

Repression in the Gulf

A mirage of rights

Royal rulers are increasingly twitchy

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Readers' comments




Countries in the Middle East ONLY execute people based on their nationality.
For example, Saudi Arabia has not executed anyone from the West! So the idea of Sharia Law applying equally based on the crime committed is utter nonsense.

If a poor foreigner is accused of any crime, this person has no access to lawyers, translators, etc.

Human rights groups said Rizana Nafeek did not have access to a lawyer during her pre-trial interrogation, during which she said she was assaulted and forced to sign a confession under duress. Philip Luther, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program, said last week that the case shows the Saudis are "woefully out of step with their international obligations regarding the use of the death penalty."




Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East still practice medieval things and are stuck in the Stone Age! They may carry Smartphones and drive BMWs, but the mind-set is still stuck in the dark-ages!

The West should also take their share of the responsibility for ignoring human rights violations in these countries and for kowtowing to such despicable regimes.


Why should the Gulf monarchs be panicking? They have all the support from the oil hungry west. Saudi in particular would be fully protected by the US, whose stake in the kingdom is too huge to be ignored. (ttm1943)


"This leaves little room for advocating even basic rights for those who fall afoul of capricious sharia courts, such as Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid beheaded earlier this month for allegedly smothering to death an infant in her care."

This magazine in addition to other newspapers and magazines in the west must understand that this is Sharia Law, and it is a law that Muslims accept. Although there are lots of problems in the Justice system in general across the Middle East due to malpractice rather than problems with Sharia Law itself, however, suffocating an infant to death and killing him requires capital punishment by law in Saudi Arabia. Capital punishment in countries in the Middle East, in China as in other countries is considered law, whether Sharia or any other law. If the west doesn't like it, then it doesn't mean that it is against human rights. The west must read and understand capital punishment under Sharia Law and look at its benefits and how it is actually not easy to approve a death sentence because it requires a lot to be approved (e.g. unanimous verdict by the victim's family, evidence that there was a serious attempt to harm and kill...etc).

Someone from countries with capital punishment laws can argue that western countries are too lenient when it comes to punishing criminals. For example, putting someone in prison for a maximum of 21-years for bombing and killing 77 people in Norway. The west must understand that they are people just like anyone else and that they should respect other laws just like they expect others to respect their laws. When an American think tank lists countries as violating human rights, then it doesn't mean that they are so because it is an opinion of that think tank. America itself has numerous violations of human rights (e.g. Guantanamo Bay), which should be the focus of such a think tank because everyone in the world agrees that it is a violation of human rights and not just a think tank.

Marking countries, cultures, people and practices based on a certain perspective that is common in the west is a very bad practice that western governments and western media continuously practice. It is better that western media and human rights activists actually understand different laws used in other countries, understand their cultures as well and at least ask people in those countries and hear their opinion.


Your correspondent in Cairo usually has the radical view , I am talking about my country , Kuwait . Kuwait has been stable for three centuries , many foreigners live there in a peaceful atmosphere , more than 300 years under Al Sabah family rule . The Kuwaiti enjoys a good salary , no income tax , free healthcare , free education , free press , no political prisoners & many privileges .
But it is the " envy " , yes why Kuwait is stable , and other countries are facing problems , let us make Kuwait suffer too !! At the same time we had some stupid parliament deputies, included radicals , and foreign factors such as Moslem brotherhood , who have insisted to change the stable constitution charter .
Small demonstrations occurred from time to time , while we do not really appreciate the welfare society we live in ! Sorry for the short comment !
Aldawas, Kuwait


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