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Saudi Arabia's human rights record (last updated August 20, 2004)
Saudi Arabia's human rights record has been criticized in sometimes harsh terms over the past decade by human-rights groups such as Amnesty International and even by the United States itself, at least through the United States Department of State's annual human rights records. Among other things, the State Department has criticized Saudi Arabia's lack of democracy and its insufficient protections of civil liberties, as well as credible reports of prisoners being tortured and prisoners held in secret detention.
The U.S. government's level of criticism has changed over time. During the Clinton administration, the State Department generally criticized Saudi Arabia for "commit[ing] or tolerat[ing] serious abuses." During the Bush administration, the State Department has generally called Saudi Arabia's record "poor."
Fahrenheit 9/11 shows one public beheading that occurred in Saudi Arabia. This is not a rare event, as 939 people have been reported executed in Saudi Arabia from 1993 to 2003 (about one every two days in 1995), with men executed by beheading and women generally executed by firing squad. Capital offenses include murder and rape, but many people have also been executed for drug-related offenses and at least two people were reportedly killed for practicing witchcraft. Saudi Arabia committed about a third more executions in this period than the United States, though the United States has a population about 10 times as large as Saudi Arabia's.
At least one particular set of executions was opposed by the United States. In late 1995, the United States asked Saudi authorities to delay the executions of four men who had been arrested for a terrorist attack killed four Americans who had been providing military training for the Saudi National Guard. Saudi authorities did not comply with the United States' request and executed the four men.
Under Saudi Arabia's interpretation of Islamic law, people can be punished by amputation for reported theft and by multiple amputation (right hand and left leg) for highway robbery. People also can be flogged with a cane for alcohol-related offenses and for being alone in the company of an unrelated person of the opposite sex.
Saudi Arabia has been a monarchy since nomadic tribes in the area were united in the 1930s. King Fahd has ruled the country since 1982, though his son, Crown Prince Abdullah, has effectively led the country since Fahd suffered a stroke in 1995. The country has no political parties or nationwide elected representative institutions.
Some specific elements of Saudi Arabia's human rights record for 2003, as reported by the State Department, are listed below:
- Religion. "Freedom of religion does not exist. Islam is the official religion and, and the law provides that all citizens must be Muslims." Religious police, known as the Mutawwa'in, enforce adherence to strict religious norms and have used physical punishment and detention.
- Speech. The print media is privately owned but government-subsidized. TV and radio companies are government-opened. Access to the Internet is available legally through government-monitored servers.
- Academic freedom. "The government prohibited the study of evolution, Freud, Marx, Western music, and Western philosophy. Informers monitored their classroom comments and reported to government and religious authorities."
- Women. Women are prohibited from driving, have limited property rights, and face segregated educational settings and workplaces.
The following table collects data from the State Department's human rights reports from 1993 to 2003. It might be worth noting that the reports covering a given calendar year are published in January or February of the following year, which means that the report for 2000 (which arguably upgraded the overall assessment of Saudi Arabia's record from the prior year) was released by the Bush administration, not the Clinton administration.
| Year
| U.S. Assessment
| # of
Executions
| # of
Amputations
|
| 1993
| "Human rights continue to be pervasively abused."
| 85
| Not reported
|
| 1994
| "Human rights abuses in 1994 continued."
| 59
| 6
|
| 1995
| "The Government commits or tolerates serious abuses."
| 191
| 9
|
| 1996
| "The Government commits or tolerates serious abuses."
| 69
| 0
|
| 1997
| "The Government commits or tolerates serious abuses."
| 134
| 0
|
| 1998
| "The Government commits or tolerates serious abuses."
| 25
| 6
|
| 1999
| "The Government commits or tolerates serious abuses."
| 100
| 2
|
| 2000
| "The Government's human rights record remained generally poor in a number of areas; however, its record showed limited improvement in some areas."
| 120
| 27
|
| 2001
| "The Government's human rights record remained poor."
| 81
| Not reported
|
| 2002
| "The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained."
| 43
| Not reported
|
| 2003
| "The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were positive improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained."
| 32
| Not reported
|
Sources: The United States Department of State has its annual country reports on-line here.
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