I don't take it lightly at all. And I didn't take the carnage in Yemen lightly, nor did I take any of this lightly: freedomhouse.org/report/freedom…. In case you're in a hurry, I'll summarize:
The isolation and blockade of Qatar. A pointless three-year campaign in Yemen with a devastating effect on civilians: literally the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and there's stiff competition for that title. Kidnapping the Lebanese PM.
Political parties: forbidden. Political dissent: criminalized. In September 2017, a wave of arrests targeting human rights organizations. Any group or person who criticizes the regime or calls for political reform: subject to arbitrary detention.
No political rights for religious minorities. No transparency about how state funds are disbursed. No mechanism for holding those who make these decisions accountable. Whole Shiite neighborhoods systematically destroyed,
thousands of residents evicted, regions placed under extended siege. Number of killed or injured: Unknown. Saudis managed last year to drop from "0" to "-1" in this category. (Deliberately trying to change ethnic composition of the country.)
No press freedom. None. Government controls domestic media. Criticism of the grand mufti, the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, or government officials is a criminal act. No one can even blog without a license from the Ministry of Information.
Journalist Nadhir al-Majid was sentenced to seven years in prison for writing, in 2011, in support of the right to protest. Sami al-Thubaiti has been held without charge. KSA has demanded Qataris shut down Al-Jazeera and blocked the only land crossing to the country.
Saudis are required by law to be Muslims. Atheism is to be punished with up to 20 years in prison. In 2015 Ahmad al-Shamri was sentenced to death for apostasy after renouncing Islam on social media.
KSA practices public beheading, hanging, stoning, amputation, lashing:
KSA practices public beheading, hanging, stoning, amputation, lashing:
And not just as punishments for crimes like murder: these are penalties for apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery. Well over 100 executions each year.
Informers monitor classrooms for compliance with the ban on teaching secular philosophy and religions other than Islam.
Informers monitor classrooms for compliance with the ban on teaching secular philosophy and religions other than Islam.
NGOs face regular harassment and detention by Saudi authorities. Many activists are now serving lengthy prison sentences.
There is no freedom of assembly. Labor unions are forbidden.
Foreign workers who protest unpaid wages--slavery, IOW--are lashed and jailed.
There is no freedom of assembly. Labor unions are forbidden.
Foreign workers who protest unpaid wages--slavery, IOW--are lashed and jailed.
Detainees are denied access to legal counsel during interrogation.
Lengthy pretrial detention and detention without charge are common.
"Antiterrorism" laws allow lengthy prison sentences for criticizing the monarchy.
Lengthy pretrial detention and detention without charge are common.
"Antiterrorism" laws allow lengthy prison sentences for criticizing the monarchy.
The police conduct raids on "suspected antigovernment activists" without judicial approval. Police and prison officials torture freely. Access to prisoners by independent human rights and legal organizations is limited.
Corporal punishment, most often lashing, is common. Juvenile offenders are not exempt.
A woman’s testimony is generally given half the weight of a man’s.
The testimony of anyone but observant Sunni Muslims may be disregarded by judges.
A woman’s testimony is generally given half the weight of a man’s.
The testimony of anyone but observant Sunni Muslims may be disregarded by judges.
KSA practices the most rigid system of sexual apartheid in the world: Women must cover everything except their hands and eyes; they can do nothing without the permission of a close male relative. The religious police enforce strict gender segregation.
And they punish women who violate the dress code. Muslim women may not marry non-Muslims. Social events separate men and women; the mixing of non-kin men and women is taboo. All sexual activity outside of marriage, including same-sex, can lead to the death penalty.
God help women in divorce and custody proceedings, or if they're victims of domestic violence. Women seen socializing with a man who is not a relative are harassed by the religious police--even charged with committing adultery, fornication or prostitution.
Employers require women to obtain their guardians’ permission to work. In restaurants, banks and other public places, women are required to enter and exit through different doors. Companies must create all-female areas to hire women. Public transportation: segregated.
Beaches, amusement parks: segregated. Segregation is particularly strict in restaurants, because you can't eat without taking off your veil. Women can't even enter restaurants without their guardians.
Khamisa Mohammad Sawadi--a 75-year-old woman-was sentenced to 40 lashes and imprisonment for letting a man to deliver bread to her home. Women are only allowed to work in jobs where they serve women exclusively: There must be no contact or interaction with men.
"But didn't KSA lift the prohibition of women entering sports stadiums?"
Yes, now they're allowed to enter them: In women-only sections.
"But can't women drive now?"
Yes, but if they want a car--or any property--
Yes, now they're allowed to enter them: In women-only sections.
"But can't women drive now?"
Yes, but if they want a car--or any property--
they need two male witnesses to testify to their identity and four more to testify that the first two are credible. And guess where the women who campaigned for the right to drive are languishing?
In prison, of course.
Education: sex-segregated at all levels.
In prison, of course.
Education: sex-segregated at all levels.
Think girls get the same quality education as boys?
Women need permission from their guardians to travel even *within* the kingdom. Think they can flee this prison of a country without their permission? Forget it.
Polygamy is legal. Polyandry is forbidden.
Women need permission from their guardians to travel even *within* the kingdom. Think they can flee this prison of a country without their permission? Forget it.
Polygamy is legal. Polyandry is forbidden.
In 2013, Saudi women were, at last, allowed to ride bicycles. (But only in segregated parks, dressed in full body covering, and accompanied by their guardian.)
There's no legal minimum age for marriage. Most religious authorities say marriage of girls as young as nine is fine.
There's no legal minimum age for marriage. Most religious authorities say marriage of girls as young as nine is fine.
A father can marry off his daughter at any age if consummation is delayed until puberty.
Foreign workers are half the active labor force. Often trafficked, raped, and enslaved.
Oh, did I mention KSA is probably the world's most prolific sponsor of Islamist terrorism?
Foreign workers are half the active labor force. Often trafficked, raped, and enslaved.
Oh, did I mention KSA is probably the world's most prolific sponsor of Islamist terrorism?
--and surely the largest funder and promoter of Salafist jihadism?
None of this is secret. Or new. If Kashoggi's gruesome murder makes Americans wonder why we back this regime, great. But being *more* alarmed by KSA than we were before? Makes no sense. We knew all of this.
None of this is secret. Or new. If Kashoggi's gruesome murder makes Americans wonder why we back this regime, great. But being *more* alarmed by KSA than we were before? Makes no sense. We knew all of this.
