The US State Department has issued its latest report on International Religious Freedom. Again this year, there is no apparent unified report available for download. Instead, general sections as the Executive Summary are set up as individual web pages. Each country also has its own page; Saudi Arabia’s is here.
Saudi Arabia remains a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), that is, a nation “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” As the country report begins, “Freedom of religion is neither recognized nor protected under the law and is severely restricted in practice,” there’s little surprise in its categorization.
The Executive Summary paints broadly the actions taken by the US government to address the issue in the Kingdom:
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia first was designated a CPC in 2004 and most recently was re-designated on January 16, 2009. The Secretary authorized a waiver of actions under the IRF Act to further the purposes of the Act, pursuant to section 407 of the Act. U.S. government policy is to press the Government consistently to honor its public commitment to permit private religious worship by non-Muslims, eliminate discrimination against minorities, promote tolerance toward non-Muslims, and combat extremism. During the reporting period, the U.S. Ambassador met with senior government and religious leaders regarding religious freedom and raised with senior officials specific cases of violations. Other senior U.S. officials encouraged the Government to honor policies to halt the dissemination of intolerant literature and extremist ideology within the country and around the world, protect private worship for all religious groups, curb harassment of religious groups, and promote tolerance toward all religions. Senior U.S. officials supported provisions calling for religious tolerance, including elimination of discrimination against religious minorities, improved respect for human rights, and improved accountability and transparency in these matters. They also raised specific cases and instances of religious freedom violations with senior Saudi officials. An official from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom visited Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dhahran to promote U.S. views on religious freedom.
The Country Report goes into more detail and the level of detail is markedly higher than in previous reports. The section on imams and khateebs even goes into their salaries. On the religious police, CPVPV in the report, the report notes the back-and-forth between the government, the media, and the religious authorities about the proper role and powers of the group.
The report points out that much of Saudi law, based as it is on the Sunna, is ambiguous in its application. Nowhere in the report, however, is there a mention of the reforms to the legal system now underway. These reforms include codification of laws that would prevent much of the discriminatory practice now common in Saudi courts.
By internal evidence, the reporting period for collecting data ended in June, 2009. Thus, reforms such as the banning of imams from issuing fatawa are not included.
The report does mention, though, that private religious practices have seen an improvement in avoiding government interference, that individuals have not had problems bring into the country various religious texts, DVDs, paraphernalia, etc. for their own use.
Government relations with the Shi’a population—in the Eastern Province, in Nejran, and for the first time in the history of the reports the Ashraf and Nakhawala Shi’a resident in Mecca—are covered in considerable detail. These include complaints about text books, restrictions on building mosques, representation in both governmental policy-making organizations and government jobs.
I do recommend you read the entire Country Report for Saudi Arabia.
The Florida court has decided that Rifqa Bary, the young woman who ran away from her Muslim home in Ohio claiming that her parents would literally kill her for converting to Christianity has been ordered back from Florida to Ohio. But a story’s climax does not reach its denouement: Bary will be placed in a foster home in Ohio, likely until she reaches her 18th birthday. Complicating the story is a question about her residency in the US (as well as that of her parents) and she may find herself sent back to Sri Lanka, courtesy of US Immigration.
Judge orders Fathima Rifqa Bary to return to Ohio
Amy L. EdwardsFathima Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teenage runaway whose story of Muslim-to-Christianity conversion and charges of family abuse sparked debates about personal freedom, is going back to her home state.
Three months after Rifqa took a Greyhound bus to Orlando and sought shelter with pastors she had never met, an Orange County Circuit judge on Friday ordered the Florida Department of Children and Families to send the girl back to Ohio.
A DCF spokeswoman confirmed the agency received an order Friday afternoon from Orange County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Dawson.
He relinquished Orange County’s emergency jurisdiction in the case and asked DCF to arrange the teen’s transfer back to Ohio, where another case about her custody is ongoing.
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The Orlando Sentinel has been on top of this story, with the most objective reporting on it that I’ve seen. You might want to look at their page of links on the story for more details, including who bought her bus ticket, why she took the bus, and the fact that she never met the Christian preacher with whom she took up residence until she arrived in Florida.
UPDATE: This link goes to the police transcript of their original interview with Ms Bary. (HT, Volokh Conspiracy. Sadly, the comments on the Volokh post have attracted a few Islamophobes.
Well, contrary to what I said earlier today, at least parts of the Saudi sex braggart case may be over. King Abdullah has issued a pardon for Rozanna al-Yami, the journalist convicted for her role in the production of the objectionable TV program, as well as another female journalist, Iman Rajab, who will no longer face trial. This Associated Press story, running in Dubai’s Khaleej Times, says that they will, however, still face a tribunal under the Ministry of Culture & Information, which is responsible for regulation of journalistic practice.
Saudi king scraps flogging for woman journalist
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Saudi king has waived a 60 lashes punishment for a female journalist charged with involvement in a TV show.
King Abdullah’s decision followed intense media attention sparked by Saturday’s sentencing of journalist Rozanna al-Yami, who was ordered flogged by a judge in the western city of Jiddah for her involvement in the TV show in in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex, a government official said Monday.
Al-Yami had been charged with involvement in the preparation of a sex talk show and advertising the segment on the Internet.
Public talk about sex is taboo in this ultraconservative country, where the sexes are segregated.
Al-Yami — believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to get a flogging punishment — said Saturday that although the charges against her were dropped, the judge sentenced her “as a deterrence.”
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The new US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is getting his feet wet. The UAE’s The National carries this story by Caryle Murphy on the Ambassador’s warning to US businesses that they’re missing opportunities in the Saudi marketplace and it’s costing them and the country billions.
Diplomat warns US firms are losing edge
Caryle MurphyRIYADH // The new US ambassador to Saudi Arabia yesterday warned American businesses to wake up to the fact that they are losing their edge in an increasingly competitive Saudi market.
Ambassador James B Smith, a retired air force general, also told his audience of about 100 US company representatives that it was time for both Saudis and Americans to “rethink some opinions” of each other forged in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“As a group, American business and industry is losing market share to an ever more competitive global economy and if you don’t do something then we are going to be in trouble,” Mr Smith told the American Business Group of Riyadh.
Noting that many US companies are “on the sidelines waiting to see what’s going to happen in Saudi Arabia”, he added: “My message back to them is: What’s happening is the train has already left the station. You are losing market share to India, China, Russia and if you don’t move you’re never gonna catch the train.”
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The Saudi-US Relations Information Service (SUSRIS) republishes an interview with Amb. Smith conducted by the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce:
A New Beginning: A Conversation with Ambassador James Smith,
U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaOn June 4, 2009 the White House announced James B. Smith as nominee to follow Ford Fraker as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Smith, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, was sworn in on September 16, 2009. Today we are pleased to present for your consideration an interview Ambassador Smith gave to “US-Arab Tradeline,” a publication of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce in which he focuses on his new role as a key steward of the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. We thank the Chamber or permission to share this interview with you.
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Here’s another inconvenience brought on by the Saudi ban on women’s driving… foreign drivers who can’t get through the drivers’ licensing process!
This Saudi Gazette/Okaz article notes that while the drivers seem to do fine on the road test, the computer technology used for the ‘book’ part of the exam is tripping up the would-be drivers. Many of them have never seen a computer before and get lost in the technology, even though it gives them a choice of some 20 different languages. They can, of course, be trained to use the touch-pads and other devices, but in the meantime, their sponsors are stuck with paying the salaries of non-performing employees.
Of course, most of this problem would simply go away were Saudi women permitted to get their own licenses and do their own driving…
Saudis paying drivers who are not allowed to drive
Nouf Hassan Ghaznawi and Naif MasrahiJEDDAH – Employers of private drivers are finding themselves in a fix as their employees are consistently failing the Kingdom’s driving test which requires computer skills many of them do not have, leaving sponsors the burden of wages for work which is not begin done. “I paid over 7,000 riyals to the employment office to get a driver before the start of the school year, and ended up paying the wages of someone who can’t drive because he couldn’t get a license,” says Ghada Hassan, a mother of five, who may now have to find a “local driver”.
The application for a driver’s visa requires no technological abilities on the part of the prospective employee, but once in the Kingdom the newly-arrived driver has to pass a test which involves using computer screens and touch-pad technology many persons of impoverished or rural backgrounds are unfamiliar with. “I came from a village in the Philippines and we didn’t have any computers,” says Momar, who has been in the Kingdom for just a few months. “I passed the practical driving test first time, but I’m finding the computer part of the exam tough.”
Once arrived on Saudi soil, however, the driver is still entitled to his monthly pay whether or not he passes the diving test.
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Hail from thunderstorms cover a Hail road in a partly-cloudy day Sunday. – Okaz photo by Rashed Al-Thuaini
Abdul Jawad, who unwisely bragged about his sex life on LBC satellite TV channel, has been sentenced. A female Saudi producer has been sentenced for her role in the program. But it’s not over.
Arab News reports that the prosecutor believes the punishment levied on Ms Al-Yami, the producer, is too lenient and is appealing it. Meanwhile, her attorney is appealing it as too harsh and not arrived at through proper channels. Then too, Mr Abdul Jawad’s attorney is appealing his sentence.
If nothing else, this case has touched a very sore spot in the Saudi psyche.
Prosecutor in LBC case seeks harsher punishment for woman journalist
Muhammad Humaidan | Arab NewsJEDDAH: The prosecutor in the case of a woman journalist who was handed 60 lashes for her role in an LBC program covering the sex exploits of a Saudi man has appealed the ruling and called for a harsher punishment.
Suleiman Al-Jumaei, lawyer for sex braggart Mazen Abdul Jawad, said the prosecutor appealed the sentence handed to LBC media person R.A., one of seven accused in the case.
“The public prosecutor challenged the punishment of 60 lashes saying it was too light and not in sync with her role as a coordinator and the one who prepared and advertised the program,” said Al-Jumaei.
“The verdict, however, is only at its primary stage. It will not be executed without the approval of the appeals court. The court may either uphold or revoke it,” he added.
He also expressed his worry at how slowly the Disputes Committee for Publications is dealing with Abdul Jawad’s complaint against the LBC. The complaint was submitted three months ago to the committee, which operates under the Ministry of Culture and Information.
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Love for one’s own culture is a pretty normal thing, I guess. Protecting from encroachment or debasement is a long-standing activity, throughout history. Asharq Alawsat runs an Associated Press article on a food fight between Lebanese concerns and Israel over who owns the rights to the names of foods. As international copyright and trademark laws expand to protect certain products of certain countries—the article cites the Greek efforts to restrict the use of the word ‘feta’ to a cheese made only with Greek sheep and goats milk—Lebanese chefs are trying to assert their primacy when it comes to Arab foods like hummus.
Hummus is the Arabic word for ‘chickpeas’ (aka garbanzo, ceci, channa). The word’s use is extended to various spreads or dips made of crushed chickpea with different additions, the most famous being hummus bi tahini, chickpeas mashed with garlic, oil, lemon juice, and sesame seed paste. But how will the Lebanese assert a ‘country of origin’ in their bid to ‘protect’ hummus from perceived Israeli encroachment? Are they claiming that chickpeas originate in Lebanon—never mind the Syrian city Homs, whose name is the singular of hummus. I don’t think they’re pushing for a unified ‘Greater Lebanon’ or ‘Greater Syria’ here.
But food fights and national cultures have long been cousins. Is Turkish cooking actually Turkish, or is it modified Greek? Or, perhaps, are they both offshoots of the Byzantine kitchen, with some earlier cultural remnants? For most of the world, nobody really cares: they just enjoy the food. For some Greeks and Turks, though, it’s a near existential battle.
As far as Israeli appropriation of Arabic foodstuffs and their names, it all strikes me as a lot of nothing much. It hasn’t yet reached the level of outrage caused by falafel and ta’miyya, which even gets its own Arab/Israeli dispute in the Wikipedia discussion?
Lebanese to Israel: Hands Off our Hummus!
BEIRUT, (AP) – Lebanese chefs prepared a massive plate of hummus weighing over two tons Saturday that broke a world record organizers said was previously held by Israel — a bid to reaffirm proprietorship over the popular Middle Eastern dip.
“Come and fight for your bite, you know you’re right!” was the slogan for the event — part of a simmering war over regional cuisine between Lebanon and Israel, which have had tense political relations for decades.
Lebanese businessmen accuse Israel of stealing a host of traditional Middle Eastern dishes, particularly hummus, and marketing them worldwide as Israeli.
“Lebanon is trying to win a battle against Israel by registering this new Guinness World Record and telling the whole world that hummus is a Lebanese product, its part of our traditions,” said Fady Jreissati, vice president of operations at International Fairs and Promotions group, the event’s organizer.
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A little grim for a Sunday, perhaps, but this piece from Saudi Gazette shows that it’s not a simple matter to die as an expat in Saudi Arabia. Cultural practices and religious laws come into conflict and seriously complicate the matter of returning one’s remains to his home country. The article focuses on Indians, but the complications exist for everyone, no matter the country of origin.
The article doesn’t even touch the technicalities and red tape involved with the home country. I know that many Americans are surprised and dismayed to learn that the US government does not pay to repatriate remains: that is a matter for the families of the deceased to arrange. The Embassy can help with the paperwork, but that’s about it. The result is angry communications from citizens and often their congressional representatives, but what the State Department can do to assist is limited by US law as much as Saudi law.
Handling the dead
Syeda Amtul and Syed Mussarat KhalilThe sudden death of a beloved is a time of crisis for the family, more so for expatriates, who, in their time of grief, are far away from their relatives and home. A lack of information about the disposal of dead bodies and associated procedures aggravate the situation.
According to Saudi law, when the dead body is of a Muslim, the family can choose between a local burial (in Saudi Arabia) or in the dead person’s home country.
In the case of a non-Muslim expatriate, the body is dispatched to his respective country, as the government normally does not allow burial of non-Muslims in the Kingdom.
According to the Indian Consulate’s website, dead bodies in the following exceptional cases are buried in the Kingdom irrespective of the religion:• Dead body of an expatriate executed in the Kingdom.
• Young children
• Cases where family of a non-Muslim wants local burial in Saudi Arabia and the sponsor manages to get permission.
• Dead bodies pending dispatch in the Kingdom for a long time, where response from the family is not forthcoming for acceptance of bodies on arrival at the destination.
• Dead body is too mutilated to be dispatched, as a result of traffic/industrial accident etc.
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Saudi university graduates have a hard time finding jobs. It’s even tougher for those who hold only intermediate or secondary school certificates. This Saudi Gazette piece interviews some of the young men who find themselves ill equipped to move into the jobs market. A variety of reasons for their failure are offered…
Unemployment queues for school certificate holders
JEDDAH/HAIL/TAIF/BISHA/ABHA – The large number of unemployed young Saudis are evidence of the fact that jobs in the Kingdom are hard to find. Despite holding school certificates, whether they be primary, intermediate or secondary or even college degrees, the search for a job commensurate with one’s education often ends in discouragement with the unemployed youth citing a variety of factors for their failure to find work.
Fahd Ali, 25, said, “The Ministry of Labor and the labor offices in the Kingdom’s different regions do not adequately supervise companies and the jobs they are offering. The labor offices merely receive job seekers and send them to companies with job openings. It is only then that the job seeker finds out what the work really entails. It sometimes turns out that what was advertised as an administrative position ends up with an expatriate manager using the new employee as a private driver for his home or the home of the owner of the company. As a result, the young men leave that kind of work and are reluctant to return to labor offices to find other job openings.”
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With its burgeoning population and skyrocketing demand for energy, Saudi Arabia faces serious problems in the near future, reports Saudi Gazette. Already, the country cannot meet current peak demands and the demand is growing at the rate of 6% per year. The article discusses several of the approaches being taken to confront the issue, though it is rather short on the specifics.
Energy challenge for future Saudi generation
Joe AvancenaMANAMA – The Saudi population of over 23 million could double by 2050, a threat as well as an opportunity to enhance resources of the Kingdom, particularly power generation, according to a Saudi expert on energy and water.
“The sharp population growth rate in Saudi Arabia will have an enormous impact on the need to increase power generation, a situation that should be addressed now,” said Engineer Walid Saleh Basoudan, president and chief operating officer of Saudi Masader Company for Water and Power.
Basoudan presented an overview of the energy market in Saudi Arabia at the First GCC Conference on Oil, Gas, and Petrochemicals during the World Financial Crisis that concluded here last week.
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Saudi Gazette/Okaz report that the Saudi government has formally banned imams from issuing fatawa, religious rulings on any issue of concern to the perplexed. All questions submitted to the imams must be forwarded to the Senior Board of Ulema, the highest religious authority in the country and, apparently now the only body authorized to issue the rulings.
This should help avoid both ‘dueling fatawa‘ and the sometimes zany rulings issued from sources of indifferent education.
Imams barred from issuing fatwa
Aref Al-AdielahQassim – The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call, Guidance, and Endowment has instructed mosque imams across the Kingdom not to issue a fatwa to any inquirer.
The memo circulated recently asked the imams to refer inquirers to fatwas issued by members of the Senior Board of Ulema wherever their questions fit. The instruction has come after repeated fatwas from the imams have contradicted fatwas issued by the members of the Senior Board of Ulema, the highest religious authority in the Kingdom. – Okaz/SG