For the moment, much of the world’s media attention has been focused on the war in Afghanistan(1,2), but what about the kingdom? If the UN’s - and specifically the United States’ - commitment to peace and stability in the country is genuine, the international spotlight needs to turn on Saudi Arabia.
On September 20th, 2001, George W. Bush gave a speech to Congress and an international television audience about the upcoming “war on terror”(3). He asserted that “enemies of freedom” had attacked the country and that the war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it doesn’t end there. Afghanistan was singled out in his address because the Taliban had been harbouring international terrorist organizations, most notably the leadership of al Qaeda. Would-be terrorists came from all over the world to train at Khalden, Darunta and al Farouq(4,5) for anywhere from several weeks to several months. Allegedly for this reason, Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum:
“Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of Al Qaeda who hide in your land. Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats, and aid workers in your country. Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, and hand over every terrorist and every person in their support structure to appropriate authorities. Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating. These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.”Operation Enduring Freedom began on October 7th, 2001(6), just over two weeks after Bush delivered his speech. Never mind the obviously inadequate amount of time given to comply; this seems like yet another instance of “what we say goes” and moreover the “do as we say, not as we do” philosophy of United States foreign policy.
Why then, if the enemy is “[any] radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them,” is the international community and the United States government, not putting more pressure on the kingdom of Saud? It is well known that the government of Saudi Arabia, as well as organizations within the country, have been supporting international terrorism since before the events of 9/11(7,8,9). Are the human rights injustices happening in Saudi Arabia(10-16) not just as worthy of our attention as the ones happening in Afghanistan? Is it perhaps because this nation of self-declaring champion of human rights adherents - and simultaneously the largest consumers of oil - can’t afford to strain an already tenuous relationship with the world’s largest exporters of oil(17)?
The government of Saudi Arabia is just as, if not more repressive than the Taliban regime has been in Afghanistan. Bush stated such atrocities under the Taliban as: women not being able to attend school, the possibility of being arrested simply for owning a television, men whose beards are not long enough may be jailed, religion can be practiced only as the leaders dictate, etc. While these abuses are backward and need to be reversed, what goes on inside Saudi Arabia is like a throwback to the late 1600s in America. As reported by the director of Human Rights Watch in the Middle East(18), “Saudi courts are sanctioning a literal witch hunt by the religious police … The crime of ‘witchcraft’ is being used against all sorts of behaviour, with the cruel threat of state-sanctioned executions.(19)” Corporal and capital punishment are fairly commonplace in Saudi Arabia, and have happened for a variety of reasons(20-25), including amputations and floggings for robbery, sexual deviance and public drunkenness; or worse, public beheadings for rape, murder and drug trafficking. These punishments are justified by strict interpretations of Shari’a (Islamic) law(26). Women in Saudi Arabia are able to attend school, and literacy rates for women are approximately 70% according to the CIA world fact book(27). However, women are discriminated against in other ways:
“Saudi officials continue to require women to obtain permission from male guardians to conduct their most basic affairs, like traveling or receiving medical care, despite government assertions that no such requirements exist…(28)”Migrant workers in the kingdom (male and female) have an even more dismal existence; they suffer through long, unpaid hours, denied benefits, no permanent residency permits, employer intimidation, sexual harassment, abuse and forced confinement(29). The list of offences goes on and on.
It’s hard to ignore the blatant hypocrisy in the general level of complacency with regards to Saudi Arabia. This is to say nothing about the United States’ own substantial list of human rights abuses(30,31), as well as the many, many other nations with appalling human rights records. Either all of it is acceptable, or none of it is. When it comes to basic human rights, it should be black and white. And I can already hear the cynics crying that there are always shades of gray, but it speaks volumes about the degree of our civilisation when we find ourselves arguing whether or not murder in the name of materialism and economic progress is acceptable, because that’s what we’re really discussing. So while our attention is focused on the future of Afghanistan and whether or not we should continue the war, we should also look to the West, to the kingdom of Saud, and inwards, at our own complacency in worldwide human rights violations.
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References:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZLVqhsLgIw
2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/03/training-afghan-army-kabul
3. http://middleeast.about.com/od/usmideastpolicy/a/bush-war-on-terror-speech.htm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_camps_in_Afghanistan
5. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_mar05.pdf
6. http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/endfreed.htm
7. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2336949.stm
8. http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32499.pdf
9. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2801017.ece
10. http://www.hudson.org/files/publications/Shea%20--%20Human%20Rights%20Abuses.pdf
11. http://www.securitymanagement.com/archive/library/gao05852_islamicextremism1005.pdf
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia
13. http://www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/saudi-arabia/page.do?id=1011230
14. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/04/saudi-arabia-counterterrorism-efforts-violate-rights
15. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/03/13/saudi-arabia-enact-protections-domestic-workers
16. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/10/08/saudi-arabia-free-political-prisoners
17. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html
18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Leah_Whitson
19. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/24/saudi-arabia-witchcraft-and-sorcery-cases-rise
20. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE23/048/2008/en/3b90b952-bbe8-11dd-a0a0-599e4c28c8aa/mde230482008eng.pdf
21. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/29/justice-die
22. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/saudi-arabia-executions-target-foreign-nationals-20081014
23. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/man-beheaded-and-crucified-saudi-arabia-20090601
24. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/juveniles-among-five-men-beheaded-saudi-arabia-20090512
25. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1557628/Saudis-prepare-to-behead-teenage-maid.html
26. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia
27. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html
28. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/07/08/saudi-arabia-women-s-rights-promises-broken
29. http://www.hrw.org/en/node/11999/section/8
30. http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=q-01000-00---off-0torture--00-1--0-10-0---0---0prompt-10-TX%2cKEY%2cWR%2cDT--4--America%2csponsored+torture%2c%2c-----0-1l--11-en-50---20-home-[America]%3aTX++%26+[sponsored+torture]%3aKEY+--01-3-1-00-0-0-11-0-0utfZz-8-00&a=q&r=1&hs=1&fqa=0&fqv=America,torture,,&fqf=TX,KEY,WR,DT
31. http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?c=torture&a=q
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