Saudi Arabia: Arrest of Protesters Belies Reform Pledges

Saudi Arabia: Arrest of Protesters Belies Reform Pledges

(New York, October 29, 2003) -- Saudi Arabia's arrest of hundreds
of peaceful protesters in a series of demonstrations and its
continued denial of freedom of expression and assembly make a
mockery of the kingdom's pledges of political reform, Human
Rights Watch said today.

The first demonstration took place in the capital, Riyadh, on
October 14, the opening day of a human rights conference
organized by the Saudi Red Crescent Society under the patronage
of the Minister of Interior, Prince Nayef. The Movement for
Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), a London-based political
opposition group, called for the demonstration.

Police forcibly dispersed the demonstrators, who were advocating
political reform and the release of political prisoners, and
arrested 271 persons. The government announced that 83 of those
arrested will face trial. Prince Nayef said on October 22 that
the government will not tolerate public demonstrations and
promised "deterrent punishment" in the courts.

"Everyone in Saudi Arabia should be free to express his or her
political views publicly and peacefully without being thrown in
jail and put on trial," said Joe Stork, acting executive director
of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights
Watch. "The reality of the repression speaks louder than the
promises of reform."

Most of those arrested on October 14 were released "after proving
that they had been drawn into the crowd and acted out of
curiosity," an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Eighty-three
others, including three women, were detained for questioning and
trial on unspecified charges. An Interior Ministry spokesman
denounced this group, stating that it "does not reflect the
reality of Saudi society" and "is not compatible with Islamic
values."

The crackdown on the demonstrators, MIRA said on October 16, made
it "inevitable that the thinking has to be on the basis of
comprehensive change and removal of this despotic regime." The
Saudi exile group added that it would call for additional
peaceful protests but warned that "it will find it difficult to
blame the parties that believe in the use of force" and that it
"will not hesitate to hold the state responsible for any acts of
violence that might happen in future."

On October 21, MIRA called for demonstrations two days later in
Riyadh, Jeddah and seven other Saudi cities "to denounce the
injustice and the corruption in the kingdom." A massive and well-
organized deployment of security forces on October 23 kept
protesters away in each city. Reuters reported that police filmed
pedestrians near a mosque in Jeddah that was designated as the
gathering place for demonstrators, and security officials in
plainclothes recorded license plate numbers. According to the
daily Bahrain Tribune, in Riyadh "police vehicles blocked access
to side streets leading to the [designated] mosque . and
pedestrians were turned away from the immediate vicinity of
several of the mosque entrances. Checkpoints were set up on a
main road leading to the neighborhood, and the police stopped
some cars." One government official reported that 30 people were
arrested in Jeddah, 31 in Dammam, and 13 in Ha'il. The government
announced that those arrested would also be put on trial.

Freedom of assembly is an internationally recognized basic right
codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in
Article 20(1) states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly and association." Saudi Arabia's Basic Law of
Government, promulgated in 1992 and which the government
describes as "a bill of rights for the citizen," fails to provide
for freedom of peaceful assembly.

Human Rights Watch urged Crown Prince Abdallah and other senior
government officials to:

- Determine and make public the basis under Saudi law for the
continued detention of some 150 demonstrators, and clarify if
they are under investigation for alleged criminal offenses.
- Ensure that each detainee is provided all the rights under
Saudi Arabia's new criminal procedure code, including the right
to a lawyer during investigation and trial.
- Set forth the legal or administrative procedures that
residents of the kingdom can utilize in order to exercise the
right to peaceful assembly. Such procedures should enable, not
hamper, the exercise of this right, and they should be consistent
with internationally recognized human rights standards.

Advocates of reform in Saudi Arabia have long pressed for freedom
of expression, association and assembly. In January 2003,
hundreds of Saudi citizens signed a petition, the National Reform
Document that urged comprehensive reforms "to strengthen
relations between the leadership and the community." One of the
requests was for a "royal announcement" guaranteeing the rights
of freedom of expression and assembly. Crown Prince Abdallah, the
country's de facto ruler, received the petition and later met
with a group of the signatories.

Another petition in September 2003 criticized the slow pace of
reform and the absence of popular participation in decision-
making. It advocated election of the 120-member Consultative
Council and observed that the lack of freedom of expression
fostered the growth of intolerance and extremism. (keralamonitor.com)