Saudi Arabia: A numerous Record of Human Rights Abuses

During the last few days the Saudi regime has arrested scores of people from al-Qatif and Ihsaa in different border check-points and airports through the country. After severe measures of investigation and indignity the members of al-Mabahith al-`Amma have confiscated their passports without informing them with legal justifications behind that brutal measure ,solely because they were Muslims Shi`a.

The Saudi regime has arrested recently four religious scholars for several hours on their arrival to the country, and after interrogation the authorities have known that they were abroad to pursue their religious studies according the Shi`a sect which is not recognized officially by the government.

The Saudi regime does not allow Shi`a adherents to build theologian centers and religious institutions or mosques where they used for religious rites and activities. The four scholars are:

1 - Sheikh Mousa al-Sultan, aged 36, from Ihsaa.

2 - Sheikh Salih Shehab aged 27, from Jaroudiyah village of al-Qatif.

3 - Sheikh Mohammad Dirweesh from al-Qatif.

4 - Sayyid Anwar al-Khadhrawi from al-Qatif.

In other border check - points , scores of citizens have been arrested and their passports were confiscated. Scores of travelers have been arrested including Shi`a citizens from Ihsaa who have come recently from Iraq in order to visit holy shrines there. Their passports were confiscated and exposed to indignity and abasement.

Some scholars and citizens who spent long periods in custody and who don’t know the reasons behind their detention and it is worth mentioning that scores of scholars and citizens are still banned of traveling abroad for many years , for examples:

1 - Sheikh Mohamad al-Nezer from Ihsaa.

2 - Sheikh Saud Sharfona from al-Qatif.

3 - Sayyid Abdullah Sayyid Baqir from Ihsaa.

4 - Hussein al-Hai from Safwa town of al-Qatif.

The Saudi human rights record is numerous of violations and horrible crimes against the citizens due to sectarian and religious causes or political ones. This needs no proof for human rights organizations and international circles.

It is boastfulness to cover the tragic situation in Saudi Arabia. It is not suitable for Ghazi al-Qosaibi the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to London when he described the report of Amnesty International 1997 as partial. He instead of mention the real reasons behind detention of hundreds of scholars and thousands of citizens who have been suffering of severe torture for many months and years due to political and religious reasons or the case of the citizen Maithem al-Bahr , aged 12, from al-Qatif who died last year in the prison of al-Mabahith al-`Amma in Dammam because of brutal torture on the hands of the members of al-Mabahith al-`Amma, or the case of the hundreds of former detainees who have been released recently after subjecting to sever torture and disregard and holding in custody for prolonged periods without knowing the reasons of their detention and they were prohibited to have their jobs again or the other cases that we are ready to record and them of numbers and document.

Instead of that the ambassador of began talking about the criminals who flood the society with drugs, in attempt to hide the regime’s violations and to deceive the people.

Though if the Regime is honest and doesn’t accept lies and claims against itself, it is better to open its prisons for impartial international observers to check the prisons and jails, observe the detainees’ situations and to interview freely with the current and former detainees in order to let the world to see the miserable situation which they hate been living with them.