Human Rights in Saudi Arabia

Human Rights in Saudi Arabia is criticized by many Human Rights Groups or organizes for there lack of enforcement of Human Rights that they have ratified from the UN. Saudi Arabia has signed or ratified some of the UN Human Rights conventions or treaties, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1950, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1997, the Amendment to article 8 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 2003, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 2000, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1997, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1996, the Amendment to article 43 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1997, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography in 2010, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008. It is unclear if they have ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Women’s rights are still poor in Saudi Arabia despite the ratifying the convention for women’s rights, but they have improved a decent deal over the last decade or so. In 2009, for the first time a woman was appointed to the cabinet for Deputy Minister for Girls' Education by King Abdullah and also women can now hold commercial licenses. However, by no means are women now treated as equals to men, they still cannot vote, legally drive a car, travel inside or outside the country without a male relative, and many laws discriminate against women. Sectarian tensions were a very big concern, because of the religious police attacking Shiite pilgrims in Medina in February of 2009. This triggered some unrest in the Shiite community in the Eastern Province to the point where political activists were threatening violence if the government did not do something about the protection of the Shiite people. The freedom of religion is none existent in Saudi Arabia, all Saudis must be Muslim by law. However the government does recognize the right to practice other religions in private but that right is not really carried out. No political parties are permitted in Saudi Arabia, so parties have to go outside the country and to oppose the government from a foreign country, most in London. Corruption is another problem in Saudi Arabia, some foreign companies have reported having to pay off government officials or other people just to get deals or move the company into the country. Saudi Arabia is by far not a free country, and does not enforce the Human Rights acts it has ratified. Some improvement has happen but the country has a long ways to go.

Actions Louder than Words

     When analyzing human rights on a global scale, it becomes immediately apparent that the global system and international actors are extraordinarily influential on the status of human rights within a state. This is nowhere more evident than the relationship between powerful western countries and economically/democratically developing nations in the world today.
     Less than two weeks after a revolution that deposed a corrupt regime, British Prime Minister David Cameron became the first world leader to visit Egypt yesterday.While this would seem a politically benign, perhaps even beneficial move on the part of a government invested in the successful creation of a stable Egyptian state, Cameron was accompanied on his visit by bosses from major arms and aerospace companies such as BEe Systems, Qinetiq, Thales, Cobham Group, Ultra Electronics and others. Despite claims that any deals made between these companies and the governments of Egypt and perhaps Kuwait will not be used to repress the population, these promises ring hollow. In 2004, the "deal in the desert" between Tony Blair and Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi gave British gas company Shell a £120million contract in exchange for equipment and military training for Libyan soldiers. This weekend, over 200 casualities were reported as the result of violent suppression of civilian protesters in Libya.
      Interestingly enough, the arms dealers joined Cameron mere hours after his public condemnation of the brutal repression of Libyans by Colonel Gaddafi, calling the killings "completely appalling." Of course, arms deals facillitated by Western nations are not illegal, nor should they be, however, it is important to use judgment when the lives of civilians are at stake.  Human rights violations on a state level cannot be eradicated when "the powers that be," mainly powerful Western nations, continually arm and encourage violence in unstable, dictatorial regimes. Nations cannot condemn violence while at the same time, turning around and providing the means for that very violence. The Cold War may be over, but the attitude of powerful nations in dealing with dictatorial regimes at the cost of citizen's lives has changed little in the past 20 years.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359316/Prime-Minister-David-Cameron-takes-arms-dealers-Egypt-promote-democracy.html
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/110221/egypt-cameron-cairo-hosni-mubarak#
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23925174-desert-deal-that-went-bad.do

Facts about Egypt

Egypt was granted partial independence from the British in 1922, but did not acquire full sovereignty until 1952.

Capital: Cairo

Population: 80,471,869 (as of July 2010) – largest Arab country

Location: North Eastern Africa, Mediterranean Sea to the North, Libya to the West, Gaza Strip to the East, Sudan to the South

Languages: Arabic (official), English and French are widely spoken

Terrain: Mostly desert land

Natural Resources: petroleum, natural gas

· The highly fertile Nile River runs through the country, where provides the country with most of it’s economy activity

President: Hosni Mubarak – currently being ruled by the Egyptian Military

On July 12, 2010 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir for acts of genocide in the region of Darfur, following the previous arrest warrant issued in 2009 for war crimes and crimes against humanity regarding Darfur. Al-Bashir’s arrest warrant is a significant step forward for the ICC because it was the first warrant ever issued for genocide. The warrant accuses Al-Bashir of being the indirect perpetrator and co-perpetrator of the horrific act of genocide that has taken place in Darfur.

Although Sudan is not a member of the court, the ICC has jurisdiction over international crimes against humanity that have taken place in Dafur. The ICC was able to do this Under Security Council Resolution 1593, which specifies that Sudan must cooperate with the ICC.

Not to mention the research conducted by Human Rights Watch, which has discovered that al-Bashir has directly targeted innocent civilians in Darfur in the form of “ethnic cleansing”. Yet al-Bashir denies all the alleged charges of crimes against humanity and genocide issued to him by the ICC.

A Few Facts About Congo

Congo is situated in Western Africa in between Angola and Gabon, and gained independence from the French in 1960. Before Congo became a republic, the country experienced a phase of government characterized by Marxism, which ended in 1990. However, Congo now has established a three-branch government, including legislative, executive, and judicial bodies. Congo has a population of roughly 4,125,916 individuals who are unfortunately susceptible to a slew of diseases such as aids and malaria. Currently, CIA world fact book estimates that a total of 79,000 adults are living with HIV or aids. The life expectancy of the Congolese people is approximately 54.54 years (males at 53.27 years and females, 55.85 years), which is seemingly short for a modern day society. The national language is French, however, the Congolese also speak Lingala and Monokatuba as well as Kikongo. And the largest religion is Christian, followed by animist and then Muslim. Congo also has a voluntary military, in which men and women ages 18 through 49 can decide to serve.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cf.html

Migrants in the UAE

One of the most threatening issues to human rights in the United Arab Emirates is the abuse of migrant workers. These abuses are especially high in areas like the UAE where only twenty percent of the population are citizens. Immigration policies allow migrants to be subject to abuses such as "labor exploitation, violence, trafficking, mistreatment in detention, and killings". Along with these injustices, migrants are among the groups of people who often have no resources to fight back and seek justice.

"Migrants are consistently among those at highest risk of abuse, but also among those least likely to have access to services or justice. Many governments make things worse with policies that aggravate discrimination or make it hard for migrants even to approach authorities for help." - Nisha Varia

As a fast growing country, the UAE has a significant need for construction workers, most of whom are migrants. When these abuses, injustices and human rights violations occur, migrant workers are not allowed the same equality as other citizens and do not see the same support and justice as the UAE's citizens.

Sources - Human Rights Watch. "Global: Flawed Policies Expose Migrants to Abuse" http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/12/11/global-flawed-policies-expose-migrants-abuse.

Syria is a country that has long been under a dictorial reign of President Bashar Al-Hasaad, and before him, his father Hafez Al-Hasaad since 1970. Syria is not an electoral democracy. Under the 1973 constitution, the president is nominated by the ruling Baath Party and approved by popular referendum for seven-year terms. In practice, these referendums are orchestrated by the regime, as are elections for the 250-seat, unicameral People’s Council, whose members serve four-year terms and hold little independent legislative power (freedomhouse). Almost all power rests in the executive branch. According to freedomhouse.org, Syria rated 7 on a scale of freedom in political rights (7 being the least free) and 6 in the category of civil liberties (once again 7 being the least free). This has not changed in decades.

Freedom of expression is heavily restricted in Syria. Many journalists, writers, and intellectuals have been arrested for writing even vaguely worded articles that may tarnish the image of the state, or tamper with the “goals of the revolution”. The 2001 press law permits the authorities to arbitrarily deny or revoke publishing licenses and compels private print outlets to submit all material to government censors. Just last June, a group of bloggers were arrested for writing a “controversial” piece on a popular independent site for Syrian news and analysis. Syrians can only access the internet through state run servers, which block over 160 different sites associated with the opposition. Social networking sites, such as Facebook and you-tube, are also blocked.

Academic freedom and freedom of assembly are very heavily restricted in Syria. Several private universities have recently been founded, and there is a very low extent of academic freedom. University professors have been dismissed or imprisoned for expressing dissent. Public demonstrations are illegal, unless the government has given consent. Consent is usually only given to progovernment groups. The security department of Syria has intensified in 2006 by restricting any group of five or more people to publicly speak about political or economic topics. This rule has been enforced by intense surveillance. This intense activity by intelligence services in Syria has ensured that a culture of self-censorship and fear prevails, and ordinary Syrians are unwilling to discuss politics under most circumstances.

In general, Syria is a country in need of freedom, and of the political and civil rights that we as French and American citizens have taken for granted. I think that there is going to be a huge outcry of Syrian citizens, such as what we have seen in Egypt, very soon.

"Syria." Freedom House . Freedom House, 13/01/2011.

Web. 21 Feb 2011.

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Algeria: recent news

Algeria demands the right to protest in a peaceful way, not in a violent way…

According to the Amnesty International, it is necessary to lift the state of emergency in the country which has been in effect for 19 years. This situation tends to increase restrictions of fundamental liberties throughout Algeria, more precisely regarding freedom of speech and freedom of association.

Algerian authorities are still tough on demonstrations against the government and use excessive force to ensure an “absolute public order”.

The citizens claim the right to express properly what they think and to be taken into account .They also specifies that the 19-year state emergency is used as a pretext to crack down on dissent and to detain an absolute control on the country. The origin of the Algerian state of emergency was the cancellation of the first elections, which allowed the participation of several political parties and so the Islamic Salvation Front.We may regard it as an unconstitutional measure because all decisions are made by Parliament.

The primary aim was to fight terrorism in the 1990’s and now it seems to be reached, but the government still wants to keep the state of emergency and reinforce the violations of the constitution but also the human rights in general.

Now people are use to asking institutions’ approval to create a project (as a newspaper or an organization for example.). It becomes part of the everyday life to a certain extent and it is harmful.

What is important to point out is that the way to a legally constituted state means before everything the lifting of the state of emergency.

The beginning of 2011 was hard for Algeria, price rises, and unemployment but also poor housing conditions. The demonstration keep increasing since then and get intensified with the Middle-East and North-Africa unrest that begun in Tunisia. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika recently announced that the state of emergency would be lifted in the "very near future", but no date has been announced yet. Even if the international pressure is on, the government does not want to cope with the real situation and the crisis in general.

Source:

http://www.amnesty.org/fr/news-and-updates/algeria-urged-allow-peaceful-protests-2011-02-11