Comments on: ‘Qatif Girl’ Receives Saudi Royal Pardon

By: Commentor

Commentor — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:10:34 +0000

Apparently the boyfriend was pardoned as well:
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071217213754.grt4nu9i.html
http://www.alyaum.com/issue/article.php?IN=12604&I=546492

By: Solomon2

Solomon2 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:30:24 +0000

The King saw sense in preventing a perversion of justice -

That would be taking sides. But I’m sure it’s an improvement from the first thought that came into my mind.

By: olivetheoil

olivetheoil — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:23:58 +0000

John:

How do you do the cool gray-text blockquote thingy?

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:28:36 +0000

I’d suggest something along the lines of:

The King saw sense in preventing a perversion of justice in inflicting an outrageous punishment on a young woman who had already been victimized as a consequence of her unfortunate (and currently illegal) act of khulwa, an act that is not a crime in most of the world.

That such a punishment could be inflicted by a court is a strong reason to push for overall reform of the Saudi legal system, a step currently being undertaken by King Abdullah.

By: Solomon2

Solomon2 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:24:56 +0000

What should the Western World’s reaction be to this pardon, if any?

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:24:19 +0000

The ‘Barjass Case’ involved a young Saudi girl who was raped by a Nigerian driver while two male Saudis captured the assault on their videophone. BBC coverage here

There are similarities, but so few details are presented that it’s hard to know just how similar they are. The disparity in sentences and whether or not a Saudi court convicted them of rape is unclear. Arab News‘ archives aren’t able to pull up their coverage at the time (Jan. 2005). I don’t seem to have blogged that story at the time–at least not that I can find in my own archives!

By: Commentor

Commentor — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:06:02 +0000

Saudi women see male doctors all the time. It depends on the preference of the woman and/or her husband. This isn’t one of the things the religious police concern them with (or maybe it’s been placed off-limits to them). They’re more concerned with people dating in restaurants or men picking up girls in their cars. In 99% of cases, the man who gets caught is made to sign a pledge not to do it again, and the girl’s family is notified to come pick her up from the precinct. When I lived in Riyadh for two years, nearly every person I knew had at least one “girlfriend”, and many went on dates with different people on a weekly basis. The religious police were seen as more of a nuisance or inconvenience than anything, and their activities waxed and waned periodically, though they are almost non-existent in Jeddah by all accounts. The religious police are fighting a losing battle and I think they know it. So, I don’t think the original verdict in the Qatif case was really about “khulwa”; there must have been other issues at play that complicated matters, and she seems to have found herself in the middle of a larger battle. Plus she belonged to a politically insignificant and socially despised minority.

John did you ever blog on the “Barjass Case” (no relation I’m sure) that occurred in Riyadh in 2004? There are many interesting similarities and differences with this case, and at the time it drew even larger attention inside Saudi Arabia than the Qatif case did.

By: olivetheoil

olivetheoil — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:18:47 +0000

Considering that the stethoscope was invented by a French doctor who was too embarrassed to put his ear to the chest of a female patient and listen to her heartbeat as was the custom, who says prohibitions on mingling cannot contribute to medical science…..

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:03:11 +0000

Pat: Of preference, Saudi women will go to a female doctor, particularly if the medical matter deals with OB/GYN. If there’s only a male doctor available, then the woman’s husband/guardian is in the room to make sure nothing else is going on. In some cases I’m aware of, the male doctor cannot look at, touch, or even talk to the woman patient directly, but must instead use the guardian to describe what’s the matter.

If that sounds unproductive, it is. But some Saudis are so ‘protective’ of their ~~chattel~~ women that they go to extremes.

By: pat chapagne

pat chapagne — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:41:20 +0000

I have not knowledge of Saudi Arabia’s laws but I have one question. What happens to a women that goes to her doctor and undresses is this against the law too? Does the women only go to female doctors? I think its time for women if they can to stand up for the right of a male being punished for the rape not the female victims.