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May 24, 2006

Saudi Arabia: Islamist Police Powers To Be Limited

News from Stuff and from Pakistan's Daily Times reports that the "religious policemen", also known as muttawa, mutawi or mutawi'oon, are to have their powers limited. The concept of mutawi'oon (enforcers of obedience) is integral to the hardline Wahhabism practised by the ruling House of Saud. The founder of this extremist and violent faith, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792) employed the mutawi to enforce his strict standards.

As we reported last month, the mutawi with their distinctive red head-coverings have been responsible for the Wahhabist trend of destroying ancient mosques and holy sites, lest they become venues for pilgrimage.

The most brutal actions of the mutawi happened on Monday 11th March, 2002 in Mecca. A schoolgirls' dormitory caught fire, and several of the girls tried to escape from the flames. Because they were not wearing headscarves, the mutawi pushed them back into the flames. They also would not allow firemen to enter the building. The blogsite The Religious Policeman" is dedicated to the memory of the 15 girls who died. The news of this event only became known because it was leaked to the press by a senior member of the House of Saud.

Earlier today another member of this family, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef announced that the mutawi would no longer have powers to detain suspects for hours, in "harassment" cases.

The decree, printed in state media outlets, said: "The role of the 'authority for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice' ends with apprehending suspected individuals and handing them to the police, who then present them to prosecutors with a report of the incident involved."

Apart from the 2002 incident where they caused the death of the schoolirls, the mutawi are renowned for their abuses of their privilege. They hold people in detention without informing people, and if a man's hair is too long, they forcibly trim it to an "acceptable" length.

Stuff quoted a female student, who said: "It's time for these people to stop. There are so many people in jail because of them and so many people's lives have been really destroyed because of them."

Sometimes Shi'ites are detained by the mutawi and are only released when they sign documents denouncing their own faith, which is regarded as heretical in the Wahhabists strict version of Sunni Islam.

Jaafar al-Shayeb, a Shi'ite who has been petitioning King Abdulah for more rights for his co-religionists, said: "It's a good step to regulate the power of this authority. . . and consolidate powers with the prosecution office. I think it will help to eliminate some misuse of power....But I wish to see a clear set of charges because that's another problem people face here. Charges for crimes are not clear and we want it clear in law."

Earlier this month there were protests by ordinary Saudis against the mutawi, leading to violent attacks upon the morality enforcers. As a result, it was announced that all mutawi would carry identity cards.

Prince Nayef, though curtailing the powers of the mutawi, is a strong supporter of their aims and activities. He rejects any calls to have the group disbanded. King Abdullah is said to favour social and political reforms.

Associated Press, via MSNBC states today that the United States State Department has finally included Saudi Arabia on a list of nations which commonly practices "particularly severe violations" of religious freedom.

We reported on October 1 that Eritrea had become the first nation to be subject to sanctions under the terms of the The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (est. 1998). Saudi Arabia was found to have violated religious freedoms to the same degree, but Condoleeza Rice had granted the kingdom a waiver of 180 days to put into practice some reforms.

No reforms have happened, apart from the mild tinkering with the powers of the mutawi announced today. It is still illegal to bring a Bible into Saudi Arabia, and it is still forbidden to hold Christian services, under threat of imprisonment.

One of the points made in a statement from the US State Department makes reference to "severe repercussions" at the hands of the religious police.

So now Saudi Arabia is officially on the US so-called "CPC list", along with Eritrea, Vietnam, along with Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Sudan.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 24, 2006 8:01 PM

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