Peaceful Demonstration at Saudi Embassy

When a Cup of Coffee sets off Religious Oppression

In this day and age, nowhere in the world do government police snatch an innocent educated businesswoman, interrogate her, confiscate her phone, and throw her in a penitentiary for having a cup of coffee with a business colleague in a crowded public coffee shop. Nowhere except for Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to the 1.3 billion Muslims' holy shrines. Despite its ubiquity in Saudi Arabia, this kind of behavior is not only morally abhorrent and in utter disrespect for basic human rights, but an insult to the same Muslim faith that Saudis and Muslims worldwide depict and defend as a faith of tolerance, civility, equality and justice. The gender apartheid system in Saudi Arabia is institutionalized and severely enforced by a ferocious government-hired and trained religious police ("Matawaein" or "domesticators"), who are authorized to terrorize, humiliate and treat Saudi citizens and residents with sheer contempt. Though they claim to be defending Islam, the Saudi-Wahhabi families merely use religion as a pretext to justify their appalling treatment of women, religious minorities, and non-Muslims. Humiliating women and denying them the right to drive, work, buy property and travel without being accompanied by a male relative, are state policies and daily occurrences. The unlimited power bestowed upon the institutionalized religious extremists is not only a dire threat to the future and prosperity of the Saudi people—stifled and lagging in social and political development—but also to Muslims worldwide, especially women, and to the international community. Pretending that religious extremism can be washed away by simply ignoring it is a colossal mistake for which the world has paid dearly. It will only get worse from here.

Source:
http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=106499&d=5&m=2&y=2008&hl=Coffee%20With%20Colleague%20Lands%20Woman%20in%20Trouble

About CDHR

About CDHR

Mission Declaration:

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (CDHR) is a (501)(c)3 non-profit organization established to promote timely and irreversible transformation of the existing Saudi autocratic institutions to a system whereby all Saudi citizens are empowered to chart a peaceful, prosperous, tolerant and safe future for themselves and for their religiously and economically influential country.

Implication for the International Community

Due to its centrality to Islam and position as the largest exporter of petroleum, Saudi Arabia plays major roles in the lives of Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide. Stabilizing Saudi Arabia under pluralistic institutions will ensure peace and prosperity for the Saudi people, the Greater Middle East and the international community.

What We Do

CDHR gathers information from a wide range of sources about current events in Saudi Arabia and analyzes and interprets their impact on Saudi society, the Greater Middle East and the international community. These unique findings are disseminated to policy makers, the public, media, educational institutions and a variety of nongovernmental organizations. The distribution of CDHR’s information is widely dispersed via our newsletter, website, Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts. In addition, CDHR’s staff organize educational conferences, Congressional briefings and participate in a multitude of public and official events. CDHR promotes: freedom of worship and expression, transparency, accountability, empowerment of women, protection of migrant workers, establishment of and adherence to non-sectarian laws and compliance with all international declarations on human rights. CDHR rallies support for Saudi democratic reformers, highlights their initiatives and exposes the Saudi government’s heavy-handed responses to them.

CDHR Promotes:

Political Reform: Transformation of the Saudi political structure from its current autocratic one-family-rule to a participatory political structure where all citizens’ and expatriates’ civil liberties and full rights are protected under the rule of codified non-sectarian laws. Find Out More!

Religious Freedom: Freedom of worship, religious thoughts, practices and choices. Find Out More!

Women’s Rights: Equal rights for all Saudi women, the eradication of child and forced marriages, honor killings, stoning, genital mutilation, pleasure (mit’ah) marriage, the four wives system and the removal of gender segregation rules throughout society. Find Out More!

Minority Rights: Full and equal rights for Muslim and non-Muslim religious minorities under the rule of law. Find Out More!

Economic Reform: Privatization of government owned industries, public utilities and independent economic institutions. Find Out More!

US Legislation: Learn about current U.S. legislation affecting human rights and democracy in Saudi Arabia, and encourage your Congressional Representatives to support these important initiatives. Find Out More!

A Non-sectarian Judicial System: An independent court system staffed by highly qualified jurists who interpret and apply publicly approved non-sectarian laws where the rights and dignity of all citizens, regardless of status, and expatriates are equally protected under the rule of law.

Transparency and Accountability: Creation of an independent national treasury where all national revenues and disbursements are accounted for and open to public scrutiny.

Reformed Education and Religious Institutions: The management of all educational and religious institutions should be turned over to non-governmental bodies. As required by the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Dec. 10, 1948, courses about women, human rights and other religions must be part of all educational levels in Saudi Arabia.

Freedom of the Press and Flow of Uncensored Information: Abolition of censorship of all forms of expressions and information in and outside of the country.

CDHR’s Activities:

1) Provides thought provoking and accurate information and analysis of Saudi events and policies via its widely read website and 5,000 strong newsletter recipients worldwide. CDHR’s director analyzes current Saudi news and policies for the benefit of the readers who would otherwise take the highly censored Saudi news for face value.

2) Operates a Blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread information and engage readers in open discussions about issues that affect them, but which they cannot initiate from or discuss openly in Saudi Arabia.

3) Organizes in-depth public and official conferences and round table discussions in which qualified speakers present current different prospective and analysis about Saudi policies, US-Saudi relations and the Saudi role in the financing and spread of its austere brand of Islam, Wahhabism.

4) Monitors and conducts research on human rights, women’s and minority rights, rights of expatriates, religious tolerance and freedom of worship and expression.

5) Networks with other groups, think tanks and Congressional staffers in Washington, to provide them with current information about Saudi Arabia as it relates to the US and its interests.

6) Networks with pro-democracy and human rights groups in the US, Europe and individuals in the Arab and Muslim communities.

7) Provides presentations at conferences and other events, utilizing the knowledge of the Executive Director as a native of Saudi Arabia and an expert intimately familiar with its history, composition, and peoples.

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CDHR sends out regular newsletters twice a month to our readers with analysis of events in Saudi Arabia, upcoming CDHR events, and reports on the progress of our ongoing campaigns. Subscribe Now!

Please donate online or by mail

The Center for Democracy & Human Rights in Saudi Arabia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in Washington, DC. Your donation is tax deductible and will help CDHR continue its democratic, nonviolent activities. Donate easily online to CDHR using PayPal or send a donation by mail to:

The Center for Democracy & Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
1050 17th Street NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036 USA

Minority Rights in Saudi Arabia

Religious minorities in Saudi Arabia (non-Wahhabi Muslims and non-Muslims) face severe discrimination in employment and education, and are forbidden from openly practicing their religion. In cases involving the calculation of accidental injury or death compensation, a non-Muslim receives only half of the compensation that a male Muslim would receive, and in some cases only one-sixteenth of that amount, depending on intentionality. The testimony of non-Wahhabi Muslims can be disregarded, and non-Muslims are likely to receive harsher criminal sentences than Muslims. All verdicts are decided by the whim of partial Wahhabi judges.

The 2004 statistical report from the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning acknowledged that non-Saudis account for 67% of the Kingdom’s labor force. Other estimates set this figure as high as 85 to 90%. This translates to nearly seven million foreigners, or one-third of the population of Saudi Arabia, who live and work in the country without any rights or recognition under the strict Saudi-Wahhabi religious laws and practices. Without these workers, many of whom are non-Muslims, the Saudi economy would collapse. This hiring practice permeates the government and private employment sectors. Saudis are bypassed in favor of cheap labor, mostly from poorer Asian or African countries, who accept any terms without complaint due to their constant fear of arrest or deportation.

Despite Saudi Arabia’s dependence on its labor and expertise, foreign workers in the country are treated very poorly. Upon entry into the country, the passports of non-diplomats are confiscated by their employers or sponsors and the foreigner becomes a virtual hostage of his or her sponsor until departing the country. Foreign workers often face abusive conditions in the workplace, being denied breaks and meals while working unreasonably long hours, and in some cases not receiving pay for months or years at a time.

There are numerous reports of serious verbal and physical abuse, especially of foreign women working as domestic servants in Saudi households. There is no minimum wage, and workers do not have the right to organize or strike. There is no agency that recognizes the grievances of foreign laborers, and they may not access the justice system. Embassies of foreign workers often side with the Saudis for fear of losing Saudi loans, favorable trade deals, and access to cheap oil.

CDHR strongly urges the international community to condemn these abuses and the institutional discrimination against anyone in Saudi Arabia because of belief, ethnicity, race, or gender. The Saudi regime, with its intolerant religious institutions and abusive and dysfunctional economic infrastructure, must be held accountable for its discriminatory policies. The recognition and protection of basic and universal human rights constitutes an indispensable part of the democratization process. A policy of fairness and decency must replace the current government-sanctioned practice of discrimination and abuse in Saudi Arabia.

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CDHR's campaign for minority rights in Saudi Arabia

More on minority rights in Saudi from CDHR's Blog

Religious Freedom in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi government forbids the practice of any religion other than the state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam (Wahhabism). Worship for Muslims in Saudi Arabia is compulsory and during times of worship, all shops, restaurants, radio and television stations must close. Those who do not comply are subject to interrogation, humiliation, imprisonment and flogging. If non-Muslims are caught practicing their faiths in public, they are routinely taken to filthy detention centers and left to languish under harsh conditions. If they are foreigners, they remain in these conditions until they are deported. If religious prisoners come before a court, they face a biased judicial system staffed by extremist judges, who consider non-Muslims and religious minorities to be infidels.

The Saudi government uses religion as a tool of political, social, economic, and psychological oppression. Religion is used to justify tyrannical rule, reject democracy and impose severe censorship on the flow of information into and out of the country under the pretense of protecting Islam from the immoral values of “infidels.”

As host to the birthplace of Islam and the home of its holy shrines in Mecca and Medina, the Saudi ruling dynasty exerts disproportionate religious influence throughout Arab and Muslim communities worldwide. The official state religion, Wahhabism, advocates intolerance and depicts democracy as antithetical to God’s will and power. Unless the international community takes concrete measures to discourage the Saudi institutions from promoting religious hatred the consequences could be catastrophic.

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CDHR's campaign for religious freedom in Saudi Arabia

More on religious freedom from CDHR's Blog