DUBAI?? Amnesty International accused Saudi Arabia of widespread human rights abuses on Thursday and said a proposed anti-terror law would reinforce "draconian and abusive" measures.
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The world's biggest oil exporter has been spared the popular uprisings seen elsewhere in the region but has launched a new wave of repression in the name of security, the rights group said in a report released on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia said the report was based on "inaccurate information" and it was committed to human rights in accordance with Islamic sharia law.
Amnesty said the draft anti-terror law, a copy of which was leaked to the group earlier this year, indicated peaceful acts of dissent could in future be prosecuted as a "terrorist crime."
"The formulation of a new anti-terror law is another apparent sign of the authorities to use the law to silence dissent," said Amnesty.
The law would allow the kingdom to detain security suspects indefinitely and without trial, it said.
Amnesty criticized the kingdom's "vague and broad" definitions of terrorism, ranging from "destabilizing society" to "harming the reputation of the state."
"This opaqueness could be exploited to charge peaceful meetings of a group of people who make political demands or even engage in academic discussions with a 'terrorist crime' under this draft law."
The Saudi embassy in London said in a statement the report was based on "inaccurate information" drawn from a draft law that had been in circulation for several years and which was still subject to changes.
"The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to and respects human rights in accordance with Islamic sharia, which is the foundation of our legal system," Saudi Ambassador Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud said in a statement.
"The reality is that the kingdom continues to be targeted by terrorists looking for finance and attempting to recruit Saudi Arabia's young citizens for terrorist operations within the kingdom and internationally. It is our responsibility to do everything we can to combat this evil," he added.
Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, has no written criminal code, which is instead based on an uncodified form of sharia law as interpreted by the country's judges.
Calling on Saudi authorities to immediately release all prisoners of conscience, Amnesty denounced as "extremely weak" the kingdom's institutional framework for protection of human rights.
Detainees are sometimes held for months without trial or access to a lawyer, Amnesty said, with confessions extracted under duress, from beatings with sticks to punching, suspension from the ceiling by the ankles or wrists and sleep deprivation.
Amnesty said when cases were brought to trial, the proceedings were often held behind closed doors and failed to meet international standards of fairness and transparency.
Earlier this year, an unknown group of Saudi activists urged people to take to the streets to demand the release of political prisoners, a fully independent judiciary, a minimum wage and greater freedom of expression.
That was met with a statement from the country's interior ministry, reminding citizens demonstrations were banned and it would take "all necessary measures" against those seeking to "disrupt order."
Only one person, 40-year-old teacher Khaled al-Johani, defied the warning and was quickly arrested. He is still in detention, according to Amnesty.
The group also mentioned protests by Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite Muslim minority in the oil-rich Eastern Province, but said it did not have enough details to conclude whether security forces had used excessive force in response to what appeared to be violent acts on the part of some demonstrators.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45512038/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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