals themselves who had done real time in jail. I have a few of my own stories one being pulled over in a taxi while I was out with a friend and our kids. They were screaming at us to stop the car while we were driving through the dark neighborhood. We told the taxi to not stop but keep driving to our house because it was close. He said, “I am scaredâ€, so he stopped the car, unlocked it and got out. Five men got out of their car and told us to get out of the car and either walk the rest of the way home or they would call another taxi because there was a maid sitting in the front seat and that is forbidden. Thank God the men didn’t attack us but we just walked the rest of the way home. This happened about ten years ago but the same mentality of people are still serving in courts. Although their public presence may have been reduced, they are still lurking around in the most important places “courtsâ€. However, I am sure there are a few decent judges…hopefully!
I am glad the reform is here and it is just a matter of time before we start seeing results.
December:01:2007 - 00:49
While ignorance may not be a perfect excuse, it certainly explains much of what has happened here. The Saudi ulema seem to have entered a period not unlike Christian ‘Scholasticism’ in the Middle Ages. While engaged in deep thinking and discussion, they lose sight of the big picture, that of treating humans as God’s creation. Sometimes it seems as though the Saudi ulema see mankind as the creation of Iblis.