ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ Siyaset Ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ Siyaset Ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi ORSAM ORTADOĞU ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ Siyaset ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi CİLT 5 / SAYI 2 Saudi Women under the Context of the Arab Spring Alejandra Galindo Marines Iranian Women: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back Marzieh Kouhi Esfahani Exploring the Causes of Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt Maria Syed Hizballah in Syria: The Limits of the Democracy/Moderation Paradigm Dara Conduit Rethinking State-Society Relations in Syria until 1970: What Does the Center-Periphery Model Tell Us? Nuri Salık Political Economy of Turkish-Iranian Relations: Three Asymmetries Serhan Ünal & Eyüp Ersoy Book Review / The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of The New Middle East Zeynep Sütalan ORTADOĞU ORSAM ORTADOĞU STRATEJİK ARAŞTIRMALAR MERKEZİ CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES Süleyman Nazif Sokak No: 12-B Kat: 3-4 ETÜTLERİ Cilt-5, Sayı-2, Ocak 2014 Çankaya - Ankara - TÜRKİYE Tel: +90 (312) 430 26 09 Fax: +90 (312) 430 39 48 www.orsam.org.tr, [email protected] ISSN: 1309-1557 {Cilt-5, Sayı-2, Ocak 2014} ORSAM ORTADOĞU STRATEJİK ARAŞTIRMALAR MERKEZİ CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES Siyaset ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi Journal of Politics and International Relations Ocak 2014, Cilt 5, Sayı 2 / January 2014, Volume 5, No 2 www.orsam.org.tr Hakemli Dergi / Refereed Journal Yılda iki kez yayımlanır / Published biannualy Sahibi / Owner: Şaban KARDAŞ, ORSAM adına / on behalf of ORSAM Editör / Editor: Özlem TÜR Yönetici Editör / Managing Editör: Tamer KOPARAN Sorumlu Yazı İşleri Müdürü / Managing Coordinator: Habib HÜRMÜZLÜ YAYIN KURULU / EDITORIAL BOARD Meliha Altunışık Middle East Technical University Bülent Aras Director of Center for Strategic Strategic Research of the Ministry of Turkish Foreign Affairs Tayyar Arı Uludağ University İlker Aytürk Bilkent University Salih Bıçakcı Işık University Recep Boztemur Middle East Technical University Katerina Dalacoura London School of Economics F. Gregory Gause Vermont University Fawaz Gerges London School of Economics Ahmet K. Han Kadir Has University Raymond Hinnebusch St. Andrews University Rosemary Hollis City University Bahgat Korany American University of Cairo Peter Mandaville George Mason University Emma Murphy Durham University Ortadoğu Etütleri şu indeksler tarafından taranmaktadır / indexed by; Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), EBSCO Host, Index Islamicus, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBBS), Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (WPSA). Makale Önerileri İçin / Submitting Your Articles: Özlem Tür / [email protected] Yayın İdare Merkezi / Head Office: ORSAM Ortadoğu Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi - Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies Süleyman Nazif Sokak No: 12-B Kat: 3-4 Çankaya-Ankara Türkiye/Turkey Tel: +90 (312) 430 26 09 Fax: +90 (312) 430 39 48 [email protected] Tasarım Uygulama / Graphic Design Karınca Ajans: 0 (312) 431 54 83 Baskı / Printing Center Eflal Matbaacılık Tel: 0 (312) 341 47 48 Basım Tarihi / Printed: 15 Ocak / January 2014 Ulusal Süreli Yayın Ortadoğu Etütleri’ndeki makalelerde yer alan fikirler yalnızca yazarlarını bağlamaktadır. The views expressed in Ortadogu Etütleri (Middle Eastern Studies) bind exclusively their authors. ORTADOĞU ETÜTLERİ / MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES Siyaset ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi / Journal of Politics and International Relations Ocak 2014, Cilt 5, Sayı 2 / January 2014, Volume 5, No 2 CONTENTS / İÇİNDEKİLER Saudi Women under the Context of the Arab Spring ................................................................ 9-29 Arap Baharı Bağlamında Suudi Kadını Alejandra Galindo Marines Iranian Women: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back ............................................................... 31-53 İran Kadını: Bir Adım İleri, İki Adım Geri Marzieh Kouhi Esfahani Exploring the Causes of Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt ....................................................... 55-79 Tunus ve Mısır’daki Devrimlerin Nedenlerini Keşfetmek Maria Syed Hizballah in Syria: The Limits of the Democracy/Moderation Paradigm .................................... 81-114 Suriye’de Hizbullah: Demokrasinin Sınırları/Ilımlılaştırma Paradigma Dara Conduit Rethinking State-Society Relations in Syria until 1970: What Does the Center-Periphery Model Tell Us? ..................................................................... 115-140 1970’e Kadar Suriye’de Devlet-Toplum İlişkilerini Yeniden Düşünmek: Merkez-Çevre Modeli Bize Ne Söyler? Nuri Salık Political Economy of Turkish-Iranian Relations: Three Asymmetries ........................................ 141-164 Türkiye-İran İlişkilerinin Politik Ekonomisi: Üç Asimetri Serhan Ünal & Eyüp Ersoy Book Review The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of The New Middle East .................................. 165-171 Marc Lynch, (Public Affairs, 2013), 273 p. By: Zeynep Sütalan FROM THE EDITOR Ortadoğu Etütleri brings together six articles and a book re- view in this issue. The issue starts with two articles that analyse the role of women in two Middle Eastern countries -Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In her article, Alejandra Galin- do Marines looks at the activism of women in Saudi Arabia and despite being limited how it has been evolving since the 1990s and how it is affected by the developments of the ‘Arab Spring’. The author argues that the two demands -the right to vote and the right to drive- is increasingly being advo- cated by the Saudi women after the Arab Spring and iden- tification through gender lines is becoming more underlined independent of the social and geographical divisions in the society. Marzieh Kouhi Esfehani looks at the women’s move- ment in Iran in a historical perspective and problematizes patriarchy and male-interpreted Islamic jurisprudence as two issues that are impediments to women’s emancipation and rights. Claiming that through education women is challeng- ing the dominant interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence in the country and trying to find ways to fulfil their rights, the author finishes with a pessimistic note arguing that as long as patriarchy persists, there is a long way to go for women to achieve and enjoy their rights. The third article by Maria Syed looks at the fourth generation of revolution theories, especially the work of Jack A. Gold- stone in order to understand the causes of revolution in Tuni- sia and Egypt. Syed argues that the earlier literature on revo- lutions which emphasize the importance of the international context is not enough to understand the developments in the Middle East and takes Goldstone’s perspectivewhich ar- gues for the relevance of the international environment only in case of a favourable domestic context. The author analy- ses the domestic conditions of Tunisia and Egypt in terms of the performance of states by focusing on the goals, the level of unity among elites and opposition elites joining the popu- lar groups for protests.Looking at the domestic conditions in both countries in details, the author concludes that a revolu- tion was inevitable in both countries. Ortadoğu Etütleri January 2014, Volume 5, No 2 5 Dara Conduit in her article questions the arguments that Hizballah has become a moderate party within the democrat- ic structure of Lebanon. The author, by taking Schwedler’s idea that democratic institutions are not enough for modera- tion of radical groups and a broader analysis taking into ac- count political opportunity structures, internal group struc- ture and theboundaries of justifiable action is needed, argues that claims of moderation for Hizballah were problematic much before the Syrian Uprising began. The author under- lines that Hizballah’s moderate behaviour between 1992 and 2008 was possible when threat to Hizballah’s survival was minimal. When conditions that threaten its survival emerged from 2008 onwards, intensifying with the Syrian Uprising, its moderation was reversed. Looking at the center-periphery relations in Syria until 1970, the fifth article by Nuri Salık takes Shils’s model and presents the evolution of state-society relations and the fierce struggle for power. Problematizing the approach that looks at center and periphery as monoliths, the author analyses the inter- central and inter-peripheral rivalries to understand the dy- namics of the power struggle. Yet, this approach is also in need of being supported by a class analysis according to the author. At a time when a heated debate on the Syrian Upris- ing and its sectarian character is continuing, this article is a good read to understand the background of the conflict - his- torical rivalries and controversies between Sunni groups and religious minorities – and to witness the continuities from the earlier decades. The last article of this issue looks at Turkish-Iranian energy relations. Serhan Ünal and Eyüp Ersoy argue that there is an important potential to further Turkish-Iranian relations – that of the energy relations. By looking at the primacy of geo- politicsin bilateral relations,the primacy of energy in bilateral economic relations,and the primacyof natural gas in bilateral energy relations the authors see that these three asymme- tries can serve to bring the two countries to a closer coopera- tion and can help them broaden their cooperation in political issuesof common concern as well. Zeynep Sütalan has reviewed the latest book of Marc Lynch -The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East- for this issue. Özlem Tür Ortadoğu Etütleri 6 January 2014,
Recommended publications
  • 2016.03 HRC31 ADHRB Written Statement Saudi
    United Nations A/HRC/31/NGO/67 General Assembly Distr.: General 18 February 2016 English only Human Rights Council Thirty-first session Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Written statement* submitted by Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain Inc, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31. [12 February 2016] * This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting non- governmental organization(s). GE.16-02395(E) *1602395* A/HRC/31/NGO/67 Death Sentences and Civil Society in Saudi Arabia Executions in Saudi Arabia Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain would like to use the occasion of the 31st Session of the Human Rights Council to express our serious concern at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s increased use of the death penalty and continued targeting of human rights defenders. Throughout 2015, the government continued its arrest, imprisonment, and sentencing of numerous human rights activists. In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed more than 150 people—the highest in a single year since 1995. On 2 January 2016, the Government of Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of 47 people. Among those executed included at least three political dissidents, several mentally ill prisoners, prisoners arrested for crimes committed as minors, and the Muslim cleric and human rights activist Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr. Sheikh Nimr was a popular social and religious leader who denounced systematic discrimination against Saudi Arabia’s minorities and called for activists to use nonviolent resistance to achieve justice and equality for all Saudi citizens.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy in the MENA Region Ten Years After the Arab Spring
    Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy in the MENA Region Ten Years After the Arab Spring Thursday, April 28, 2021 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Virtual vis Cisco WebEx As prepared for delivery Good morning and thank you for joining us today for this Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on the Middle East and North Africa ten years after the Arab Spring. I extend a special welcome to the witnesses and thank them for their commitment to human rights and for sharing their expertise with us today. It’s been ten years since a wave of popular pro-democracy, pro-human rights movements in mostly Muslim countries of the Middle East and North Africa inspired hope in the region and the world. In short order we witnessed the resignation of an authoritarian president in Tunisia, important constitutional reforms in Morocco and the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. Change seemed on the horizon in Bahrain and in Syria. But ten years later, many of the initial successes have been rolled back. Most of the popular movements have been brutally repressed by authoritarian rulers who, instead of being replaced by democratic leaders, have consolidated their grip on power. Syria, Yemen and Libya have been ravaged by armed conflicts with devastating humanitarian consequences for the region and the world. Rep. James P. McGovern, MENA Ten Years After the Arab Spring, Page 1 of 4 As we will hear today, authoritarian governments across the region have used similar methods to suppress dissent, many of which are simply and unequivocally human rights violations.
    [Show full text]
  • Saudi Arabia Page 1 of 18
    Saudi Arabia Page 1 of 18 Published on Freedom House (https://freedomhouse.org) Home > Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2015 Status: Not Free Total Score: 73 (0 = Best, 100 = Worst) Obstacles to Access: 15 (0 = Best, 25 = Worst) Limits on Content: 24 (0 = Best, 35 = Worst) Violations of User Rights: 34 (0 = Best, 40 = Worst) Population: 30.8 million Internet Penetration: 64 percent Social Media/ICT Apps Blocked: Yes Political/Social Content Blocked: Yes Bloggers/ICT Users Arrested: Yes Press Freedom Status: Not Free Key Developments: https://freedomhouse.org/print/47723 12/8/2016 Saudi Arabia Page 2 of 18 June 2014–May 2015 • The Saudi television channel Rotana ordered Google to take down a video of the satirical YouTube show “Fitnah” on copyright grounds, after the show had used footage from Rotana to criticize its owner, Prince Waleed bin Talal. The video was later restored by YouTube (see Content Removal). • Human rights activists Waleed Abu al-Khair and Fowzan al-Harbi have had their prison sentences extended to 15 and 10 years, respectively, upon appeals by the public prosecutor (see Prosecutions and Detentions for Online Activities). • Raif Badawi, who co-founded the website Saudi Arabia Liberals, had his 10-year sentence suspended and later upheld by the Supreme Court and received the first set of 50 lashes in January. He was sentenced to a total 1,000 lashes, to be carried out in public (see Prosecutions and Detentions for Online Activities). • During a funeral for the victims of an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants on a Shiite mosque, political activist Waleed Sulais was beaten by two men who accused him of insulting them on social networks (see Intimidation and Violence).
    [Show full text]
  • Saudi Arabia
    FREEDOM ON THE NET 2017 Saudi Arabia 2016 2017 Population: 32.3 million Not Not Internet Freedom Status Internet Penetration 2016 (ITU): 73.8 percent Free Free Social Media/ICT Apps Blocked: Yes Obstacles to Access (0-25) 14 14 Political/Social Content Blocked: Yes Limits on Content (0-35) 24 24 Bloggers/ICT Users Arrested: Yes Violations of User Rights (0-40) 34 34 TOTAL* (0-100) 72 72 Press Freedom 2017 Status: Not Free * 0=most free, 100=least free Key Developments: June 2016 – May 2017 • The government outlined plans to significantly increase broadband penetration by 2020 (see Availability and Ease of Access). • An online campaign to end male guardianship caught the attention of the royal court and resulted in gradual reforms (see Digital Activism). • A court increased an activist’s prison sentence for advocating for human rights online from 9 to 11 years on appeal; others were newly detained (see Prosecutions and Detentions for Online Activities). • Public institutions lost critical data in major cyberattacks, including the civil aviation authority, a chemical company, and the labor ministry (see Technical Attacks). 1 www.freedomonthenet.org Introduction FREEDOM SAUDI ARABIA ON THE NET Obstacles to Access 2017 Introduction Availability and Ease of Access Saudi internet freedom remained restricted in 2017, despite effective digital activism for women’s Restrictions on Connectivity rights. Several human rights defenders were jailed for social media posts. Saudi Arabia unveiled its monumental “Vision 2030” reform and development targets in April 2016. ICT Market The plan included measures to increase competitiveness, foreign direct investment, and non-oil government revenue by 2030.1 The government also announced a National Transformation Program in June 2016 which included several ICT specific targets to be achieved by 2020, including increasing Regulatory Bodies fixed-line broadband penetration in densely populated areas from 44 to 80 percent, and increasing wireless broadband penetration in rural areas from 12 to 70 percent.
    [Show full text]
  • Intimidation and Reprisals for Cooperation with the UN Submission to the Secretary-General
    Intimidation and reprisals for cooperation with the UN Submission to the Secretary-General Report submitted to the Secretary-General in the context of the preparation of the annual report on intimidation and reprisals for cooperation with the UN in the field of human rights 1 May 2019 www.menarights.org [email protected] of Contents +41 (0) 228108910 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3 2 New cases of reprisals ................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Iraq .......................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Trends.......................................................................................................... 3 2.1.2 Imad Al Tamimi and Israa Al Dujaili ............................................................... 3 2.2 Riyad Al Karawi ..................................................................................................................... 5 3 Follow-up to previous reports .................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Djibouti ................................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Egypt ......................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Saudi Arabia
    FREEDOM ON THE NET 2016 Saudi Arabia 2015 2016 Population: 31.5 million Not Not Internet Freedom Status Internet Penetration 2015 (ITU): 70 percent Free Free Social Media/ICT Apps Blocked: Yes Obstacles to Access (0-25) 15 14 Political/Social Content Blocked: Yes Limits on Content (0-35) 24 24 Bloggers/ICT Users Arrested: Yes Violations of User Rights (0-40) 34 34 TOTAL* (0-100) 73 72 Press Freedom 2016 Status: Not Free * 0=most free, 100=least free Key Developments: June 2015 – May 2016 • Internet penetration has risen on the back higher mobile broadband subscriptions (see Availability and Ease of Access). • Authorities throttled Telegram starting in January 2016 in order to prevent users from sharing images and files over the popular messaging app (seeBlocking and Filtering). • The head of Riyadh’s Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice was dismissed after public outrage over a video of committee members harassing a girl outside of a mall (see Digital Activism). • Abdulkareem al-Khadar, Abdelrahman al-Hamid, and Abdulaziz al-Sinedi were respec- tively sentenced to 10, 9 and 8 years in prison for online advocacy against human rights violations. Saudi’s Supreme Court upheld a harsh verdict against liberal blogger Raif Bad- awi in June 2015, who had earlier been sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 public lashes (see Prosecutions and Detentions for Online Activities). • Mobile phone operators are now required to fingerprint customers when selling new SIM cards, limiting the ability of Saudis to use their phones anonymously (see Surveillance, Privacy, and Anonymity).
    [Show full text]
  • Program Occasional Paper Series Summer 2012
    MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES SUMMER 2012 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM SUMMER OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES 2012 Saudi Arabia’s Race Against Time The Saudi offi- The overwhelming impression from a two- David B. Ottaway, cial from the week visit to the kingdom is that the House Senior Scholar, Ministry of of Saud finds itself in a tight race against time Woodrow Wilson International Interior’s “ideo- to head off a social explosion, made more Center for Scholars and former Bureau logical security” likely by the current Arab Awakening, that Chief, Washington Post, Cairo department was could undermine its legitimacy and stabil- relaxed and ity. Ironically, the threat stems partly from confident. The King Abdullah’s deliberate policy to stimulate government had uprooted scores of secret reform by sending a new generation of Saudis al-Qaeda cells, rounded up 5,700 of its fol- abroad for training in the sciences, technolo- lowers, and deafened Saudi society to its siren gy, and critical thinking—skills that his king- call to jihad to overthrow the ruling al-Saud dom’s own educational system, dominated by royal family. For the kingdom, the threat ultra-conservative Wahhabi religious clerics, from Islamic terrorists had become manage- has failed to provide. able. So, what is the main security concern Thousands of beneficiaries from the King of the Saudi government today? The answer Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program, came as something of a surprise: the return of underway since 2005, have returned from U.S. 150,000 Saudis who have been sent abroad to colleges and universities to face bleak prospects study, nearly one half of whom are now in the for a job, house, or marriage.
    [Show full text]
  • Saudi Arabia Key Developments in 2016: Executive Summary
    Saudi Arabia Page 1 of 4 Published on Freedom House (https://freedomhouse.org) Home > Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Country: Saudi Arabia Year: 2017 Press Freedom Status: Not Free PFS Score: 86 Legal Environment: 29 Political Environment: 32 Economic Environment: 25 Key Developments in 2016: • Writers and journalists critical of the Saudi regime continued to face legal harassment. In January, Samar Badawi, the sister of imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi, was arrested in connection with her activism on social media. • In December, prominent journalist and author Jamal Khashoggi was banned from writing in print media and appearing on broadcast outlets after he criticized Donald Trump, then the U.S. president-elect. • The Saudi government continued to shape media coverage of its war in Yemen, cracking down on critical local reporting and restricting access to Yemen by foreign journalists. Executive Summary Despite pro-modernization rhetorical shifts, Saudi Arabia continues to have one of the most restricted media environments in the world. Social media has provided a conduit for access to news, but it too is being suppressed as the government seeks to silence criticism of its domestic policies and its war in Yemen, even as initiatives largely https://freedomhouse.org/print/49554 11/7/2017 Saudi Arabia Page 2 of 4 spearheaded by the kingdom’s deputy crown prince aim to project an image of liberalization to the west. Throughout 2016, the government aggressively pursued legal charges against a number of high-profile journalists, writers, bloggers, and social-media activists. Several received lengthy prison sentences, while those who avoided punishment experienced sustained official harassment.
    [Show full text]
  • A/HRC/39/NGO/54 General Assembly
    United Nations A/HRC/39/NGO/54 General Assembly Distr.: General 30 August 2018 English only Human Rights Council Thirty-ninth session 10-28 September 2018 Agenda item 6 Universal periodic review Written statement* submitted by the Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain Inc, a non- governmental organization in special consultative status The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31. [21 August 2018] * Issued as received, in the language(s) of submission only. GE.18-14316(E) A/HRC/39/NGO/54 ADHRB Assesses Saudi Arabia’s Implementation of its UPR Commitments Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) welcomes this opportunity at the 39th Session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC), and ahead of Saudi Arabia’s 3rd Cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2018, to raise serious concerns about the Government of Saudi Arabia’s systematic human rights violations and disregard of its previous UPR commitments accepted during earlier UPR sessions. During the kingdom’s 2nd UPR cycle in October 2013, the Saudi government received 225 recommendations covering numerous thematic issues. The government accepted 187 recommendations. However, five years after committing itself to reforming its human rights practices and laws, ADHRB assesses that the kingdom has completely fulfilled, in spirit and in practice, only a small fraction of the recommendations it accepted. Overview on Restrictions The kingdom maintains numerous restrictions on women’s rights, civil society, civic space, freedom of expression and opinion, and freedom of religion, while officials target human rights defenders, and courts continue to hand down death sentences to members of the Shia religious minority for spurious terror crimes.
    [Show full text]
  • SAUDI ARABIA Status - Seeking Election Previous Terms - 2007-09, 2010-12, 2014-16, 2017-19
    HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2021 CANDIDATE SAUDI ARABIA Status - Seeking Election Previous Terms - 2007-09, 2010-12, 2014-16, 2017-19 Key measures Saudi Arabia should commit to implement as a Human Rights Council member A letter with the following were sent to the UN Missions of Saudi Arabia in New York and Geneva, on behalf of: ALQST for Human Rights, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), Amnesty Internation- al, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR), Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR); International Ser- vice for Human Rights; MENA Rights Group; Migrant-Rights.org; Women’s March Global. Human rights defenders and civic space: Human rights defenders, journalists and prisoners of conscience are detained for exercising their rights to free- dom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and for engaging with the UN human rights mechanisms. Some of them – including women’s rights defenders and activists - have been subjected to severe acts of torture and ill-treatment as detailed in numerous reports, and perpetrators have not been held accountable. We urge Saudi Arabia to: • Immediately release all those detained for exercising their rights, including, but not limited to, the individuals named in this letter (see annex II), to drop all charges against them, provide them with remedy in line with international standards, and hold perpetrators accountable. Saudi Arabia-led Coalition in the context of the Yemen conflict: The Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen have found that the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as the Houthis and affiliated popular committees, have enjoyed a “pervasive lack of accountability” for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
    [Show full text]
  • Appeal for Clemency for Raif Badawi We Are Appealing to Your
    Appeal for Clemency for Raif Badawi We are appealing to your sense of mercy in requesting clemency for Raif and Samar Badawi. As you know, Raif Badawi has been in prison for over seven years and Samar Badawi is being detained incommunicado without charges or access to family or a lawyer. Our appeal is based on appreciation for your authority, Saudi Arabian law and the Sharia law that governs this matter. More specifically, we base our appeal on the Qur’an and the Sunna of the Prophet, which provide the source for all worldly authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Basic Regulation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Articles 1 and 7). Acts Infringing on Religious Values – the Centrality of Maslahạ Raif Badawi was sentenced for violating the cyber criminal prohibition on acts that infringe on religious values, an offence created in order to further community welfare, or Maslahạ . It is thus considered a ta’zir offence under Sharia law, with no mandated punishment. Ta’zir offences afford the worldly sovereign the absolute greatest flexibility in sentencing offenders. Similarly, once the accused has started serving the sentence, the sovereign has the discretion to pardon ta’zir offences by considering whether it furthers Maslahạ — the ultimate purpose of Sharia. Indeed, it is the supreme obligation of the worldly sovereign to protect the public interest (Al-Masalih Al-'Amma). We therefore ask that your Royal Highness look to the light of Revelation and the example of the Prophet for guidance in promoting Maslahạ in the case of Raif and Samar Badawi.
    [Show full text]
  • Saudi Arabia
    www.amnesty.org AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT 26 June 2019 MDE 23/0511/2019 SAUDI ARABIA: 40 HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS CALL ON STATES TO STAND UP FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE KINGDOM States should adopt a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council to address ongoing human rights violations Your Excellency, We remain highly concerned about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, in particular the recent mass executions of 37 men on 23 April, the continued arbitrary detention of human rights defenders including women human rights defenders and the ongoing impunity for serious human rights violations, including torture. We welcome the joint statement signed by 36 states during the 40th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) calling, inter alia, for the release of detained women human rights defenders. We urge you to build on this statement by advancing a HRC resolution establishing a monitoring mechanism over the human rights violations in the country and calling explicitly for the immediate and unconditional release of the detained Saudi women human rights defenders and to drop all charges against them, including those provisionally released. Since the 7 March joint statement at the HRC, several of the ten women human rights defenders named in the statement were referred to trial1 after almost ten months of detention without a charge, and seven have been provisionally released.2 Their release demonstrates that HRC scrutiny can contribute to positive human rights outcomes on the ground, particularly with respect to the cases of detained women human rights defenders. However, they are still facing trial, the human rights situation on the ground has deteriorated markedly on other fronts, including through increased use of the death penalty and the authorities’ continuing crackdown on freedom of expression.
    [Show full text]