Saudi Women “Perpetual Minors,” Report Says

Saudi Women “Perpetual Minors,” Report Says

By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

LONDON, England – An April 21 report released by Human Rights Watch alleges that Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship of women and sex segregation policies prevent women from enjoying their basic rights.  The 50 page report, “Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia,” documents the effects of these discriminatory policies and draws on more than 100 interviews with Saudi women.

Human Rights Watch said that the Saudi government treats adult women as legal minors who are not in control of their own well-being.  The group said that Saudi women must often obtain permission from a guardian (a father, husband or even a son) to work, travel, marry or even access health care.

“The Saudi government sacrifices basic human rights to maintain male control over women,” said Farida Deif, women’s rights researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch. “Saudi women won’t make any progress until the government ends the abuses that stem from these misguided policies.”

The report claims that Saudi women are prevented from accessing government agencies without a male representative unless the agency has established a female section.  According to the report, the need for separate office spaces provides a disincentive to hiring female employees.

The report also alleges that even when no permission from a guardian is required, some officials will ask for it.  Despite national regulations to the contrary, some hospitals require a guardian’s permission to allow women to be admitted, agree to medical procedures for themselves or their children, or be discharged.

Male guardianship over adult women also contributes to their risk of exposure to violence within the family as victims of violence find it difficult to seek protection or redress from the courts. The report says that social workers, physicians and lawyers say that it is nearly impossible to remove guardianship from male guardians who are abusive.

“It’s astonishing that the Saudi government denies adult women the right to make decisions for themselves but holds them criminally responsible for their actions at puberty,” Deif said.  “For Saudi women, reaching adulthood brings no rights, only responsibilities.”

For more information, please see:
ABC  – Saudi Women ‘Kept in Childhood’ – 21 April 2008

BBC – Saudi Women ‘Kept in Childhood’ – 21 April 2008

Human Rights Watch – Saudi Arabia: Male Guardianship Policies Harm Women – 21 April 2008

Human Rights Watch Report – Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia – 21 April 2008

Saudi Women “Perpetual Minors,” Report Says

By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

LONDON, England – An April 21 report released by Human Rights Watch alleges that Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship of women and sex segregation policies prevent women from enjoying their basic rights.  The 50 page report, “Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia,” documents the effects of these discriminatory policies and draws on more than 100 interviews with Saudi women.

Human Rights Watch said that the Saudi government treats adult women as legal minors who are not in control of their own well-being.  The group said that Saudi women must often obtain permission from a guardian (a father, husband or even a son) to work, travel, marry or even access health care.

“The Saudi government sacrifices basic human rights to maintain male control over women,” said Farida Deif, women’s rights researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch. “Saudi women won’t make any progress until the government ends the abuses that stem from these misguided policies.”

The report claims that Saudi women are prevented from accessing government agencies without a male representative unless the agency has established a female section.  According to the report, the need for separate office spaces provides a disincentive to hiring female employees.

The report also alleges that even when no permission from a guardian is required, some officials will ask for it.  Despite national regulations to the contrary, some hospitals require a guardian’s permission to allow women to be admitted, agree to medical procedures for themselves or their children, or be discharged.

Male guardianship over adult women also contributes to their risk of exposure to violence within the family as victims of violence find it difficult to seek protection or redress from the courts. The report says that social workers, physicians and lawyers say that it is nearly impossible to remove guardianship from male guardians who are abusive.

“It’s astonishing that the Saudi government denies adult women the right to make decisions for themselves but holds them criminally responsible for their actions at puberty,” Deif said.  “For Saudi women, reaching adulthood brings no rights, only responsibilities.”

For more information, please see:
ABC  – Saudi Women ‘Kept in Childhood’ – 21 April 2008

BBC – Saudi Women ‘Kept in Childhood’ – 21 April 2008

Human Rights Watch – Saudi Arabia: Male Guardianship Policies Harm Women – 21 April 2008

Human Rights Watch Report – Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia – 21 April 2008

Patriotic Protests Spread in China

BEIJING, China – Demonstrations against French supermarkets and western medias rocked China on Sunday.  Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Carrefour in several Chinese cities, sang the national anthem and waved the Chinese flag.  Some protesters have been calling for a boycott of the French store Carrefour, which has more than 100 outlets in China. The boycott comes after pro-Tibet demonstrators attacked a Chinese amputee athlete in a wheelchair who was bearing the torch in Paris and the city council raised a banner on City Hall that read, “Paris defends human rights all over the world.”  The authorities maintained a heavy police presence but did not interfere with the demonstrators, according to wire service reports.

The Chinese government has called on citizens to temper their fury at the West in recent days.  The state-run newspapers urged Chinese not to launch a boycott campaign against French goods and to express their patriotic enthusiasm calmly and rationally and express patriotic aspiration in an orderly and legal manner. Still, many are ignoring the government’s call for calm. Beijing police reportedly turned away a small group of demonstrators outside the French embassy.

The protesters also expressed their anger about what they see as biased reporting of unrest in Tibet by Western medias especially CNN and BBC.  Demonstrators carried banners saying, “Oppose Tibet Independence” and “Condemn CNN,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Protests are occurring beyond China’s borders.  In Paris, several thousand protesters gathered in the Place de la Republique.  Many wore T-shirts bearing the slogan “Let’s make the Olympics a bridge, not a wall”, reported the AP news agency. Thousands Chinese gathered outside the CNN’s bureau in Los Angeles demanding that Jack Cafferty apologize and be fired from the network over comments critical of China and the U.S. government’s relationship with it.  Jack Cafferty, a commentator on CNN’s “Situation Room” program, used the term “goons and thugs” while comparing the current conditions in China and 50 years ago.

For more information, please see:

AP – China urges calm after anti-Western demonstrations – 21 April 2008

BBC – Anti-French rallies across China – 21 April 2008

CNN – China protests target CNN, French store – 21 April 2008

CNN – CNN commentator’s comments draw protests – 21 April 2008

New York Times – Protests of the West Spread in China – 21 April 2008

Time – China Frowns on Patriotic Protests – 21 April 2008

Washington Post – China seeks to contain patriotic outbursts – 20 April 2008

Two Jemaah Islamiah Leaders Jailed

By Ryan L. Maness
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The trials of Abu Dujana and Zarkasih, both leaders of the South East Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah, were sentenced today to fifteen years in jail.  While both men were at various times leaders of the terrorist organization, the two were tried for different crimes and sentenced by different judges in the South Jakarta District Court.  In handing down sentence, the presideing Judges also officially declared that Jemaah Islamiah to be a terrorist organization.

Abu Dujana, who was thought to have masterminded many of Jemaah Islamiah’s terrorist attacks, and Zarkasih, the so-called “amir of Jemaah Islamiah”, were both arrested last summer on charges of harboring terrorists and weapons charges.  At the time, the arrest was hailed as a victory for the Indonesia’s fight against Islamic Militants.

Abu Dujana, who has denied having any relationship to Jemaah Islamiah, was convicted by  Judge Wahjono for attacks against Christians on the island of Sulawesi.  From 1999 until 2001, Dujana was responsible for many attacks and bombings against Christian civilians.  Since that time, Dujana has condemned the style of attacks, claiming that they are against his stated goal of establishing Islamic law throughout Indonesia.  The Judge Wahjono was cognizant of Dujana’s statement and renunciation of terrorism when he handed down sentencing and stated that he hopes that Dujana will help to reform other jailed terrorists.

Zarkasih was thought to have had more control over the rank and file members of Jemaah Islamiah.  He was also thought to have received training in Pakistan in the late 1980s and was associated with Muslim rebels in the Philippines in 1998.

Jemaah Islamiah has been involved in a 2002 bombing in Bali, a 2003 bombing of a Jakarta hotel, the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta and three suicide bombings in Bali in 2005.  However, while once a feared organization in Southern Asia, Ken Conboy, a terrorism analyst, told Voice of America that Jemaah Islamiah is no longer a threat to Indonesia’s secular Muslim government.  “They seem to have no real capability to attract and maintain … substantial numbers of new members.”

For more information, please see:
BBC — Key Indonesian militants jailed — 21 April 2008

Radio New Zealand News — Indonesia jails militant leaders for 15 years — 21 April 2008

The Associated Press — Terror leaders in Indonesia get prison terms — 21 April 2008

United Press International — Top Indonesia terrorist leaders sentenced — 21 April 2008

BRIEF: Rights Group Condemns Israeli Killing of Reuters Cameraman

GAZA CITY, Gaza – Human Rights Watch condemned Israel on Saturday for the death of a Reuters cameraman and three others in an Israeli strike in Gaza. The New York-based rights group believes an Israeli tank crew fired either recklessly or deliberately at Fadel Shana and three others standing near him.

Human Rights Watch believes Israeli soldiers failed to make sure they were aiming at a military target before firing. Shana’s final video showed a tank on a distant hilltop open fire. Shana was wearing a bullet proof jacket marked with “Press” at the time and his vehicle was also marked with “TV” signs. His final video turned black immediately after the shots were fired.

The tank fired flechette shells, which rights groups consider inappropriate for densely populated areas like the Gaza Strip. The flechette shell is an anti-personnel weapon generally fired from a tank, which explodes in the air and releases thousands of small metal darts, which disperse in a conical arch of approximately 300 by 90 meters. Use of flechette shell usually results in indiscriminate firing, thereby endangering innocent civilians in violation of international humanitarian law.

Shana was the first Gaza journalist to be killed in the territory in the past eight years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Rights group: Israel must investigate cameraman’s death – 20 April 2008

Jerusalem Post – Israel must probe cameraman’s death – 20 April 2008

Human Rights Watch – Investigate death of Gaza civilians – 19 April 2008

AFP – Media Watchdog IPI condemns killing of Reuters cameraman – 19 April 2008