At a recent economic forum in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, officials wowed foreign visitors with glitzy displays of a "changed" kingdom. Minister of Information Iyad al-Madani surprised everyone when he urged Saudi women to apply for driving licenses; the forum sponsor, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, sent shock waves through the country by electing two Saudi women to its board. Later, a display at the Riyadh International Book Fair included a Bible for the first time.
At a recent economic forum in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, officials wowed foreign visitors with glitzy displays of a "changed" kingdom. Minister of Information Iyad al-Madani surprised everyone when he urged Saudi women to apply for driving licenses; the forum sponsor, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, sent shock waves through the country by electing two Saudi women to its board. Later, a display at the Riyadh International Book Fair included a Bible for the first time.
Under pressure from Washington after 9/11, and from his own people since terrorist attacks hit Saudi targets in 2003, King Abdullah has taken steps toward liberalization. Girls' and boys' education is now merged, an effort has been made to revise textbooks that endorsed intolerance, and elections (restricted to men) to municipal advisory boards have been held. But international pressure for democratization has waned following electoral gains by Islamists in Egypt, Iraq and Palestine, and in Saudi Arabia's limited municipal vote. Many worry that reforms would oust the ruling al Saud family and sweep more conservative religious forces to power. Saudi officials encourage this thinking, arguing that their government is "more progressive than its people."
Many Saudis would beg to differ -- if they could. They are ready for change and demand their rights. And while many in the West see Saudi Arabia as key to the stability of energy markets, they do not see the everyday insults to the rule of law that continually erode the country's domestic stability.
Saudi Arabia likes to highlight rights that Islam affords women -- but it does not enforce them. Shariah law criminalizes egregious domestic abuse. Judges, however, turn away the few courageous women seeking redress against abusive husbands unless they are accompanied by a male guardian -- typically a father more concerned about the family's reputation than his daughter's safety.
Most Saudis do not even know their rights. Shariah law is not codified, and judges rarely allow defendants legal counsel in criminal trials. Judges retain inordinate discretion to accept or reject suits, to rule in favor or against, to mete out unequal sentences for the same offense. The government did not even promulgate a code of criminal procedure until 2002. So now citizens have rights to fair, speedy and public trials, including the right to have a lawyer -- in theory. In practice, hundreds and perhaps thousands of people rounded up in security crackdowns languish in prison for months and years without charge or trial. Some are guilty only of receiving an unsolicited text message from an exiled opposition figure.
Ordinary citizens face daily harassment, often from the religious police, the mutawwa'in, who intrude without warrants into private homes where they suspect unmarried men and women are meeting. They subject couples to aggressive public questioning to determine whether they are married, and harass businesses that employ women. Victims of abuse have no redress.
Regular police wield arbitrary power. This Valentine's Day police in Riyadh jailed two young men, according to one of their acquaintances. Their crime? Wearing red outfits. A Western expatriate in Riyadh recounted that he had been the victim of a hit-and-run accident. He waited for hours for the police to arrive. When they never showed, he went to a police station to report the incident -- and was jailed for fleeing the scene of an accident! In Jeddah, a policeman colluded in extorting over $700 from an Indian taxi driver who reported that he'd scratched a Saudi's car -- causing minor damage that his insurance would have covered.
The law does not protect the religious freedom even of Muslims. Thus the Shiites of Medina have to marry, divorce and inherit in ways prescribed by Sunni judges that differ substantially from Shiite jurisprudence. Some Sunni courts do not recognize a Shiite as a legal person. Just two months ago a Sunni judge in Dammam refused to recognize Ali Amin al-Sada as a witness to the marriage of his Sunni boss's daughter -- solely because Ali is a Shiite. Religious minorities feel the brunt of a social and religious orthodoxy that gives judges, teachers and the religious police the power to wantonly violate their rights.
In March 2004, Saudi authorities clamped down on advocates for the rule of law, arresting their leaders days before they planned to establish what would have been a truly independent human rights organization. Over a year later three of them were sentenced to between six and nine years in prison for the crime of publicly circulating a petition for constitutional reform. King Abdullah later pardoned them, but the government still prohibits these men from traveling abroad and keeps them and others who push for real reform under tight scrutiny.
In the end, Saudi reforms have barely scratched the surface. Last year's municipal elections were at best symbolic: They are inconsequential for local governance, because the local councils are toothless. Approval of a National Society for Human Rights by royal decree in 2004 has so far done little to improve official accountability. Very few of the recommendations emerging from the so-called National Dialogue sessions -- such as setting up women-accessible family courts, or licensing all legitimate NGOs -- have come to fruition.
Whatever liberalization has been accomplished does little to enable ordinary Saudis to exercise basic human rights. For millions of Saudi citizens and foreign residents, the absence of enforceable legal standards means that officials still wield power arbitrarily, and that the rich and powerful remain above the law. Equal protection and consistent enforcement would radically alter the corrupting exercise of power that currently stymies law-abiding Saudis.
Saudis are simply asking their government to spell out and respect their most basic rights -- dignity, privacy and security of the person -- as enforceable obligations. An independent judiciary and basic due process are key to unlocking reform in Saudi Arabia. Washington, too, could win a lot more Saudi friends if it used its leverage to advocate the rule of law for ordinary men and women.
Mr. Mugaiteeb is president of Human Rights First, a rights monitor in Saudi Arabia that has been denied a license. Christoph Wilcke of Human Rights Watch contributed to the research and writing of this column.
