Unabated War Against Saudi Women

Director’s Comment: In their undiminished insistence that the country’s wealth, decision-making and governorship remain property of the ruling family and its theocratic partners, any meaningful reform in Saudi Arabia will remain aesthetic. The recurrent tactic has been to pre-design royal decrees that sound liberal to the public, but are sure to be rejected by the religious establishment and its royal handlers, such as Princes Naif and Salman. The king consequently benefits of a favorable public opinion, despite the fact his highly praised reform efforts remain “ink on paper”, especially when it comes to women’s rights.
Case in point is a recent decision taken by the Panda supermarket chain, to hire 16 women cashiers in a store in Saudi Arabia’s most liberal city, Jeddah. Members of the religious establishment immediately protested against the company’s decision. They called it “ungodly” and urged people to stop patronizing the supermarket. Despite the fact that the women were covered from head to toe (except for their eyes) and are only allowed to serve families, the store was empty of customers, and cashiers were sitting idol as of last reporting on August 31, 2010. Not surprisingly, there was no word from King Abdullah to support the supermarket’s decision to hire women cashiers or to instruct his religious zealot to quit harassing people.
These duplicitous political maneuvers employed by royals, usually result in an unfair blame of society for rejecting women. Religion is also blamed for denying women their basic citizenship rights. In reality, neither society and/or religion are responsible for denying women their natural and human rights to feed themselves and support their families. It is politics and the Saudi economy that are responsible for denying women their right to work. Allowing women to work would challenge the country’s economy as well as its sterile, patriarchal ideology. These same policies exonerate the system from meeting its obligations toward all members of society.
The attached article explains the regime’s methods of playing genders against each other by blaming it on society, tradition and God. Read article
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article106238.ece

Saudi woman journalist sentenced to 60 lashes

Director's Comments:

CDHR denounces the Jeddah Summary Court and its presiding religious extremist Judge, Muhammad Amin Mirdad, for sentencing journalist Rosanna Al-Yami (R.A) to sixty flogs for doing her job. According to Saudi and global media outlets, R.A. “…was accused of being an accomplice to Abdul Jawad (Saudi male citizen) who provoked a furor because he boasted on TV about having premarital sex, provided explicit sexual descriptions and described how to pick up girls and women, “ Arabnews. “Imagine how busy the courts and public squares would be if every person in free societies where freedoms of speech and expression are protected under the rule of law are convicted and sentenced to flogging because they boasted about dating and sexual activities,” Said Dr. Ali Alyami, Director of the Washington based Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi religious courts (rule of law and freedom of expression are considered an immoral Western invention, therefore antithesis to Islamic teachings) and their mostly ultra conservative (extremist) judges issue arbitrary and severe sentencing based on their mood, religious orientation and preconceived notions. The courts use these same standards to determine methods of punishment that may have very little to do with the case at hand, with the intention of sending chilling messages to those who dare think out of the box. Public flogging is the most humiliating form of punishment and is administered with the intention of reminding people that they are perpetual minors incapable of being in charge of their own lives and actions. Verdicts and summary sentencing in Saudi courts are not designed to fit the actions or crimes at hand, but to create an all-encompassing and enduring fear of the system’s heavy handedness. Abdul Jawad, the primary bragger has been sentenced to 1,000 flogging and a 5 year term of imprisonment.

As the birth place of Islam, home to its holy shrines (in Mecca and Medina) and promoter of an austere interpretation of the Quran and Shariah Law, the Saudi establishment plays an influential role in Muslims lives and the perception they have of themselves as well as non-Muslims. What happens in Saudi courts resonates throughout Muslim communities. Sentencing the Saudi female journalist, R. A. to 60 floggings in a public square is not because she was an accomplice to a minor event, but to intimidate other Saudi journalists and the public in general into total submission to the rule of the jungle carried out by men whose ultimate goal is total control over people’s lives in the name of God.

Read More
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009112355249

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

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?”

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.

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.

Subscribe to our newsletters!

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

Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia

Women in Saudi Arabia are less represented in political, social, economic and scientific fields than women in any other Arab or Muslim country. Women were barred from participating in the only municipal elections in the history of the Saudi State in 2005. They are prohibited from studying certain subjects in schools, such as chemistry and biology. They may not legally drive and must obtain “permission” from a male “guardian” to travel within or outside the country. Women must ride in the back of public buses, even when the buses are empty. Saudi girls are not allowed to play sports in schools, which, by Saudi health official admission, is causing health problems and staggering expenses. All marriages are arranged by male relatives. If a Saudi woman divorces her husband, she loses custody of her children over age six. Women have little or no freedom to effectively prosecute sexual abuse cases, being required to produce four witnesses. In court, a woman’s testimony is equivalent to half that of a man’s. These conditions violate women’s human rights and have devastating personal and social effects.

These exclusionary policies have created a dangerously imbalanced environment that is hurting Saudi society and Muslim women across the globe. Such policies favor the views of extremist-leaning segments in the Saudi society. CDHR promotes the empowerment of Saudi women to become equal partners in the democratic development process in Saudi Arabia. As activists, elected officials, and constituents, the contributions of women are crucial to building a strong and vibrant society that embraces tolerance and rejects extremism and terrorism. Empowering women in Saudi Arabia is a moral imperative and a powerful path to promoting progress, tolerance and democracy in the country.

The alliance between the Saudi ruling dynasty and its extremist religious allies is at the heart of Saudi exclusion and mistreatment of women. The royal family has traditionally used a conservative brand of Sunni Islam (Wahhabism) to justify its rule. Present-day Saudi Arabia was founded by an alliance between Muhammad ibn Saud, great grandfather of the current ruling dynasty, and Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab, the founder and father of Wahhabism in the middle of the eighteen century.

Wahhabi religious police have free reign to enforce their interpretation of religious law, and Saudi women face severe restrictions in the political, economic, and social spheres. Women cannot directly write freely, or assemble and organize against inhumane and stifling restrictions. The system has stifled the development of the country and kept its citizens divided.

Increased participation by Saudi women will tilt the balance in favor of tolerant policies that are in the best interest of all Saudi citizens and the international community. Women’s inclusion in political and civic life would unleash a wealth of talent that could increase domestic economic activity, empower competition, reduce unnecessary costs of social segregation, enrich cultural and civic development, and help foster democratic institutions, thereby weakening extremist influences in the country. With Saudi Arabia’s significant religious and economic influence regionally and globally, empowering women in Saudi Arabia will radically increase chances for democratic reforms in other Arab and Muslim societies worldwide.

FIND OUT MORE

More on Women's Rights from CDHR

Wajeha al-Huwaider, a courageous advocate for Saudi women's rights.

2008 Report from Human Rights Watch: Perpetual Minors

CDHR's campaign for women's rights in Saudi Arabia