THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
SAUDI LOCAL ELECTIONS DELAYED FOR
TWO YEARS
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Issue: Saudi Local Elections Delayed for Two Years; Attachments:
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: Saudi Local Elections Delayed for
Two Years, New
York Times, by Michael Slackman, Mona el-Naggar contributed reporting from
The Saudi Arabia
Universal Periodic Review will be up adopted during the eleventh session of the
United Nations Human Rights Council. The Working Group report with
recommendations is available now in Reports for the eleventh session of the
United Nations Human Rights Council (2-18 June 2009) in the six languages of
the United Nations. Documents Attached: Saudi Local Elections
Delayed Two Years; Saudi Arabia-Universal Periodic Review & Freedom of
Religion or Belief; Islam & The Inviolable Right to Change a Religion or
Belief.
Excerpts: Excerpts are presented under the Eight Articles of
the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Examples of extracts are presented
prior to an Issue Statement for each Review.
1. 1 Everyone shall have the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include
freedom to have a religion or whatever belief of his choice, and freedom,
either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practices and teaching.
1. 2. No one shall be subject to
coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his
choice.
Link: Saudi Local Elections Delayed for Two Years, New York Times,
by Michael Slackman, Mona el-Naggar contributed reporting from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/world/middleeast/20saudi.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
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CAIRO — Saudi Arabia’s brief
and limited experiment with electoral democracy has suffered another setback
with an announcement that the royal family has decided to postpone local
council elections by at least two years.
The Council of Ministers,
which is led by King Abdullah,
made the announcement on Monday. It phrased the decision in positive terms,
saying the government had “extended the mandate” of the sitting councils by two
years so that it could prepare changes to the law to “expand the participation
of citizens in the management of local affairs.”
But the decision delayed
what was to have been the kingdom’s second round of national
elections, and its small, frustrated community of human-rights and
democracy activists immediately lamented the decision as another blow.
“I consider the decision a
delay in a reform process that we were supposed to believe really began when we
started this process of elections,” said Hatoon al-Fasi, assistant professor of
women’s history at King Saud University.
Saudi Arabia held its first nationwide elections in 2005 for the newly
created local councils, the kingdom’s first step in decades toward limited
popular democracy. The 2005 election allowed men, but not women, to vote for
half the representatives to 178 municipal councils. The other half were
appointed.
Just last week, a group of 77 activists eager for a more
representative form of government sent a letter to King Abdullah and other
members of the royal family.
They called for the royal
family to allow for an elected Parliament with legislative authority, to agree
to term limits for members of the royal family in appointed posts, and to have
someone outside the royal family be appointed prime minister.
Without saying so
directly, the signatories called for creation of a constitutional monarchy
accountable to the public, a prospect the royal family has demonstrated its
adamant opposition to and views as a threat.
“Elections are essential,
but the decision-makers do not recognize the right of the people to be represented
by someone other than al-Saud,” said Waleed Sami Abu al-Khair, a lawyer who
signed the letter. He was referring to the royal family.
“The political
decision-makers do not want elections,” he added. “They held the elections
before just to show the
When the government
announced its plans in 2003 to allow the council elections, they were billed as
part of an overall plan to edge this conservative, tradition-bound nation
toward a more open system. Crown Prince Abdullah, now the king, had included
them in a broader agenda that included a formalized national dialogue,
conferences at which various groups were invited to discuss national issues.
Taken together, his programs
suggested an interest in fostering public participation in a process that had
been the exclusive province of the royal family. But from the very start, the
councils proved to be a disappointment, fueling apathy more than interest.
“The whole experience was
a failure,” said Hamed al-Qahtani, an architect who lives in the eastern
The decision to delay the
council elections, which had been scheduled for this year, was expected. The government’s statement that
the delay would give it time to write a law, further opening the process of municipal
elections, made no mention of allowing women to vote, which had earlier been
discussed.
“They want to grant more
powers to these councils and expand the electoral process so that the elected
portion would be wider and bigger,” said Anwar Majid Eshki, director of the
Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies, which is based in Saudi
Arabia. “This is considered a good step for the local councils, and that’s why
they extended for two years.”
King Abdullah is popular
and has taken what are considered bold moves to try to speed reconciliation
between modernity and his ultra-religious, traditional nation. He has ousted
from power some major conservative figures, and he appointed the first female
deputy minister. While he has absolute authority, he still must rule by
consensus within the family, and there are forces that oppose his actions.
“You have a
reform-oriented king trying to push in the direction of reform, but you have a
non-reform-oriented structure that is close to impossible to change,” said
Shafeeq Ghabra, a political science professor at Kuwait University.
“That makes for a step forward sometimes, and many times, it is combined with a
step backward.”
The steps the king has
taken are also seen as helping secure the nation’s stability and preserve the
family’s grip on power. The royal family has shown no interest in making
changes that would allow power sharing outside the Saud bloodline.
In their letter, the
avowed human-rights activists suggested that the royal family would see its
future strengthened, not undermined, by a more open, democratic system. “It
will be in the best interest of the monarchy if the public is allowed to
participate in the election process and is given a choice, and a voice,” the
letter said.
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ISSUE STATEMENT: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; “never in our
lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and committed
dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among and
between nations.”
Genuine dialogue on human
rights and freedom of religion or belief calls for respectful discourse,
discussion of taboos and clarity by persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive
dialogue includes people of theistic, non-theistic and
atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief.
The warning signs are clear, unless there is genuine dialogue ranging from
religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism; conflicts in the future will
probably be even more deadly.
In 1968 the United Nations deferred work on an International
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious Intolerance because of
the complexity and sensitivity. After forty-one years there is increased
violence, suffering and discrimination based on religion or belief. It is time
for an international treaty – a United Nations Convention on Freedom of
Religion or Belief.
The challenge to
religions or beliefs is awareness, understanding
and acceptance of international human rights standards on freedom of
religion or belief. Leaders, teachers, laity of religions or beliefs, with
governments, are keys to the viability of inclusive and genuine dialogue in
response to the UN Secretary General’s
urgent call for constructive and committed dialogue.
The Tandem Project title,
Separation of Religion or Belief and State
(SOROBAS), shows the scope of UN General Comment 22 on Article 18,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human Rights Committee
(CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4) a guide for peaceful cooperation, respectful
competition and resolution of conflicts. Available at: www.ohchr.org.
Surely one of the best
hopes for humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs
accept one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of
an exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts
with mediation, compassion and understanding.
We welcome your ideas on how this can be accomplished; info@tandemproject.com.
* EXAMPLE: Universal
Periodic Review & Freedom of Religion or Belief
HISTORY: United Nations History –
Freedom of Religion or Belief
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Documents Attached:
Saudi Local Elections Delayed for Two Years
Islam & the Inviolable Right to Change a Religion or Belief
Saudi Arabia - Universal Periodic Review & Freedom of Religion or Belief.
THE TANDEM PROJECT PROPOSALS
Proposals for constructive, long-term solutions to conflicts based on
religion or belief:
(1) Develop a model
local-national-international integrated approach to human rights and freedom of
religion or belief, appropriate to your country, as follow-up to
the Universal Periodic Review. * (2) Use International Human Rights Standards
on Freedom of Religion or Belief as a rule of law for inclusive and genuine
dialogue on core values within and among nations, all religions and other
beliefs, and for protection against discrimination. (3) Use the standards on
freedom of religion or belief in education curricula and places of worship,
teaching children, from the very beginning, that their own religion is one out
of many and that it is a personal choice for everyone to adhere to the religion
or belief by which he or she feels most inspired, or to adhere to no religion
or belief at all.
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The Tandem Project is a non-governmental organization (NGO)
founded in 1986 to build understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity,
and to prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or
belief. The Tandem Project has sponsored multiple conferences, curricula,
reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion - and 1981 United Nations Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or
Belief.
The Tandem Project: info@tandemproject.com.
The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations