Report: 'Freedom of Religion Does Not Exist' In Saudi Arabia
Freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia, a country where the official state religion is Islam, according to the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report.
Freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia, a country where the official state religion is Islam, according to the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report.
The report, released by the U.S. Department of State last week, indicates that there was generally no change in the status of religious freedom during the reporting year, but there was an increase in accounts of harassment by Mutawa'een (religious police). The public practice of non-Muslim religions, conversion of Muslims to another religion, and proselytizing by non-Muslims are strictly prohibited.
Saudi Arabia, one of the eight designated “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) this year, does not recognize or protect religious freedom under law but instead enforces a state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam, the report states. All non-Sunni Islam, including Muslims who do not follow the officially sanctioned interpretation of Islam, can face severe consequences.
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Although the government made a public statement that non-Muslims are free to practice their religions privately, the government does not always respect this right, the State Department continued. Non-Muslims worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes tortures for participating in religious activities that attracts official attention the religious freedom report explained.
In a country which the “CIA-The World Factbook” lists as being 100 percent Muslim, the few Christians existing in Saudi Arabia face severe discrimination. The report listed several accounts of Christians being arrested because of their faith including seven Filipino Christian leaders being arrested, detained, and six deported in Sept. 2004; the arrest of at least eight Indian Protestant leaders in May; the arrest of at least 20 Pakistani Christians on Apr. 21; the arrest of three Ethiopian and two Eritrean Christians on Apr. 29 during a private service.
Moreover, there are also reports of surveillance of Christian religious services by security personnel, raids of Christian worship services, and confiscation of religious materials such as Bibles and Christian symbols.
Mosque preachers, whose salaries are paid by the government, are reported to use violently anti-Jewish and anti-Christian language in their sermons. The report also indicated that there are instances where Mosque speakers pray for the death of Jews and Christians, including in the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, according to the State Department’s report. There has, however, been a decline in frequency of anti-Jewish, anti-Christian language since the government encouraged moderation after the 2003 terrorist attacks.
The newly released report also indicated that Valentine’s Day was declared a “pagan Christian holiday” that can not be celebrated publicly in February 2004. Shopkeepers in the country are banned from selling Valentine’s Day gifts, decorations, and even roses five days prior to and following Feb. 14. However, markets in Qatif, the coastal oasis located on the western bank of the Persian Gulf, carry Valentine’s items throughout the year.
Saudi Arabia along with China, North Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Eritrea, Iran, and Sudan were listed this year by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for continual religious freedom violations and persecutions.
