The US Department of State is required by Congress to issue annual reports on human rights around the world. Work on compiling the reports starts in the summer, with a deadline for the various embassies to submit their reporting in the Fall, a deadline that misses any new activity, pro or con. A process of editing and back-and-forth conversations between the Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and labor and the field posts continues over the Winter and the report is published in March.
As would be expected, Saudi Arabia fairs poorly when it comes to human rights. It’s not a black hole, but the gravity is severe. Problems range from torture and rape in prisons to jailing those expressing unpopular political opinion. Some problems are systemic; others appear to be miscarriages resulting from individual acts of government officials. And of course, religious freedom (itself the subject of another annual report) really doesn’t exist in the Kingdom.
From the Introduction of the 2009 Human Rights Report:
… Violence against women, violations of the rights of children, and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, sect, and ethnicity were common in many countries in the Middle East region. In Saudi Arabia, for example, Muslim religious practices that conflict with the government’s interpretation of Sunni Islam are discriminated against and public religious expression by non-Muslims is prohibited. Human rights activists reported more progress in women’s rights than in other areas, and the government made efforts to integrate women into mainstream society, for example, through the founding of the Kingdom’s first coeducational university in September. However, discrimination against women was a significant problem, demonstrated by the lack of women’s autonomy, freedom of movement, and economic independence; discriminatory practices surrounding divorce and child custody; the absence of a law criminalizing violence against women; and difficulties preventing women from escaping abusive environments. There are no laws specifically prohibiting domestic violence. Under the country’s interpretation of Shari’a (Islamic law), rape is a punishable criminal offense with a wide range of penalties from flogging to execution. Statistics on incidents of rape were not available, but press reports and observers indicated rape against women and boys was a serious problem.
…
The country-specific report for Saudi Arabia is pretty comprehensive. The negative and positive review is encapsulated in the two paragraphs below. Read the entire report for specifics and expanded discussion:
During the year the following significant human rights problems were reported: no right to change the government peacefully; disappearances; torture and physical abuse; poor prison and detention center conditions; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention; denial of public trials and lack of due process in the judicial system; political prisoners; restrictions on civil liberties such as freedoms of speech (including the Internet), assembly, association, movement, and severe restrictions on religious freedom; and corruption and lack of government transparency. Violence against women, violations of the rights of children, and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, sect, and ethnicity were common. The employment sponsorship system limited the rights of foreign workers and remained a severe problem.
Significant human rights achievements during the year included implementation of the overhaul of the kingdom’s judicial system announced in 2007 that included the establishment of a new supreme court, regional appeals courts, and specialized courts for general, criminal, personal status, commercial, and labor cases; systematic review of judicial decisions; and transferring responsibility for hiring, training and supervision of judges from the Ministry of Justice to the reorganized Supreme Judicial Council. Supporting these reforms, the king reorganized the Senior Council of Religious Scholars to include representatives of all four schools of Sunni jurisprudence to broaden the sources for Shari’a (Islamic law) interpretations. The passage of a new Law to Combat Trafficking in Persons has led to training of law enforcement officials on the application of the law. The first coeducational university, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, opened its doors and the king appointed the first female cabinet-level official, a deputy minister for women’s education.
…
For those interested, this is the 6,666 post at Crossroads Arabia.
Here’s a little story from Arab News with big meaning for the Saudi government. The country of Georgia has named as its ambassador to the Kingdom, a woman. Female ambassadors, while not exactly plentiful around the world, are exceedingly rare in the KSA; Ms Mayerling-Mikadze, in fact, is the first.
This is good because there are still Saudi ministries that get really shirty when a woman tries to enter their exalted headquarters. Even embassy officers—though not ambassadors—get to sit in waiting rooms while discussions go on in ministers’ offices. This appointment, quite literally, serves to kick the doors down.
The article notes that other countries have assigned women to their embassies in Saudi Arabia. It points to Susan Ziadeh, the Deputy Chief of Mission (effectively, the deputy ambassador) at the US Embassy, though there was a woman, Margaret Scobey, in that position when I was in Riyadh in 2001-03. She later went on to become ambassador to Syria.
As for Saudi Arabia itself, it is now including women among its diplomatic corps. It has yet to name a female ambassador, however.
Riyadh gets first woman envoy
GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWSRIYADH: A Georgian has become the first woman ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Yekaterina Mayering-Mikadze, who presented a copy of her credentials to Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, is the current Georgian ambassador to Kuwait. She also represents her country in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE.
Ambassador Yekaterina said that cooperation with the Gulf states was a “paramount task” for Georgia, especially in agriculture, real estate, tourism and finance.
Georgia, a former Soviet republic nation that became independent in 1991 and admitted to the UN as its 179th member after a year, now has the distinction of sending the first female ambassador to Riyadh.
…
Arab News reports on a survey conducted by ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller on attitudes held by Saudi youth. On the whole, they’re very optimistic about the future and feel themselves engaged in the world. They also feel that they’re as entitled to the freedoms enjoyed by their counterparts in the West.
Credit card woes hit youths
HAHEEN NAZAR | ARAB NEWSYoung Arabs modern in outlook, seek same privileges as in the West: Survey
JEDDAH: Misuse of credit cards by young people is a major problem in Saudi Arabia. According to a new survey, some 52 percent of Saudi youths struggle with debt because of this. The survey also says that 46 percent of Saudi youths favor working in the private sector rather than the government sector.
The Second Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, released this week, contains other interesting revelations. It negates common Western misperceptions of Arab youths as conservative and inward-looking and says that young Arab men and women see themselves as fully engaged global citizens and aspire to the same privileges and freedoms as those taken for granted in the West.
Generally, youths in the Middle East are confident about the direction in which the region is heading. Democracy is an important aspiration for them. Good infrastructure, access to the best universities, being paid a fair wage and living in a safe neighborhood were found to be equally important priorities, said the survey.
…
The headline of the piece ‘buries the lede’, as they say. Young Saudis are reported to have trouble dealing with credit cards and their finances in general. That’s not surprising, nor is it unique to Saudi Arabia. But that is only a small part of the survey and among the least important factors.
Saudi media are reporting that the guy (name is being withheld in Saudi Arabia) who flounced around while wearing an official uniform, then posted a video of it on YouTube, has been sentenced. A year in jail and 1,000 lashes were the punishment meted out by the Saudi court. It seems that he’d been arrested last year for appearing in drag, but was pardoned by the King during a round of royal pardons at year’s end.
Interestingly, this Arab News article on the subject says that he was sentenced for ‘being a homosexual’. Now, there may be some Shariah law based on hadith that criminalize the state of being gay, but it’s not explicit in the Quran. Saudi Gazette/Okaz, in their coverage, say only that he was committing ‘acts improper and against Islamic teachings’ in addition to ‘impersonating an officer’. That’s a pretty wide net, open to being cast by any judge for nearly anything. Saudi Gazette/Okaz also says that he’s to receive 200 lashes, not 1,000.
The young man’s father says his son is suffering from ‘hormonal deficiencies’ and has psychological problems. Given that this video clip appeared on YouTube, I’m inclined to believe the latter. But there’s a long history of homosexuality being defined, prima facie, as a mental problem. The early-to-mid 20th C. in America saw people kept in mental institutions because their families, with the support of doctors, believed there was some mental wiring loose. It was sufficient in the USSR to earn a long (if not interminable) stay in a mental hospital. These measures, arguably a step up from the Biblical admonition that a gay man be stoned to death, are still seen as reasonable by those who can’t get their minds around the fact that some percentage of all humans (even Saudis) seem to be homosexual. Further, transvestitism, even absent homosexuality, seems to send the Saudi establishment into a frenzy. Saudi media have been reporting over the years about police busts of drag parties. ‘Gender-bending’ seems to be particularly offensive to Saudi sensibilities.
Homosexual-cum-impostor cop sentenced to jail, lashes
RIMA AL-MUKHTAR | ARAB NEWSPublished: Mar 11, 2010 00:21 Updated: Mar 11, 2010 00:43
JEDDAH: A 27-year-old man who was arrested in January on three charges, including homosexuality, was sentenced to one year in prison and 1,000 lashes and fined SR5,000, local media reported on Wednesday.
The man, who has not been named by officials, was arrested in January after a video was widely viewed locally. Rumors began circulating as to the origins of the video and the background of the man depicted in it, causing local police to release a statement this week confirming the arrest.
The video depicts a man with long hair dressed in a police uniform flirting with the man filming him. He asks for the cameraman’s driver’s license, then demands “physical comfort” after saying the license is expired. At one point the man displays a firearm.
Toward the end of the two-and-a-half minute clip, the man begins to partially undress and rub his chest to the sound of club music emanating from the car stereo.
He was charged with impersonating a police officer, committing a “general security” offense and being homosexual.
The man had previously been charged with homosexuality and was sentenced to counseling and memorizing a chapter of the Qur’an.
One newspaper interviewed the man’s father, who claims his son is mentally unstable and was seduced by his friend to perform for the camera. The father was unaware of the video before his son was arrested.
A new, Saudi group blog was brought to my attention, Saudi Life. It appears to address a wide range of issues, both Saudi and foreign, from a Saudi perspective. You might want to take a look.
Craziness descends. This fool (and his cameraman) seem even more clueless about Saudi society’s norms than did the ‘Sex Braggart’ who went on TV to talk of his sexual exploits. Arab News reports:
Man in police uniform arrested for ‘homosexuality’
RIMA AL-MUKHTAR | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Police here confirmed on Tuesday a man was arrested in January for dressing up in a police uniform, engaging in “inappropriate acts” and posting the video online.
Police First Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq told Arab News that the 27-year-old man had been previously charged “with a homosexual case but was bailed out.”
“This time he is facing three charges: One is for homosexuality; the other for general security; and the third is for impersonating a police officer,” said Al-Bouq.
The video depicts a young Saudi man dressed in a police uniform inside a vehicle flirting with the man holding the camera. He asks the cameraman for his driver’s license and offers “comfort.”
At one point, he waves around what appears to be a real handgun. Later in the approximately two-and-a-half-minute video on YouTube, he lifts up his shirt and rubs his chest. The video quickly spread online and through SMS until police detained both men involved in the act. Attempts have been made to block the video from being viewed in Saudi Arabia.
…
The YouTube video is here, if you can access it.
For a perfect example of why ethnic profiling for terrorists—by itself—is not a terribly useful tool, we have the story of ‘Jihad Jane’, a blonde American woman who converted to Islam. Colleen/Fatima LaRose is alleged to have been involved in several plots involving terrorism, from directly going to Sweden to assassinate one of the artists whose work made up part of the ‘Danish cartoons’ to misappropriating a US passport.
Ms LaRose is not of Middle Easter extraction; she’s not dark complected; she’s female. None of these factors is among those typically identified with Islamic terrorism. If anti-terror profiling were restricted to only ethnic characteristics, Ms LaRose would have been invisible.
From The Washington Post:
JihadJane, an American woman, faces terrorism charges
Carrie JohnsonA petite, blond-haired, blue-eyed high school dropout who allegedly used the nickname JihadJane was identified Tuesday as an alleged terrorist intent on recruiting others to her cause, as federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges that could send her to prison for life.
Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, has been quietly held in U.S. custody since October on suspicions that she provided material support to terrorists and traveled to Sweden to launch an attack, according to federal officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is continuing to unfold.
LaRose, who lived in suburban Philadelphia, allegedly recruited men and women in the United States, Europe and South Asia to “wage violent jihad,” according to an indictment issued in Pennsylvania. She fueled her interests on the Internet over the past few years and used Web sites such as YouTube to post increasingly agitated messages, the court papers said.
As an American citizen whose appearance and passport allowed her to blend into Western society, LaRose represents one of the worst fears of intelligence and FBI analysts focused on identifying terrorist threats. She is one of only a handful of women to be charged with terrorism offenses in the United States, national security experts said.
…
Saudi Gazette runs an interesting piece on date production. Date trees, it appears, come in both male and female forms. To produce dates, you need both, though one male tree can pollinate up to 50 female trees. But male trees produce their flowers, in huge pods, several weeks before the female trees open. This means that to get a good crop, pollination must be done by hand. Luckily, the flower pods of male trees seem to be transportable and open to being stored for a while.
The result is a market for male palm flowers. That’s a pretty specialized, niche market as the world goes, but it’s clearly critical for date production. And date production is not only traditional to Saudi Arabia, it’s also a major (if not the major) agricultural export crop.
High demand in EP for male date palm flowers
Faisal Aboobacker PonnaniDAMMAM – Farmers from Al-Ahsa and Saihat are capitalizing on the considerable increase in the demand for male date palm flowers in the Eastern Province.
In March and April, date palm flowers start to blossom with each palm forming about 10-15 large golden-brown flower pods.
The demand for male date palm is high during this season as farmers use them for pollination with their female date palm.
The male date palm flower pod is called “Nabath” in Arabic which is selling in Damman now at SR150. However, the demand would gradually decrease remarkably cutting the prices as well.
…
Arab News reports that Saudi media are being given a longer leash. In his remarks at the opening of the current session of the Shoura Council, King Abdullah said that constructive criticism of government operations is a legitimate subject for local media. This might sadden some ministers and other bureaucrats who believed they (and their ministries) were immune.
Of course, the King called for ‘responsible’ criticism. I don’t fault him there. While the Saudi media has improved over the years, many elements still lack a high level of professionalism. Too, they can be subject to pressures from publishers to take on the publishers’ personal agendas. It’s not as bad as in some Arab countries, but it still needs to be corrected.
King: Constructive criticism on govt’s performance is welcome
RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has given a boost to local media by allowing them to constructively criticize the government’s performance.
However, he warned against using the media as a tool to settle internal disputes and personal accounts and making false accusations.
“I ask all people to fear God in their words and deeds, to shoulder their responsibilities consciously and not to be a burden on their religion and homeland,” he said on Sunday.
…
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery. — Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
Arab News runs a story on a Kuwaiti economist’s pointing out that Saudi families are spending too much money; more money than they earn, in fact. It’s not just Saudis, he says. Gulf Arabs are a consumer society and they need to get over it.
Part of the reason is indeed extravagance, but some of it is necessity, too. I find the typical Saudi income to be rather low (though nowhere nearly as low as that of foreign workers). Things tend to be expensive in the Kingdom, too, if they’re not being subsidized by the government. The inverse of the typical pattern of locally-produced goods costing less than imports is very much the case. Local lamb, for instance, can cost multiples of the cost of Australian or New Zealand lamb.
Still, over spending is a problem that needs to be addressed. It’s part of the ‘attitude adjustment’ that Saudis need to make as they move toward a ‘post-petroleum’ world.
Saudi families spend twice what they earn
MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Saudi families spend nearly twice what they earn, according to Kuwaiti economist Jassem Al-Mutwwa.
“Education, amusement and eating out account for more than 181 percent of a family income in Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Mutwwa who delivered a lecture on personal finance in Jeddah on Saturday.
According to his research, Saudi families overspend on personal articles and services by an average of 8 percent.
However, he noted the money spent on housing and health care was considerably less than in other parts of the world. “While only 44 percent of the family budget is spent on housing, health care represents 39 percent,” the speaker said.
He also noted that Saudi families spend ever more each month on hotels and cafes, beverages, personal articles and services.
…
The Saudi health care system is due for a major reworking, Arab News reports. From expanded home care to standardization of practices in hospitals, the Ministry of Health is seeking to implement a 60-point program to raise the level of health care in the Kingdom…
Al-Rabeeah announces 60-point program
P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah announced Saturday a 60-point program to strengthen the Kingdom’s health service. He made the announcement during a consultative meeting of leading Health Ministry officials in Laith.
Dr. Khaled Mirghalani, spokesman for the ministry, said the program is aimed at improving the efficiency of public health institutions, raising monitoring levels, increasing the quality of health services, developing manpower capabilities and strengthening infrastructure.
“We have already started implementing some points of this program and results have been good,” said Mirghalani.
The consultative meeting has decided to focus on the management of beds at hospitals in all parts of the Kingdom to achieve optimum operational efficiency.
He disclosed plans to expand daylong surgery programs at public hospitals. At present, 33 percent of hospitals provide this service. “Some 3,632 surgical operations have been carried out during the last three months under this program,” he said.
…