Agenda
Saudi Arabia has acceded to four of the major United Nations human rights conventions, concerning racial discrimination, discrimination against women, torture and children's rights. Saudi Arabia has also acceded to five of the eight International Labour Organization conventions concerned with human rights. Saudi Arabia made reservations on certain provisions of some conventions it has acceded to, with regards of possible contradictions with the Sharia.
Status
Human rights problems reported included citizens’ lack of the right and legal means to change their government; pervasive restrictions on universal rights such as freedom of expression, including on the Internet, and freedom of assembly, association, movement, and religion; and a lack of equal rights for women and children, as well as for workers.
Challenges
Saudi Arabia in 2012 stepped up arrests and trials of peaceful dissidents, and responded with force to demonstrations by citizens. Authorities continue to suppress or fail to protect the rights of 9 million Saudi women and girls and 9 million foreign workers. As in past years, thousands of people have received unfair trials or been subject to arbitrary detention. The year has seen trials against half-a-dozen human rights defenders and several others for their peaceful expression or assembly demanding political and human rights reforms.
Women's rights
Women are not treated as equal members of society, and many laws discriminate against them. The religious police, "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice", enforce a strict policy of gender segregation and often harass women, using physical punishment to ensure that they meet conservative standards of dress in public.
Violations in the name of Counter terrorism
Since September 11, 2001, thousands have been arrested and subjected to a secretive and abusive system. Many people have been detained for months or years without any way to legally challenge their detention, with reports of torture and ill-treatment. Peaceful critics of the government have been detained.
Death Penalty
Rape, murder, sorcery and witchcraft, apostasy, armed robbery, and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's version of Islamic law and the country has one of the highest rates of execution in the world. Last year the kingdom beheaded 76 people, according to an AFP news agency tally based on official figures, while Human Rights Watch put the number at 69. In 2011 the number was at least 82. So far in 2013 (as of 13 March) at least 24 individuals have been executed.
Freedom of religion
Saudi Arabia does not tolerate public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam and systematically discriminates against its Muslim religious minorities, in particular Shia and Ismailis. The chief mufti in March 2012 called for the destruction of all churches in the Arabian Peninsula.
Freedom of expression
Freedoms of association and assembly are not upheld and the government does not allow political or human rights associations. Authorities in 2012 arrested persons for peaceful criticism or human rights activism. The government frequently detains political activists who stage demonstrations or engage in other civic advocacy.
Media
The government tightly controls domestic media content and dominates regional print and satellite-television coverage, with members of the royal family owning major stakes in news outlets in multiple countries. Government officials have banned journalists and editors who publish articles deemed offensive to the religious establishment or the ruling authorities.
The regime has taken steps to limit the influence of new media, blocking access to over 400,000 websites that are considered immoral or politically sensitive. In January 2011, the kingdom issued a law requiring all blogs and websites, or anyone posting news or commentary online, to have a license from the Ministry of Information or face fines and/or the closure of the website.
Migrant workers
The rights of refugees and asylum-seekers have been violated, with some held as virtual prisoners and others forcibly returned to countries where they are at risk for serious human rights violations. The rights of migrant workers are widely abused. Domestic workers, mostly women, have faced abusive conditions such as 18-hour working days and little or no pay. They have no protection under Saudi Arabian labour law.
Unfair trials, torture and ill-treatment
Trials are often unfair, with defendants often having little or no legal representation. There are frequent reports of torture and ill-treatment. Cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishments such as flogging are mandatory for some offenses.
Possibilities
The first municipal election in the country's history took place in 2005. Citizens were invited to elect half of the municipal seats over three phases that lasted from February to April 2005. The government filled the other half through appointment. In 2011 King Abdullah stated that women would have the right to participate in the 2015 elections.
In 2003 several programmes was initiated, among other, for the first time ever, the establishing of a journalists association. Moreover the "King Abdul Aziz Centre for National Dialogue", an organisation targeting social, cultural, political, economic and educational problems was established.
Key Actors
Saudi Arabia does not allow political or human rights associations, with a few exceptions. The law requires a government permit for an organized public assembly of any type, and it was a crime to participate in political protests or unauthorized public assemblies. All associations must be licensed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and comply with its regulations. Groups that try to change some element of the social or political order, reports that their licensing requests are unanswered.
The Human Rights Commission
The Human Rights Commission is a governmental organisation. It is the government authority in charge of providing opinion and counsel in matters relating to human rights. It reports directly to the President of the Council of Ministers and is therefore not subject to any ministry. The chairman appointed pursuant to a Royal Order at the grade of a minister.
The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR)
The NSHR is a human rights organisations closely associated with and funded by the Saudi government. It is, unlike all the other Human Rights organisations in the Kingdom, legal. It is formally an independent non-governmental organisation, although it is supported by a trust funded by the estate of the late King Fahd.
Manal al-Sharif and Wajeha al-Huwaider
Manal al-Sharif and Wajeha al-Huwaider are two of the leading women's rights activist in the Kingdom. Wajeha al-Huwaider founded the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia in 2007 and has been an active voice ever since. Manal al-Sharif launched the Women2Drive campaign, focussing on women's lack of right to drive a car, with a YouTube-video of her driving a car. This resulted in her being imprisoned for nine days.
Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association
An unlicensed Human Rights NGO, which was shut down by King Abdullah in 2013. The two leaders, Mohammed Fahd al-Qahtani and Andullah Hamad, was found guilty of founding an unlicensed human rights organization, seeking to disrupt security and inciting disorder, undermining national unity, breaking allegiance to the ruler, disobeying the ruler, and questioning the integrity of officials.
Key policies
The 1992 Basic Law declares that the Koran and the Sunna (the guidance set by the deeds and sayings of the prophet Muhammad) are the country’s constitution.
Religious Policy
Islam is the official religion, and all Saudis are required by law to be Muslims. The government prohibits the public practice of any religion other than Islam and restricts the religious practices of the Shiite and Sufi Muslim minority sects. Although the government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship in private, it does not always respect this right in practice.
Women’s Rights
Women's rights are limited through several policies. This includes for example, that women cannot travel within or outside of the country without a male relative. They are prohibited from studying certain subjects in schools. They may not legally cars. Women must always ride in the back of public buses. In court, testimony of one man is equal to that of two women. Women and girls remain effectively banned from sports within the kingdom. If a Saudi woman divorces her husband, she loses custody of her children over age six.
Juridical rights
The law of criminal procedure and other legal provisions prohibit torture and hold criminal investigation officers accountable for any abuse of authority. Sharia, as interpreted in the country, prohibits judges from accepting confessions obtained under duress. However Saudi Arabia has no penal code, so prosecutors and judges largely define criminal offenses at their discretion. Detainees, including children, commonly face systematic violations of due process and fair trial rights, including arbitrary arrest and torture and ill-treatment in detention.
Judges can order arrest and detention, including of children, at their discretion. Children can be tried and sentenced as adults if physical signs of puberty exist. Saudi Arabia continued to sentence children to death.
Workers’ rights
A 2005 labor law extended various protections and benefits to previously unregulated categories of workers. The legislation also banned child labor, set provisions for resolving labor disputes, and established a 75 percent quota for Saudi citizens in each company’s workforce. However, the more than six million foreign workers in the country have virtually no legal protections. Many are lured to the kingdom under false pretenses and forced to endure dangerous working and living conditions. Female migrants employed in Saudi homes as domestic workers report regular physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
Transition to Globalisation
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Globalisation > Demography > Migration
Transition to Political Tools
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Political Tools > Global > UN > Basic Structure > Legal System > Human Rights
Transition to Political Actors
Death Sentences and Executions 2009
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Political Actors > Civil Society > NGOs > Human Rights
