Driving Is Not The Issue

The arrest and interrogation of Manal Al-Shareef, an inexperienced advocate for Saudi women’s rights to be permitted to drive so they are able to take their children to school and save their lives in emergency situations, is not the reason for the Saudi authorities’ arbitrary invasion of her house and snatching her while sleeping with her child at 3 AM on May 21, 2011.

The Saudi regime’s daunting fear is deeper than women getting behind the wheel. The theocratic and autocratic ruling Saudi men are scared that their captive population, male and female, might break away from the grinding fears through which the regime has been able to crush people’s aspirations, to treat them as less than human beings and to control every aspect of people’s lives for decades since the founding of the state in 1932 and historically for centuries before that.

Like many human rights advocates before her, Ms. Al-Shareef will be severely physically abused and humiliated at the hands of the Saudi Interior Ministry’s hired mercenaries while in prison. This is done not only to silence her but also to send a message to anyone who dares question the Saudi regime’s absolute rule. Like her predecessors, she will come out of prison apologizing for crimes she never committed and praising the system for its wisdom and just governing practices. Welcome to Saudi Arabia in the twenty-first century.

10-year old Saudi bride returned to 80-year old husband under Sharia law

Here is another example of the abuses that occur under the Saudi Wahhabi rule. A 10-year old bride has been forced by her father to return to her 80-year old husband. She was found hiding with her aunt to escape the marriage, which is considered legal under Sharia law. Sharia law is the legal system in Saudi Arabia.

This is child molestation by any standard. Sadly, this story is one of many more such cases.

Read the article from Arab News.

Wajeha al-Huwaider : A Courageous Advocate for Saudi Women

Wajeha Al-Huwaider is a courageous advocate for Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia.

The Washington Post’s Outlook section this past Sunday featured an illuminating op-ed by Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi woman who has daringly shed light on the quandary of Saudi women over the years.

Read her article, Saudi Women Can Drive. Just Let Them.

As explained in her article, Al-Huwaider’s latest campaign is for the abolition of the paternalistic male guardianship. Under this system, women are not permitted to travel, work, attend college, or even receive life-saving medicine without the permission of a male guardian, usually their husband, father, or brother. This system denies Saudi women their basic human rights. Victims of domestic abuse have little or no recourse and no way of escaping from their attackers, since consent of their male guardian, who is often their abuser, is required to seek legal action. Preposterously, this system is not written law, yet is enforced by Saudi authorities. This makes it exceedingly difficult to fight the system, as the Saudi government continues to deny its existence.

As a promoter of human rights and democratic reforms in Saudi Arabia CDHR staff and supporters held a peaceful demonstration on July 27 in front of the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. to demonstrate support for Saudi women’s call for the removal of the unnatural, unnecessary and contemptuous male guardianship system, which is sanctioned and enforced by Saudi authorities.

In her article al-Huwaider talks not only about the need to abolish male guardianship, but highlights the multitude of impediments Saudi women face every day of their lives, including child marriage, the ban on women driving, being forced to wear an abaya in public, not being allowed to participate in sports, and the four wives system.

CDHR supports Wajeha al-Huwaider and her colleagues in their struggle to obtain their full citizenship and legitimate rights in the autocratically ruled Saudi kingdom.

Here's a link to an earlier article on al-Huwaider, also in The Washington Post, and her YouTube video of Saudi women driving for International Women's Day (in Arabic).

Peaceful Demonstration at Saudi Embassy

Recent Events at CDHR

As the only non-profit educational organization that is focused exclusively on the Saudi government’s domestic and foreign policies and their implications and ramifications for the Saudi people and the international community, CDHR organized two major events in July 2009.

As part of its ongoing educational activities, CDHR staff and supporters held a peaceful demonstration on July 27 in front of the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. to demonstrate support for Saudi women’s call for the removal of the unnatural, unnecessary and destructive male guardianship system, which is sanctioned and enforced by Saudi authorities.

On July 29, CDHR hosted a unique and informative conference, “How Empowering Saudi Women Can Undermine Islamist Extremism,” held at the US Congressional Visitors Conference Center in Washington DC. CDHR brought together members of the US Congress, former US government officials and dedicated human rights activists including Muslim women and men to elaborate on the importance of empowering Saudi women, which in turn will ensure a stable society that will serve the best interest of its people and the international community.

The well-attended conference featured two panels where speakers addressed different aspects of Saudi women’s oppression and its implications for Saudi society and beyond. At the end of their presentations, the speakers made specific policy recommendations to be considered and carried out by the United States government. Prominent among these recommendations are removal of the male guardianship system, full employment opportunities, religious freedom, codified laws to protect women from discriminatory policies and the right to representation in the Saudi judicial system.

Speakers included Congresswomen Sue Myrick (North Carolina) and Congressman Dan Burton (Indiana), as well as Dr. Thomas Farr, Georgetown University; Ms. Farzana Hassan, Canadian Muslim Congress; Ms. Clare Lopez, former CIA official; Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour, Director of Al-Quran Center; and Ms. Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch, director Middle East and North Africa section.

They Gave Barbarity a Bad Name

The Washington-based Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia denounces the slaughter of two young Saudi women by their brother. The women, who were 19 and 21 years old, were shot while being escorted by their father out of a government shelter for women accused of talking to unrelated males, khalwa.

After the brother emptied his gun in his sisters’ bodies, his father thanked him for protecting the family’s honor. The son will not be punished for his heinous and savage crime because his father forgave him for defending the family’s honor.

This is the result of the Saudi government sanctioned male guardianship system, which gives men total control over every aspect of women's lives. Saudi Arabia is the only country in which women cannot drive. Saudi women are also forbidden to work, travel, buy property and even receive life saving medicine without their male guardian’s presence or written permission.

Take a look at the coverage from Hudson New York and Arabian Business.

Peaceful Demonstration at Saudi Embassy

CDHR invites you to join us in a peaceful demonstration in front of the Saudi embassy to support Saudi women’s struggle to obtain their rights, specifically the removal of the male guardian system which is designed to control every aspect of women’s lives.

As documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House and even by the US Department of State, Saudi women are among the most oppressed and marginalized citizens in Arab and Muslim countries. Saudi Arabia’s repressive policies that deny women their natural and human rights are not only immoral, but also have crippling political, social, educational and economic consequences on Saudi society and the Muslim world. Due to its centrality to Islam and position as the world’s largest petroleum exporter, many Muslims look to Saudi Arabia for religious guidance, money and employment.

Supporting and empowering Saudi women is not only morally correct, it will stabilize, moderate and help eradicate the root causes of religious extremism and its by-product, terrorism, in Saudi Arabia and beyond. Please join us and encourage others to show their support for Saudi women in a peaceful and orderly demonstration in front of the Saudi Embassy on Monday, July 27, 2009 from 11 AM to 1 PM.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia is located at 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037, between Virginia Avenue NW and F Street NW, near the Foggy Bottom – GWU Metro Station.

Contact Sarah Little at Sarah@cdhr.info or by telephone at 202-558-5552.

Check out this event on Facebook.

www.cdhr.info

CDHR presents:

CDHR is pleased to invite you to attend and participate in an informative and thought-provoking conference:

How Empowering Saudi Women Can Undermine Islamist Extremism

This unique conference will be held on Wednesday July 29, from 10 AM to 2 PM on Capitol Hill, Room HVC 201 A & B in the Capitol Visitors Center, a short walk from Capital South Metro Station, Blue and Orange line.

Saudi Arabia is a country “Without Borders”. Because of its centrality to Islam, Saudi Arabia plays a major role in the lives, attitudes and perceptions of an estimated 1.5 billion Arabs and Muslims, especially the most vulnerable and poverty stricken who look to the autocratic ruling Saudi dynasty and its pre-modern institutions for religious guidance.

But more urgent and relevant to the world’s current economic stability and survivability, Saudi Arabia sits atop the world’s largest known oil reserves and has the capacity to produce and ship it to all regions of the world. The combination of grave religious and economic power in the hands of one of the world’s last absolute but shaky governments can cause domestic, regional and global havoc. Given these obtrusive realities, the international community has no choice but to be ominously concerned about Saudi Arabia’s security and stability which have been, until now, maintained by the sword internally and by US military might externally.

However, recent events and the unprecedented politicization of radical Islam in the Middle East have exposed the dangers and ineffectiveness of relying on brute methods and religious totalitarianism to maintain stability and ensure global peace. Luckily, there is a safe, readily available and attainable option: Empower the Saudi people, especially women, to secure and stabilize their country, which is in the best interest of all citizens, the Middle East and the international community. This can be done only if the large and ideologically divided autocratic Saudi ruling princes accept the fact that the country is not their private property, “Saudi” Arabia, and be made aware by the international community, especially the US, that not to move forward is not an option because of the country’s religious and economic importance to global peace and economic stability.

Having had been deeply involved in the Saudi Kingdom’s affairs since its inception in 1933, the United States is in a position to play hardball with the ruling Saudi oligarchs. America designed and constructed the Saudi ruling family’s infrastructure, created, armed and trained its armed forces, airlines, security apparatus and even designed its currency. In reality, if it were not for America’s protection of the Saudi monarchy and its vast desert domain, the country and its rulers could have been overrun by one of the dynasty’s staunch and stronger rivals in the region, Iraq or Iran or could have been overthrown by its repressed population. These facts are more salient now than ever and the US is the only country the Saudi princes can rely on to save them and protect their kingdom.

Empowering Saudi women will strengthen Saudi Arabia socially, economically and politically. It will also help protect and promote the United States’ security and interests and is in accordance with America’s revered and deeply held democratic values. Granting Saudi women their full incontrovertible rights is not only morally correct, but it will ultimately tilt the balance in favor of moderation and will help eradicate the root causes of oppression and religious totalitarianism, not only in Saudi Arabia, but throughout Arab and Muslim communities worldwide.

As documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Freedom House and even by the US Department of State, Saudi women are among the most oppressed and marginalized citizens in Arab and Muslim countries. In addition to its immoral and crippling political, social, educational and economic consequences on Saudi society, denying Saudi women their natural and human rights because of their gender is imitated in other Muslims countries, especially among poor and traditional groups and their Shariah court systems to justify abuses and marginalization of Muslim women.

As the only NGO in the US focusing totally on Saudi Arabia, CDHR has assembled a group of highly educated and sophisticated human rights activists Muslim women and men, as well as former US government officials to elaborate on the importance of empowering Saudi women.

Please join us on Wednesday July 29th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM on Capitol Hill in the Capitol Visitors Center Room HVC 201 A&B to investigate this vital topic with us. Seats are limited so please RSVP. To reserve your spot or for further information contact Lauren Baker at lauren@cdhr.info or call us at 202.558.5552

A Female Stand-Up Comic in Saudi Arabia

This article from BBC News describes ‘Noufie,’ a 25-year-old Saudi women who performs as a stand-up comic in the kingdom, despite her gender! She mentions not being able to use her own name for fear of dishonoring her family and facing retribution from the Saudi royal family and religious institutions.

A quote from the article: “I'm also a risk taker. I would love to get in trouble for something I believe in.

I hope one day they will understand in Saudi Arabia, this is not wrong, this is not against the religion or anything. I am just there to make people laugh, what am I doing wrong?”

Saudi Bloggers

Here are some interesting links to blogs written by actual Saudis.

Saudiwoman's Weblog has written about important issues including child brides, the religious police, and the difficulty of finding a job as a Saudi woman. She is a married woman who teaches at a university in Riyadh.

In the Making has posted about sex segregation, the ban on female drivers, and the overall difficulty and humiliation of a female adult living in Riyadh.

KhanSerai talks about sex segregation, Saudis using Twitter, and the need for reform in Saudi Arabia.

A female journalist living in Jeddah writes about the Saudi educational system, Saudi women being denied the right to vote, and analyses politics relating to the Middle East from a female, Arab point of view at Sabria's Out of the Box.

Khaled's Ramblings talks about technology from a Saudi perspective.

A Bangladeshi living in Saudi Arabia writes about the difficulty of daily life in the kingdom and comments on the religious police at LifeInTheDesert.

At The Ramblings of a Saudi Wife, a female Saudi blogger writes about sex segregation, and the problems of a judicial system that allows physical abuse of children and females.

Why is Empowering Saudi Women so Important?

CDHR is hosting a conference on July 29^th on Capitol Hill about the importance of empowering Saudi women. The people of Saudi Arabia lack basic human rights, women in particular. Saudi women cannot make basic decisions about their lives, but must have the signed approval of male guardians to travel, receive surgery, to study, or to have a job, among many other basic daily activities. Saudi women are not allowed to drive. Saudi Arabia’s severe, exclusionary branch of Islam, Wahhabism, is the foundation for the denial of rights to Saudi women by the influential religious establishment and the Saudi royal family.

 

Wahhabism and Saudi Arabia’s forceful spread of this ideology abroad fosters extremism and poses a dangerous, growing threat to the security of the United States and the international community.  Additionally, many Americans do not realize that the United States continues to support the Saudi royal family despite its denial of basic human rights. The United States, as a promoter of democracy worldwide, and because of its influence as an international leader, has the moral obligation to cease supporting the Saudi royal family and lead a call for reforms. 

 

These informative articles outline the importance of empowering Saudi women and give examples of the horrific ways Saudi Arabia denies women basic human rights. 

 

Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia

A report from Human Rights Watch drawing on more than 100 interviews with Saudi women to document the effects of these discriminatory policies on a woman’s most basic rights.

 

What Drives the Youth into the Arms of Extremists

An article from Arab News on why extremism continues to thrive in the Middle East.

 

 Book Sheds Light on Flaws in Education System 

A female Saudi professor describes the Saudi education system as a “locked box” that encourages aspects that foster terrorism.

 

 A former Jihadist explains in an article for The Washington Post how he realized extremism was not the way of Islam and calls for an Islamic reform. Losing My Jihadism: A Cry for Change

 Mansour al-Nogaidan, author of the above article, explains his personal journey and calls for reform of Islam in an op-ed for The New York Times. Telling the Truth, Facing the Whip: 

Finally, in The Jihadi Who Kept Asking Why, Elizabeth Rubin examines the background of several ex-Jihadists, including Mansour al-Nogaidan. This in-depth article for The New York Times is very revealing about the causes of extremism and ways to prevent it.

An article from BBC News on the death of 14 Saudi girls who tried to flee a fire in their school. They could not escape because the school gates were locked, as they usually are to ensure strict segregation of the sexes. Schoolgirls Die in Mecca Stampede

 

 Saudi Police 'Stopped' Fire Rescue The Saudi religious police refused to allow schoolgirls to leave a burning building because the girls were not wearing the required headscarves and abayas. This resulted in the deaths of 15 Saudi schoolgirls.  

Save the Date!

Wednesday, July 29th

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, CDHR

Presents:

How empowering Saudi women can undermine Islamist extremism

CDHR invites you to support and attend this very important and thought-provoking conference. Many of you are aware of the marginalization of Saudi women and its destructive impact on Saudi and Muslim societies as well as the international community. Empowering and including Saudi women in their country’s development and decision-making processes will tilt the balance in favor of religious tolerance, social and political balance and the building of a forward-looking society.

The US has had mutual financial and strategic close relations with the Saudi autocratic ruling family for decades. Unfortunately, this relationship has ignored documented gross violations of basic human rights in Saudi Arabia. In addition, a deadly Islamist (Salafi) ideology, Wahhabism, is gaining strength in Saudi Arabia and in most Sunni Muslim countries and communities, especially in South and Central Asia, Europe and now in the US.

Contrary to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia’s calls for religious tolerance among different faiths, none exist in his kingdom, and Wahhabism is being exported and gaining strength everywhere.

It is our firm belief based on our intimate knowledge of Saudi Arabia, its people, religious sects, ruling family and its institutions, that empowering Saudi women will undermine religious extremism and its byproduct: Terrorism and religious totalitarianism. The American people, regardless of national origins, ethnicity and religious orientation and backgrounds have a stake in supporting the Saudi women to gain their natural and human rights to counter the Saudi deadly religious ideology.

We encourage you to join us for two panel discussions and lunch in the Capitol Visitors Center Room HVC 201 A&B on Wednesday July 29th from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Seats are limited, please RSVP and for futher information contact Lauren Baker at lauren@cdhr.info or 202.558.5552

CDHR Calls for the Suspension of the Saudi Membership in the Olympics

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia calls on the International Olympics Committee (IOC), President Bush, the U.S. Congress, human rights organizations, and the media to deplore the Saudi government's decision to ban Saudi women from participating in the Olympics, which will commence on August 8, 2008, in Beijing. Denying Saudi women's full citizenship at home and excluding them from participating in international events is not only morally wrong, but in defiance of accepted international norms and declarations on human rights, freedom of movement, and respect for basic liberties.

Saudi Arabia plays a major religious and economic role in the lives of Muslims and non-Muslim because of its oil reserves and historical importance to Islam. As a result, the actions of the Saudi government resonate significantly in Arab and Muslim societies. Barring Saudi women from participating in the Olympic Games is contrary to the I.O.C. rules, which state that "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympics Movement." Furthermore, this decision re-enforces and perpetuates the already offensive Muslim systems of segregation and discrimination against Saudi women specifically, and women throughout Muslim and Arab societies.

The Saudi government's manipulations of universal treaties and declarations of human rights, as well as its continued violations of human rights at home, is not only unacceptable behavior in the 21^st century, but ample grounds to declare Saudi Arabia a pariah state and to have its membership in the Olympics suspended until it abides by the rules of the International Olympic Committee. The King of Saudi Arabia initiated and presided over an interfaith dialogue in Spain (June 16^th through the 18^th, 2008) where he emphasized tolerance of differences and respect for all peoples. The king and his family should start to reconcile differences and respect their own citizens, men and women. There is no better chance for the Saudis to change their disdainful and unjust policies toward women than to abide by international norms and let them participate in the Olympics in Beijing, in August 2008. As the birthplace of Islam and host to its holy shrines, Saudi Arabia has an enormous obligation to show that Islam is not a religion of intolerance, extremism, oppression, segregation, and exploitation.

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia condemns the Saudi government's decision to deny Saudi women the right to be full citizens at home and full members of the international community. The Saudi government is practicing an Apartheid-like system that is similar to that of South Africa a few decades ago, for which it was barred from global events, boycotted, and declared a pariah government. The international community, especially Western democracies, should treat the Saudi government as they treated the segregationist Apartheid government in South Africa.