AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

April 22, 2005

(Washington, D.C.)— Amnesty International urges President Bush to use his upcoming meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to call for immediate reform in the Kingdom, including ensuring women the right to vote, putting an end to secret trials and detentions, ending arbitrary arrests, and abolishing public beheadings and other forms of capital punishment.

"By now it should be clear to all that Saudi Arabia, a heralded U.S. ally in the war on terror, has no qualms about terrorizing its own citizens," said Alexandra Arriaga, Amnesty International USA's Director of Government Relations. "Saudi Arabia has consistently flouted its own penal code and international standards and is infamous for severely mistreating prisoners, denying detainees access to lawyers, relying on coerced confessions, and conducting trials in secret. If Saudi Arabia is serious about leading reform in the Muslim world, it could begin by demonstrating a real commitment to upholding human rights for all persons and adopting a zero tolerance policy for torture, amputations, arbitrary arrests, secret trials, public beheadings, and women's inequality before the law. As of now, Saudi Arabia has shown no signs of granting its own citizens the kinds of freedoms President Bush's counter-terrorism campaign purports to defend."

Saudi Arabia completed the third and final round of its first municipal elections on Thursday, April 21. No women were allowed to vote, although the Kingdom's laws do not specifically ban women from voting or running in elections. Amnesty International opposes Saudi Arabia's ban on women's participation in elections and believes that the right to suffrage is a fundamental right that must not be delayed.

The organization believes that the elections were a small step in the right direction, but argues that as long as the Saudi government brushes vital freedoms like speech, religion, movement, and association to the side, such gestures do little to promote real reform.

"Denying basic freedoms undermines the promise of elections," said Brian Evans, Amnesty International USA country specialist for Saudi Arabia. "You can't have meaningful elections without rights. Authorities who promise future elections while denying the freedom to demonstrate today are stalling, not reforming."

About three weeks before the final phase of the election, on April 4, Saudi Arabia executed six Somali nationals—none of whom knew that they were at risk of death. The recent executions brought the total number executed in the last four months to at least 51. Two-thirds of those executed were foreign nationals. Amnesty International renews its calls on King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah to commute all outstanding death sentences and to bring trial proceedings for people facing such punishments in line with international standards.

Contact: Devon Haynie at 202-544-0200 ext. 302 or dhaynie@aiusa.org

Send this page to a friend

Your Email:
Friend's Email:
Add a Message:
Security code: (case sensitive)