Defending an Alleged War Criminal

The Arab autocratic regimes held an urgent meeting in Egypt to condemn the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing an arrest warrant for President Hassan Bashir of Sudan for his alleged role in “genocide” (Colin Powel, 09/04/2004, Link) in Darfur, a major region in Sudan. Arab rulers (and people, to a larger extent) have looked the other way as autrocities were committed against other Arabs and Muslims. Saddam Hussein, former tyrant of Iraq, was pursuing a policy of torture, incarceration, gassing and starving of his people without any protestation from any Arab regime or people. However, when Saddam Hussein was tried publicly and found guilty, consequently hanged for his crimes: Arab regimes and their media condemned his fate.

By contrast, Arab regimes and people called on the international community to stop comparable autrocities in Bosnia (former Yugoslavia) and applauded the ICC for issuing an arrest warrant for former President Milosevic of Serbia, for his atrocities against Muslims. The autocratic regime’s protest when comperable nations are the perpetrators of heinous crimes not due to an underlying concern regarding Saddam or Bashir, but because they see themselves in danger, or, as one of Cairo’s urgent meetings to defend Bashir stated; “The indictment sets a dangerous precedent in dealing with heads of state. It will have dangerous repercussions, not only for Sudan but also for the whole region.”Read More

Defending the Homeland

“The finding of weapons and dangerous explosives to carry out subversive acts and destroy economic installations… should not be taken lightly… You should be aware that these militants, who claim to work for the cause of Islam and defend Muslims, actually hide their vested interests and vicious objectives.” These are quotes from the Saudi Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the highest religious authority in Saudi Arabia. CDHR could not agree more with the Mufti’s profound comments. However, we would like to ask the Mufti to tell the Saudi and the world peoples: Who are these men and women who seem to be determined to overthrow the Saudi-Wahhabi autocratic system? Are they religious extremists or opponents of the system but use religion to attain their objectives? If they are the latter, then what’s the difference between them and the present regime that is using religion to oppress women, religious minorities and advocate harm to non-Muslims. If “these militants” are relig ious extremists, then there is no one in a better position to eliminate the root causes of their destructive inclination than the Mufti and his ministry. CDHR proposes a formation of a global Muslim council to revisit the interpretation and applications of the Quran, the Shariah, and the Hadith and see if extremists have hijacked Islam or is Islam a religion of intolerance, hate and oppression, as many Muslims and non-Muslims accuse it of. Council members should consist of representatives of all Muslim sects, communities, and genders. They should be trained in religious and non-religious rule of law and other disciplines. The Saudis could save themselves and other Muslims by criminalizing all forms of incitements, Fatawa, and all forms of discriminations in the name of Islam. Read More

Global Interfaith Conference

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia summoned selected Muslim religious (scholars) individuals in June to prepare a united Muslim front in preparation for a global interfaith conference between Muslims and non-Muslims he plans to convene in Madrid, Spain between July 13 and 16, 2008. CDHR works for and promotes religious freedom and tolerance among all peoples regardless of beliefs (or lack of); consequently, we applaud anyone who works for harmony based on religious freedom and respect for other people regardless of religious beliefs. This conference could begin constructive interfaith dialogue among Muslims and non-Muslims. But how could that happen, if Muslims are slaughtering each other over their different religious orientations and practices?

Saudi Arabia is divided along religious lines, among others. The austere state religion, of a Wahhabi brand, represents a small number of the Saudi population, yet all citizens are physically forced into accepting it as the only legitimate brand in the country. Representatives of the Saudi non-Wahhabi adherents, such as the Sofis and Ismaelis, were not represented in the Muslim conference in June, nor were they invited to attend the interfaith conference in Spain. Based on these facts, many Muslims doubt that any tangible and lasting positive impact would come out of the Madrid interfaith conference. They feel that this is a Saudi royal family’s tricky stunt to improve their tarnished image after 9/11, and to convince Muslims and others that they represent Islam and Muslims. In reality, the Saudi-Wahhabi ideology and its application are loathed by most Muslims, including some Wahhabi adherents.

Abuse of Public Opinion

American Universities, public relationists, purchased think tanks, highly compensated individuals, many politicians and most businesses will travel any distance to lie on behalf of the Saudi monarchs for money even when it hurts the US its people and democratic values. Saudis are among the voiceless, deprived and oppressed people in the world. All forms of expressions and assemblages are forbidden, all forms of entertainment are prevented including movies, musical stages, acting, orchestra, night clubs, bars, consuming alcohol, mingling of opposite sexes, celebrating birthdays, Valentine and any activity that brings joy to people are illegal. In a regular holiday weekend, between 250 to 400k cross King Fahd’s bridge to go to Bahrain (500k population) to watch public movies, drink alcohol, visit highly priced prostitutes and spend between 62 to 500 million Saudi riyals (SR: 3.75=$1.00).

Half of society, women, are denied the right to work, drive or have any input in any decision-making including the education their children are fed. The royal family assigns that domain to its religious extremists, who indoctrinate their pupils to go kill others because of their beliefs and democratic values. 40% of all suicide bombers in Iraq are Saudis according to US generals and other officials who served and still serve in Iraq. Religious rituals are compulsory for Saudis and non-Muslims are punished if caught praying in the basements of their homes.

Many Saudis do not have electricity and running water, and those who do have chronic shortages and interruptions especially during the hot season, 9 months of the year. Many if not most Saudis cannot make ends meet these days due to skyrocketing prices of food and clothing even with government subsidy. Unemployment is very high, up to 30% among males and 80% among women. The government (the royal family) controls the national revenues, national treasury, natural resources and decides without any public input how much money should be spent and on what. If anything, the Saudis have to be among the least happy people in the world, but are fearful of telling the truth or expressing anything that does not please the royals. Read More

Empowering Saudi Women Transcends National Borders

Saudi society suffers from many man-made political, economic, religious, educational, ethnic and social ills which impede basic human development in the country and set it apart from the rest of the international community in the most negative way. Prominent among these social impairments is the institutionalized discrimination against Saudi women. Practices such as denying women the right to work, drive, travel, buy property, marry whom they want, have any input in decisions that affect their daily life and survival, or even vote in municipal elections, are attributed to nomadic tradition, but more cagey reasoning is placed on religion. The question is: whose religious interpretation and whose ultimate interests does this ignominious use of religion serve. Simply put, the beneficiaries are the men in power; the Saudi royal family and its co-ruling “religious” allies, the descendants of the zealous and ferocious Wahhabi clan.

Denying the Saudi women the rights to full citizenship and participation in all aspects of Saudi society perpetuates a system of institutionalised discrimination, alienation and the domination of religious and power obsessed men. Excluding Saudi women from participating in decision and policymaking has a far-reaching impact that transcends Saudi domestic politics and socio-economics. Women cannot debate their country’s policies including religious intolerance, indoctrination of their children in schools and relations with other peoples. This has a fundamentally harmful impact on the role of Saudi Arabia in world politics, facilitating the perpetuation of a widely unpopular religious interpretation; Wahhabism. For example, having no impact on the institutional processes that govern the education of their children, women are denied the rights and civil obligations to influence the way their society functions. Even though there are female teachers in Saudi schools, they have no influence over the content of textbooks, the teacher-training programme, or the curriculum imposed on students thought the Saudi educational system. Where women have achieved full citizenship, society is progressive, productive, more humane, and less violent.

For Saudi society to throw off the shackles of institutionalised repression, tolerance of domestic difference and begin to conduct positive international diplomacy, women must be enfranchised as full citizenship. This will benefit Saudi Arabia first and foremost, and thus subsequently the international community at large. Empowering Saudi women will weaken the power grip over every aspect of the Saudi people by intolerant, chauvinistic, and power hungry men who seem to be willing to sacrifice the interest and safety of the country in order to maintain total control over people’s lives and wealth. The Saudi government allowed for exclusionary municipal elections where women were barred from voting. The next elections are supposed to take place in 2009 and there are no signs of allowing women to participate, if elections were to take place at all. The Center for Democracy and Human rights in Saudi Arabia, located in Washington DC, calls on all human rights group to support incl usion of women in the pending municipal elections.