The Committee   for  the  Defense  of  Human  Rights  in the  Arabian Peninsula

( CDHRAP )

DATE  : 6 / 03 / 2007  

NO  : 130/ H / 2007

Day after day, there signs of sectarian sedition begin to appear in the Arabian Peninsula which is alerted of a dangerous state against the Shi'a Muslim religious minority particularly who lived in the Eastern Province.

Previously, like this sedition has been supported by sedition propagandists of religious extreme militant groups and the Council of Senior Islamic Sunni Scholars .

Previously , the government called for tolerance and moderation, and condemning religious extremism , however, there continued to be sectarian tension in society by the religious extreme imams through their speeches outside mosques denouncing and disparagement other religious minorities particularly Shi'a sect . Moreover , the government has propagandized for that policy through supporting those groups or  overlooking their practices .

The authorities may detain without charge persons who publicly practice  their riots but those who adhere to the state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam .

Despite the government tolerated the public celebration of the Shi'a holiday of Ashura and other Shi'a holidays in the Eastern Province city of Qatif but did not permit it in other areas where Shi'a citizens resided, such as Al-Ahsa and Dammam.

Recently , symmetrically with the sectarian rising which began in the neighbors particularly in Iraq , the Saudi Regime began to pressure of Arabian Peninsula Shi'a through prohibiting them to practice their religious riots and incitement the extreme religious groups to attack Shi'a gatherings and detain the leaders of these riots . The rulers of governors issued orders to arrest the notable Shi'a characters

Moreover , the Government removed the writers and journalists who called for tolerance and moderation and criticizing the religious establishment  and the extreme interpretation of Islamic faiths and the country's Hanbali interpretation of Shari'a . For that , more Shi'a adherents continued to worship in secret and conducting religious gatherings in private homes in fear of harassment and in manners that avoided discovery by security forces or religious police which treated them arbitrarily .

Beginning in February ,  Mabahith officers summoned the organizers of the celebrations of Ashura in the hussainiyas of cities Sihat and Qatif  coercing them to sign statements agreeing to desist from religious activities. They accused them of establishing of (satellite television channel of  CH14 )

In the same month in Dammam city , the security police with direction of Prince Jalawi Bin Abdul-Aziz Bin Musa’ed, Deputy Governor of the Eastern Province , summoned the women who were engaging in female celebrations of Ashura in their homes and gatherings within hussainiyas and coercing them to sign statements agreeing to desist those religious activities .

In February , the security forces arrested the citizens : Ali al-'Abandi from Sanabis town in Qatif and Sayyid Naser al-Ali from town of al-Rumaila in al-Ahsa due to possession a photograph of some Shi'a clerics .

Before the Hajj " pilgrimage " on 15 July at the Hudaitha  check-point on the Saudi Jordan frontier the security police damaged and confiscated more thn 70000 religious materials including Holy Qurans , religious books , religious videotapes , magazines and cloth textiles had Qurainc Verses .

On February 25 , the 22nd National Heritage and Culture Festival, organized annually by the National Guard in Al Janadriyah Village located about 40 kilometers from Riyadh , a group of extremists tried to rouse a sectarian sedition through selling computer disks calling for the incitement of sectarian sedition and to belittle of the Shi'a Clerics and Characters . These disks held titles as ( al-Rafedah ) " rejectionists ", (Rafedah Crimes) , and calling to  exile Shi'a from Arabian Peninsula .