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5. Saudi Arabia GENERAL, POLITICAL AND LEGAL OVERVIEW The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not have a constitution as is understood, but a basic system of government which does not comply with international laws for basic freedoms, although Saudi is a party of these treaties. The King of Saudi Arabia appoints judges without any transparent and clear criteria, contrary to claims that the country enjoys an independent judiciary. The Saudi government is actively increasing political surveillance and closing down on freedoms through pressurising the GCC to accept the unified security agreement which includes some concerning legislations, and empowers members of the GCC to restrict freedoms and privacies. An increasing number of cases involving civilian freedoms of expression have recently been met by brutal crackdowns. Some human rights activists have been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment while many others are banned from travelling. The Kingdom has persisted in its violations of public freedoms and rights especially those concerning women and children.
Many cases of abuse were documented in 2014, despite claims to the contrary during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of 2013. Official guardianship, discrimination against minorities and the ban on any form of political parties and human rights organisations remain the norm in the Kingdom. Several religious figures have expressed views opposed to those of the Government and were arrested and/or deported. The Government has also levelled religious accusations such as apostasy against those who questioned the practices and actions of the Saudi Arabian authorities. During 2014, the Saudi Government issued a number of new decisions that have further entrenched the repressive and arbitrary violation of human rights. A new anti-terrorism law came into effect backed by a royal decree to combat terrorism. Both of which contain loosely defined definitions of what constitutes terrorism, allowing the authorities to apply it to any form of opposition. Saudi Arabia has also pressed the Gulf Cooperation Council to agree to a joint security agreement enabling the Gulf States to crack down on individual and public freedoms.
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HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS The right to freedom, fair trial and treatment •
Arbitrary detention and absence of fair trail
On 7th March 2014, Saudi authorities arrested Fadi Musallam, a Jordanian university lecturer at King Saud University in Riyadh, following an altercation between him and a guard during the performance of Umrah (an Islamic pilgrimage) in Makkah. His family contacted the Jordanian and Saudi embassies to obtain information about his whereabouts. The Jordanian ambassador assured them that he was following up the matter with the necessary authorities. Musallam was not charged with any offenses and remained in detention until his release in November 2014. The number of Jordanians held in Saudi prisons is currently estimated to be around 15050. Hala Jaber published an article in the Sunday Times about two of King Abdullah’s daughters being held captive in a villa for 13 years. The Saudi Embassy refused to comment on the matter51. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, “King Abdullah has poured millions of dollars into reforming the justice system, but if a detainee can be held for months on end with no charges, 50 http://elmarsad.org/ar/?p=5963 [Elmarsad: Sit-in protest to release a Jordanian detained while performing Umra in Saudi Arabia (Arabic Source)] 51 http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/ newsreview/features/article1384494.ece ;
it’s clear that the system remains broken and unjust. The authorities should either charge or release these detainees and call a halt to arbitrary detentions.”52 A Saudi ministry of interior website admitted the authorities were holding 293 people without charges. Some had been in detention for six months and as many as 16 for two years. Saudi law prohibits detainment without charge for longer than five days but this can be extended to six months if deemed necessary. After six months, the individual must either be referred to a competent court or released. Prominent social activist and teacher Jalal was detained in May 2014. According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information: “Jalal’s detention occurred shortly after the Criminal Court delivered a verdict to jail him for two years on charges of endeavouring to corrupt the society, disrupting the public security and peace, producing and storing information that could harm the public order and creating a website on which he called for demonstrating and breaching obedience to the ruler. Noteworthy, Jalal al-Jamal received a telephone call from the General Detective Bureau asking him to go to the police station to check some things. When he responded to the call and arrived at the station, they took him directly to Dammam prison. Al-Jamal challenged the verdict issued against him. Accordingly, his detention was 52 http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/09/23/saudiarabia-end-arbitrary-detention
47 deemed illegal in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Law, which stipulates that it is inadmissible to arrest or detain whoever is sentenced to a first degree verdict unless it is a final verdict that is not susceptible to appeal or cessation.” •
Torture and inhumane treatment
Article 38 of the Saudi Basic Law of Governance stipulates, “no one shall be punished for another’s crimes. No conviction or penalty shall be inflicted without reference to the Sharia or the provisions of the Law. Punishment shall not be imposed ex post facto.” Article 102 of the Law of Criminal Procedures stipulates, “The interrogation shall be conducted in a manner that does not affect the will of the accused in making his statements. The accused shall not be asked to take an oath nor shall he be subjected to any coercive measures. He shall not be interrogated outside the location of the investigation bureau except in an emergency to be determined by the Investigator.” Despite these laws prohibiting torture and coercion, The Gulf Centre for Human Rights documented many cases of abuse and torture in the country. The Centre also revealed it had evidence that human rights activists were being held with those detained on terrorism charges. According to the Centre, most Saudi prisons are overcrowded and detainees
are often tortured, deprived of sleep, not given adequate food supplies and prevented from receiving medical care. For example, Breiman Prison is home to 500 prisoners, including many human rights activists. There are 12 toilets in the prison but only six are fully functioning. •
Anti-terrorism laws
In February 2014, Saudi Arabia passed a new anti-terrorism law. Legal observers criticised the law as being too vague with loosely defined terms that could be interpreted in any manner that suits the state. The new regulations include sweeping provisions that authorities can use to criminalise virtually any expression or association critical of the Government and its understanding of Islam. These “terrorism” provisions include the following 53: 1. Article 1: Calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based. 2. Article 2: Anyone who throws away their loyalty to the country’s rulers, or who swears allegiance to any party, organisation, ideological movement, group, or individual inside or outside [the Kingdom]. 3. Article 4: Anyone who aids 53 http://www.thecairopost.com/news/86465/ news/hrw-saudi-terrorism-law-aims-to-silencefreedom-of-expression
48 [‘terrorist’] organisations, groups, ideological movements, associations, or parties, or demonstrates affiliation with them, or sympathy with them, or promotes them, or holds meetings under their umbrella, either inside or outside the Kingdom; this includes participation in audio, written, or visual media; social media in its audio, written, or visual forms; internet websites; or circulating their contents in any form, or using slogans of these groups and ideological movement, or any symbols which point to support or sympathy with them. 4. Article 6: Contact or correspondence with any groups, ideological movement, or individuals hostile to the Kingdom. 5. Article 8: Seeking to shake the social fabric or national cohesion, or calling, participating, promoting, or inciting sit-ins, protests, meetings, or group statements in any form, or anyone who harms the unity or stability of the Kingdom by any means. 6. Article 9: Attending conferences, seminars, or meetings inside or outside [the Kingdom] targeting the security of society, or sowing discord in society. 7. Article 11: Inciting or making countries, committees, or international organisations antagonistic to the Kingdom. According to Amnesty International this new law allows for suspects to be held incommunicado in detention for
up to 120 days, or for longer, potentially indefinite periods, if authorised by a specialised court. Incommunicado detention facilitates torture and other ill treatment. Prolonged periods of such detention can itself constitute a form of torture. Detained incommunicado detainees are also, by definition, denied access to a lawyer during their investigation. The law allows for arbitrary detention, denying detainees the right to be promptly brought before a judge and to be released or tried within a reasonable time. It gives the specialised court the power to detain without charge or trial for up to a year and to extend such detention indefinitely. Detainees are not given a means to challenge the lawfulness of their detention in front of a court. It also fails to include a clear prohibition of torture and other ill treatment. The law gives wide-ranging powers to the Minister of the Interior “to take the necessary actions to protect internal security from any terrorist threat.” It does not allow for judicial authorisation or oversight of these actions54. According to HRW, the law has serious flaws, including vague and overly broad provisions that allow authorities to criminalise free expression and the creation of excessive police powers without judicial oversight55. The law cites 54 http://www.thecairopost.com/news/86465/ news/hrw-saudi-terrorism-law-aims-to-silencefreedom-of-expression 55 http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/02/06/saudiarabia-terrorism-law-tramples-rights
49 violence as an essential element only in reference to attacks carried out against Saudis outside the Kingdom or on-board Saudi transportation carriers. Inside the Kingdom, terrorism can be non-violent, consisting of any act intended to, among other things, insult the reputation of the state, harm public order or shake the security of society. All of which, the law fails to clearly define. On 15th April 2014, human rights activist Waleed Abu al-Khair was arrested on the basis of charges listed in the new anti-terrorism law. A court later sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment and banned him from travelling for another 15 years after being found guilty on a number of charges. These included seeking to remove legitimate authority; harming public order in the state and its officials; inflaming public opinion; disparaging and insulting judicial authority; publicly slandering the judiciary; distorting the Kingdom’s reputation; making international organisations hostile to the Kingdom; issuing unverified statements that harm the Kingdom’s reputation; inciting against, and alienating the Kingdom; founding an unlicensed organisation and violating Saudi Arabia’s anti-cybercrime law56. The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, criticised Saudi Arabia for harassing human rights activists under a failed judicial 56 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middleeast-28200195
system. Pillay referred to the case of Abu al-Khair and called on Saudi authorities to immediately release all those people serving long jail terms for peacefully advocating human rights in the Kingdom. Pillay said: “Abu al-Khair’s case is a clear illustration of the continuing trend of harassment of Saudi human rights defenders, several of whom have been convicted for peacefully promoting human rights.” She expressed her concern over the harsh prison sentences passed in these cases remarking “the legal proceedings of the Abu al-Khair case do not conform with international human rights law, including the Convention against Torture.”57 On 29th September 2014, a website called Al-Hijaz Free Men published a photo of a Saudi citizen from al-Qateef called Bassem al-Qadihi. According to the website, al-Qadihi was targeted by Saudi authorities after taking part in a march which was brutally crushed. According to the Saudi police, alQadihi was a known terrorist58. In February 2014, King Abdullah issued a royal decree on counterterrorism. The decree punishes Saudi citizens with up to 20 years in prison for fighting abroad. Those who belong to, or sympathise with, radical 57 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/ DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14846&LangID=E 58 http://bit.ly/1sboEiM http://yanair.net/ archives/77934 [Ahrurulhijaz: The readily justifiable violation of human rights in Saudi Arabia... the deceased was wanted by the authorities (Arabic Source)]
50 religious and political movements will also be punished. This came after the new Saudi anti-terror law was nd put into practice on 2 February59. The language of the law was vague with loosely defined terms that could be interpreted in a number of ways. Observers remarked that Saudi Arabia used the notion of anti-terrorism as an excuse to crush what little freedom of expression and liberties the kingdom used to enjoy. The law was also considered a breach of Saudi Arabia’s international commitments and the conventions and agreements Saudi Arabia was signatory to. For example, the country ratified the Arab Charter for Human Rights, which stipulates in Article (21): “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with regard to his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour or his reputation.” The new anti-terrorism law has afforded the Ministry of Interior more powers than before, effectively turning it into a state within a state. Many activists and bloggers were forced to close or freeze their accounts for fear of persecution. Media sources observed that the law was drafted to support the military coup in Egypt, which overthrew Egypt’s first democraticallyelected president. Many Saudi media 59 http://classic.aawsat.com/details. sp?section=1&issueno=12852&article=760106#. VFJWzfmUeSo [Alsharq Alawsat: Saudi royal decree on counter-terrorism internally and criminalisation of fighting externally (Arabic Source)]
outlets described the military coup as a historic occasion. Saudi activists remarked that the new law would allow the Government to further crack down on freedoms of expression and other basic rights60. The Ministry of Interior used the law to outlaw a number of civil societies and associated human rights organisations with terrorism. The Ministry of Justice, for its part, issued a decision making the Specialised Court the competent legal body for reviewing crimes that threaten national security.
Social and economic rights •
Women’s rights
Saudi women are subjected to a number of repressive laws and customs that have deprived them of some of their most basic rights. Women are not allowed to travel without a guardian’s approval, men enjoy full guardianship over women and as such women need their husbands’ or fathers’ approval for virtually every aspect of their life including work, travelling and medical treatment. In March 2014, a number of female human rights activists presented a petition to the Shura Council demanding that some aspects of male guardianship be revoked and a new personal status law drafted to grant women more rights61. 60 http://hrbrief.org/2014/07/saudi-counterterrorism-laws-threaten-human-rights/ 61 http://f24.my/1z4RD73 [France24: Saudi women activists demand the Shura Council to restrict the
51 Despite recent steps by the Government to integrate women into the labour force, there have been no attempts to protect women from exploitation and harassment. Nor have there been any changes to the law to protect women from domestic violence and exploitation by men.
The right to racial equality •
Immigrant foreign workers
In accordance with International law, Saudi is prohibited from deporting any individual back to their country of origin if there is a possibility that they might be tortured or abused upon return. Despite those obligations, Saudi has deported tens of thousands of such workers and immigrants, most of them from Yemen and Somalia. In January 2014, Saudi Arabia announced it had deported more than 250,000 people since November 2013. HRW levelled harsh criticisms against Saudi labour laws, which encourage the exploitation of foreign workers and forces them to work illegally62. Saudi had earlier passed a law limiting the number of foreign workers in the country. According to current estimates, only 14% of private sector labour forces are Saudi. These statistics do not include domestic workers63. absolute jurisdiction of men over women (Arabic Source)] 62 http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/07/07/if-iam-not-human 63 http://gulfmigration.eu/media/pubs/exno/ GLMM_EN_2014_01.pdf
The right to freedoms of the press and expression •
Institutions
Saudi Arabia does not generally allow for the establishment of human rights organisations and societies, let alone permit them to operate freely. Nor does the country have a law regulating the work of NGOs despite announcing that a draft law had been finalised in 2008. The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association was established in 2009 with the aim of promoting human rights awareness and offering legal aid to the families of political detainees. The 11 founders are: Professor Abdul Kareem Yousef al-Khathar; Dr Abdulrahman Hamid al-Hamid; Professor Abdullah al-Hamid, a former professor of comparative literature and founding member of the Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights; Fahad Abdulaziz Ali al-Orani; Fowzan Mohsen al-Harbi; Easa Hamid al-Hamid; Mhana Mohammed al-Faleh; Dr Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani; Mohammad Hamad al-Mohaisen; Mohammed Saleh al-Bejadi; and Saud Ahmed alDoughaither. Many of its members have been arrested and charged with ambiguous offenses such as tarnishing the Kingdom’s reputation, sedition and establishing an unlicensed society64. Dr al-Hamid was held in Barida after being summoned for questioning. 64 http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/21/saudiarabia-free-jailed-reformists
52 He was told at the time a warrant had been issued for his arrest but he was not shown a copy. On 3rd March 2014, al-Hamid and al-Qahtani went on an open-ended strike to protest the abuse in prison and lack of basic necessities. They complained that most detainees were suffering from chronic illnesses that required medical attention and certain medications but that none were provided. The authorities responded by placing them in solitary confinement65. •
Expression and assembly
Over the past few years, the Saudi Government has adopted a policy of cracking down on all activists who have demanded more freedoms for Saudi nationals. The Saudi Government uses religion as a pretext to pass on harsh sentences against political opponents. A Saudi court sentenced the founder of the Free Saudi Liberals Network, Raif Badwai, to 10 years in prison, 1000 lashes and ordered him to pay a fine of almost quarter of a million dollars after convicting him of violating Islamic values and slandering religious figures. Human rights organisations condemned this verdict as a violation of people’s right to express their opinions freely. Amnesty International described the verdict as shocking66. In a similar case, human rights 65 http://ar.alkarama.org/saudia/item/47982014-08-03-16-04-57 [Alkarama: Saudi Arabia : Abdullah al-Hamid and Mohammed al-Qahtani go on a hunger strike (Arabic Source)] 66 https://www.amnesty.org/articles/ blogs/2014/06/pursuing-the-mirage-of-freedom/
activist Walid Abul Khair was sentenced to 15 years in prison and banned from travelling for another 15 years. The charges against him related to incitement and participation in protests, writing articles against state security and publishing them online, signing an anti-government petition, contacting foreign media outlets without authorisation to take reporters to protests and giving them harmful information about the Kingdom67. On 1st November 2014, Saudi authorities arrested Suad Shammari over tweets criticising government crackdown on freedoms. In one tweet, she mocked a government decision to detain two elderly ladies for allegedly “being alone with their driver”68. On 27th October 2014, the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced three lawyers and human rights defenders, Abdulrahman alSubaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih, to five to eight years imprisonment, travel bans and a ban from appearing in the media as well as using social media. The three lawyers were sentenced on charges including insulting the judiciary and prejudicing public order via Twitter69. 67 http://arabdemocrat.com/ar/?p=2089 [The Arab Democrat: Violations against human rights advocates in the Kingdom (Arabic Source)] 68 http://www.dp-news.com/dpgulf/detail. aspx?id=4285 [DP News: Saudi authorities arrested activist Suad al-Shammari after exposing elderly women being jailed on charges of “being alone with the driver.” (Arabic Source)] 69 http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/27572
53 On 4th November, the Arab Human Rights Organisation in the UK issued a statement about the scholar and preacher Mohammed al-Arifi over a tweet criticising the new Hajj train70.
70 http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/arrestpopular-religious-preacher-saudi-arabiaprompts-wave-anger-twitter-2094231527