Saudi Arabia

When tyrants want tear gas, the UK has always been happy to oblige

SamSam — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:21:30 +0000

The notorious Export Credits Guarantee Department, responsible for some of the most economically foolhardy and unethical business deals of the past 20 years, has been boosted. From arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, to oil and gas pipelines in central Asia, to mega-dams in sub-Saharan Africa, the ECGD has backed projects that have been implicated in corruption, environmental destruction and human rights abuses.

Source: When tyrants want tear gas, the UK has always been happy to oblige

FREEDOM ENOUGH

Dean Omori — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:52:05 +0100

Saudi Woman Attacks a Religious Practices Cop - AOL News

unicorn27 — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:50:53 +0100

An angry young Saudi Arabian woman has left her mark on a religious policeman who approached her for illegally socializing with an unmarried young man.

Source: Saudi Woman Attacks a Religious Practices Cop - AOL News

Charity reveals 'scorched earth' Yemen images

Niluccio — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:04:02 +0100

Amnesty International has revealed a collection of images that it says show the scale of the devastation caused by Yemeni and Saudi Arabian aerial bombardments of the northern Yemeni region of Sa'dah.

The human rights organisation says the images were taken last month in and around the town of al-Nadir. It says they show buildings destroyed in the latest in a series of clashes between Yemeni forces and supporters of a Shia cleric.

Among the damaged or destroyed civilian buildings photographed are what it says are market places, mosques, petrol stations, small businesses, a primary school, a power plant, a health centre - and dozens of houses and residential buildings.

Source: Charity reveals 'scorched earth' Yemen images

Lebanese TV host Ali Hussain Sibat faces execution in Saudi Arabia for sorcery

Niluccio — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:11:12 +0100

A Lebanese television host who was arrested during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and sentenced to death as a sorcerer for making predictions on his TV show could be executed any day, his lawyer and rights groups said yesterday.

Source: Lebanese TV host Ali Hussain Sibat faces execution in Saudi Arabia for sorcery

Women's Rights

Maddy Sulliman — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:35:13 +0000

Lashes for Saudi woman journalist

DrPot — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:48:21 +0100

A female journalist in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 60 lashes over a TV show in which a Saudi man described his extra-marital sex life.
The programme, made by Lebanese satellite network LBC, caused a huge scandal in conservative Saudi Arabia when it was shown several months ago.
The journalist is one of two female LBC employees who have been arrested.
Mazen Abdul Jawad, the Saudi man who talked about how he picked up Saudi women for sex, has already been jailed.

Source: Lashes for Saudi woman journalist

My friends

Joakimprojekt`s — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:59:59 +0100

And now we're joined by a Saudi government spokesperson

Niluccio — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:53:17 +0100

As my boss Mike was saying the other day, one of the mixed pleasures of working in the Amnesty media team is that you get to do TV and radio interviews (“And now we're joined by Amnesty spokesman Neil Durkin …”). Mixed, because they don't always go perfectly.

Source: And now we're joined by a Saudi government spokesperson

Princess facing Saudi death penalty given secret UK asylum

Niluccio — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:48:37 +0100

A Saudi Arabian princess who had an illegitimate child with a British man has secretly been granted asylum in this country after she claimed she would face the death penalty if she were forced to return home. The young woman, who has been granted anonymity by the courts, won her claim for refugee status after telling a judge that her adulterous affair made her liable to death by stoning.

Source: Princess facing Saudi death penalty given secret UK asylum

The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women!

unicorn27 — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:28:40 +0100

The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! is initiated by a group of activists, lawyers, journalists, and academics, who are committed to ending the stoning and killing of women

Source: The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women!

Saudi lingerie trade in a twist

Sara — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:31:00 +0000

Reem Asaad's campaign to allow female shopkeepers in Saudi Arabia

Source: Saudi lingerie trade in a twist

Hello, democracy – and goodbye

Niluccio — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:01:28 +0000

Four years ago this month Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most conservative absolute monarchies, took a cautious step towards democracy by holding local government elections – the first in more than 40 years.

Source: Hello, democracy – and goodbye

Saudi girl band challenges the rules limiting women - Telegraph

damianrafferty — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:29:28 +0000

The band, called the Accolade, has written an underground hit called Pinocchio, that has been downloaded from their MySpace page. While they cannot perform in public, the four students have been able to stage gigs in private compounds and make studio recordings of their material.

Source: Saudi girl band challenges the rules limiting women - Telegraph

The SWISH Report (12) | open Democracy News Analysis

Patrick Corrigan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:36:03 +0000

A ninth report from the South Waziristan Institute of Strategic Hermeneutics to the al-Qaida Strategic Planning Cell (SPC) on the progress of the campaign.
Thank you for inviting us to submit a further report on the progress of your movement.

Source: The SWISH Report (12) | open Democracy News Analysis

BBC News: Saudi hunger strike for prisoners

Lightowl — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:38:31 +0000

Saudi Arabian activists are on a two-day hunger strike to protest against the detention without charge of hundreds of Saudi citizens.

They are hoping to draw attention to "flagrant human-rights violations" of prisoners held without trial, especially 11 political reformists.

(Pictured is protest organiser Mohammad al-Qahtani, at home on hunger strike).

Source: BBC News: Saudi hunger strike for prisoners

PM talks to reformed al-Qaida pair

Niluccio — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:01:18 +0000

Gordon Brown shook hands with former al-Qaida operatives yesterday when his tour of the Gulf took him to a centre for deradicalisation in Saudi Arabia. Attending as a sign of solidarity with King Abdullah's efforts to modernise the kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, Brown spoke to two men who had each spent six years at Guantánamo Bay.

Source: PM talks to reformed al-Qaida pair

Brown meets terror suspects in Saudi jail - Middle East, World - The Independent

damianrafferty — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:45:20 +0000

Gordon Brown shook hands yesterday with terror suspects who had been locked up in Guantanamo Bay because of their alleged links to al-Qa'ida. The surprise encounter came when the Prime Minister, who is on a four day tour of Gulf states, visited a "correctional centre" in Saudi Arabia for Islamist extremists who are being "deradicalised".

Source: Brown meets terror suspects in Saudi jail - Middle East, World - The Independent

Saudis indict 991 terrorism suspects

Niluccio — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:00:19 +0100

Saudi authorities have indicted 991 suspected militants for participating in terrorist attacks carried out over the past five years, the interior minister said yesterday.

The legal proceedings mark a big step in the country's fight against terrorism. Saudi Arabia has so far been reluctant to resort to trying suspects on terrorism charges that could result in death sentences until it can show the public that every effort has been made to give the defendants a chance to repent.

Source: Saudis indict 991 terrorism suspects

The executioner's sword

Niluccio — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:58:40 +0100

It was around this time last year that Britain’s red carpet was rolled out for the high-pomp state visit of King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s monarch and head of government.

The visit was characterised by the inevitable splendour of these occasions - royals meeting royals, lavish banquets, gold-encrusted carriages, bafflingly complex dining arrangements, and a good deal of controversy. Especially about arms deals and human rights.

Source: The executioner's sword

How I survived chop chop square

Niluccio — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:47:37 +0100

In theory I should now be dead. Not from disease or an accident but because of the simple fact that my head was set to be severed from my body with a sharp sword in a public square in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital.

In 2001, I was condemned to die in this brutal archaic fashion after being caught up in what became known as the "Saudi Brits" affair. Along with eight others, I was rounded up by the panicked Saudi authorities after a series of attacks on foreigners in the kingdom suddenly started to make this expat country of choice seem distinctly unsafe.

Source: How I survived chop chop square

Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil

Niluccio — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:42:05 +0100

A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.

Source: Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil

Competing empires of the Middle East

damianrafferty — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:24:36 +0100

Thousands of years of history compressed into a couple of minutes...

Source: Competing empires of the Middle East

YouTube - No To Women's Oppression

Fulup — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:22:34 +0100

Source: YouTube - No To Women's Oppression

No to women's oppression

Fulup — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:02:31 +0100