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INTERNATIONAL
PEN
International Women's Day
MARCH
8, 2004
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"We live in troubled times. The current situation and the challenges
and dilemmas facing the country require a considered vision of the future and
reform. The men and women of this country must stand shoulder to shoulder to
ensure that Saudi Arabia remains a land of peace and security for all of its
people. However, this will not happen while more than half the population
remains second-class citizens." -Wajeha Al-Huwaider (1)
This March
8, International PEN observes International Women's Day by placing a spotlight
on the case of leading Saudi Arabian journalist Wajeha Al-Huwaider.
Al-Huwaider, who writes for the Arabic-language daily Al-Watan and the
English-language daily Arab News, has been banned from publishing
since August 2003. The directive against her was reportedly issued by the
Ministry of Information in response to a column published in late May 2003 in
which she suggested that there was disillusionment among Saudi citizens and
pointed to a growing tendency for people to look to the United States for
solutions to their problems. She is among a growing number of liberal and
opposition journalists to have been banned from publishing and subject to
government harassment in recent months.
The need
for, as Wajeha has described it, a ‘considered vision of the future and
reform’, has become a  pressing one for many in Saudi Arabia. In the wake of
the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, in which 15 of the
19 hijackers were Saudis, the conflicting forces of spiralling radicalism
within the country and increased pressure from the United States are
threatening the country’s stability. In May and November last year, suicide
bombers targeted the capital, Riyadh. Political instability is being further
compounded by the kingdom’s first serious economic downturn since 1932. The
Saudi political system, which is an alliance between the ruling Al-Saud royal family and a deeply
conservative religious establishment based on the rigid Wahhabi branch of Sunni
Islam, is being forced to address these issues and is slowly opening itself
to change. Following the Riyadh bombing in May 2003, the authorities
announced plans to hold elections in 2004 at council level for the first
time. However, many reformist and dissident voices want to see speedier and
more radical change than is being offered by the government, and as calls for
wide-reaching political, social and economic reform have been growing, so
have the numbers of journalists to have been dismissed from their posts or
banned from publishing.
Wajeha
Al-Hawaider writes broadly on political, social and cultural issues in the
Arab world, including the marginalisation of women, the plight of the Shiite
minority, and relations with the West. She has written a book which she is
unable to publish, and has started on a second. She has two sons and lives in
Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Many of her articles are available
online at www.arabnews.com.
International
PEN Writers in Prison Committee protests the banning order issued against
Saudi journalist and writer Wajeha Al-Hawaider solely for the peaceful and
legitimate exercise of her profession, and calls for Wajeha Al-Huwaider and
all other journalists in Saudi Arabia to be allowed to practise their
professions in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
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Please write a polite letter to the Saudi Arabian authorities protesting
the banning order issued against journalist Wajeha Al-Huwaider solely for
the peaceful practice of her profession, and urging the authorities to
allow all writers and journalists in Saudi Arabia to practice their
profession without fear of persecution in accordance with Article 19 of the
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You may copy the
suggested text for your appeal or create your own.
Date
Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander
of the National Guard
His Royal Highness Prince 'Abdullah bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud
Royal Court
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia
Your Excellency,
I am writing to express my extreme concern
over the number of Saudi Arabian journalists to have been banned from
publishing or subject to government harassment in recent months. I am
particularly worried by the banning order issued against journalist Wajeha
Al-Huwaider solely for the peaceful practice of her profession. I
respectfully urge you to ensure that she is able to resume her professional
duties immediately and that all writers and journalists in Saudi Arabia are
allowed to practice their profession without fear of persecution in
accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
Sincerely,
Your name and signature
Cc:
Prince Bandar bin Sultan
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington DC 20037
Fax: (202) 944-5983
_____________________________________________________________________________
FOOTNOTES:
(1)Wajeha Al-Huwaider, ‘Women Still Find Themselves Marginalized in Our
Society,' published in Arab News on May 9, 2003.
Photo of Wajeha Al-Huwaider above courtesy
of WiPC.
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