Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Undeterred by law Saudi bloggers test boundaries
Armed with a computer, an internet connection and his own intellect Ahmad Al Omran is one of a few Saudi bloggers trying to push for change and make themselves heard in the country.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:29 July 11, 2009
Jeddah: Armed with a computer, an internet connection and his own intellect Ahmad Al Omran is one of a few Saudi bloggers trying to push for change and make themselves heard in the country.
Blogging provides a rare platform for speech in a country which has no elected parliament, where clerics have strong influence on public opinion, newspapers often parrot the official line and public demonstrations are banned.
"I want to do this because I want to be part of the change that is taking place in the country, I want to push for the changes to go faster," said Al Omran, a student who writes on his Saudi Jeans blog (saudijeans.org).
King Abdullah has tried cautious reforms since taking office in 2005 and removed two hardline clerics from top positions in a cabinet reshuffle in February while promoting reformers.
Saudi Arabia recently allowed foreign media to expand their presence in the kingdom and the new information minister even signed up for his own facebook page, but analysts and diplomats say conservatives remain wary of changes.
"In the end, we care about something, we desire something and through blogging we call for the change. We ask for it. We sponsor it," Fuad Al Farhan said in a rare gathering of bloggers in Jeddah, the kingdom's most liberal city.
"Now for the first time we, as individuals in our society, have this power in our hands to call for change," Al Farhan told the meeting which was meant to encourage bloggers to continue despite difficulties. Al Farhan himself has not resumed blogging since he was arrested in 2007 and held for five months after campaigning on behalf of nine detained reformers. He was released without charges.
Saudi researchers say there are up to 10,000 blogs in the kingdom. But many are now inactive or have refrained from discussing politics since Al Farhan's arrest.
Many blogs also steer clear of Islam, a sensitive issue, focusing more on daily life and challenges for society.
"Al Farhan's incident showed that there are red lines that are not known," said Khalid Al Nasser, another blogger.
Abdul Rahman Al Hazza, spokesman for the information ministry, said blogs were generally not monitored.
But bloggers are worried about a law enacted earlier this year under which anyone who "touches upon the general order, religious values, or general conduct" can be prosecuted, according to the information ministry.
"Anyone can accuse me of that," said Al Omran. "My only fear is if the government would use the law against people who want to express themselves freely online. It could be used as a scare tactic."
The Committee to Protect Journalists listed Saudi Arabia in April as one of the worst countries for bloggers, citing detentions, monitoring and blocking of 400,000 websites.
But Abdullah Al Alami, a columnist and blogger from the liberal enclave of Khobar, said things would improve over time.
"When King Abdullah instituted reform in February (the cabinet reshuffle) he started a social revolution against 'old age thinking'," he said.
Riyadh (AFP) A Saudi women's group yesterday blamed the country's religious police in the "honour" killing of two sisters shot dead by their own brother after they were arrested for mixing with unrelated men.
The Society for Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia said the religious police had placed the sisters' lives in danger when they arrested them and then placed them in a Riyadh women's shelter.
The two women, identified as Reem, 21, and Nouf, 19, were murdered after they left the shelter on July 5.
The brother shot them in the presence of their father who, according to newspaper reports, quickly forgave the son for defending the family's honour.
But the society blamed the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or the religious police, for sparking the brother's anger over his family's honour by arresting the girls in the first place.
"The hands of the religious police, as well as the brother's hands, are stained with the blood of these innocent young women," the group said in a statement.
"These women have not committed any crime to be killed in a such brutal way."
Under Saudi Arabia's Islamic sharia legal code, unrelated men and women are not allowed to mix together, and the religious police actively enforce the rules by patrolling areas frequented by young people.
"Arresting women for mingling with [unrelated males] should be stopped because it puts many Saudi women in danger and sometimes [costs] them their lives," the statement said.
"This act has nothing to do with the religion of Islam or Saudi tradition."
The women's group called on the Saudi authorities to charge the brother with murder and also bring to justice members of the religious police involved in the two girls' case.]
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