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The Feb.2007, Arrests in Saudi
Arabia: Terrorists or Civil
society & democratic
Activists?"***
First I would like to briefly
introduce my self to whom it
may concern : I'm , Matrook
Alfaleh , one of three ,of the
so-called Advocates of "
Constitutional Reform & Civil
society's " ( the other two
are : Dr.Abd-Allah Al-Hamid ,
and a poet , Mr.Ali Al-Dummaini
) , who were jailed , in Saudi
Arabia , March - 16-2004 , and
sentenced unjustly( May -15-2005
) , under the Influence &
direction of Ministry Of
Interior, just because we,
signed two reform's documents (
paper petitions ), in both of
which we peacefully demanded
& called upon the Saudi
authority ( Saudi leadership )
to introduce a constitutional
reform in Saudi Arabia. The
three men, along with other
reformers & supporters , - (
including ; our lawyer
Abd-Alrahman Al-Lahim , Mohammed
Saied Tayeb, Dr.Abd-Alhameed
Mubark , Mohana Alfaleh , Issa
Al-Hamid , Khalid Al-Omair,
Najeeb Khunaizi , Ali Gathami ,
and still others …etc.) , and
other figures, like , Dr.Saeid
Zuaier & two of his sons(Mubark
& Saad ), and Mr.Ibraheem
Mugayteeb , and not to mention
hundreds of other cases which
have received no publicity ) -
, still up to date (April 2007 )
have been banned from travel.
Second
, in response to frequent
inquiries as to my view on the
issue of the Feb-2007 arrests in
Saudi Arabia , as well as to
making some points & comments
on what have been circulated in
media and other statements or
articles elsewhere , as they
relate to the latest arrests (
Feb-2-2007 ) in Saudi Arabia ,
several points need spelling out
:
A- I would like to say and
assure you that I know
personally most, if not all the
men being arrested. All of them
are activists for civil society
& democratic reform in Saudi
Arabia. All of them either
signed with us (the
above-mentioned reformers) one
or the two well known reform's
documents back in January &
December 2003, or supported them
& us.
For those who signed one or both
reform's documents, this is true
for:
1-Issam Basrawi, a well-known
lawyer in Saudi Arabia,
especially in Al-hijaz Region,
and who by the way, a
handicapped person & our Lawyer
during & after our trials
(2004-2005). He signed and
supported strongly both reform
documents ; the first one ,
titled " A Vision for the
Present and Future of the
Homeland " , formulated and sent
January 2003 , and widely , and
briefly has been known as " The
Vision " . The second one,
titled " " A National call for
Both the Leadership & People: A
constitutional Reform first
"which was formulated & then
sent on 16-12-2003.
2- Dr. Abdul-Rahman Shumairy, a
2006-retird professor At Um-Algura
University (Mecca), signed and
strongly supported both.
3-Sulieman Al-Roshodi , a fired
judge because of his role in
announcing the creation of the
so-called , the " Legitimate
Committee for Human Rights in
Saudi Arabia " back in 1993, and
he was among those of reformers
jailed in March 2004 , and after
his release has joined our
lawyers' team , during & after
our trials (2004-2005). He
signed and strongly supported
both.
4- Dr. Mosa Al-Garni, A retired
professor at Medina University
signed with us, and strongly
supported the second reform
document.
5-Al- Shareef Saif-Aldeen
Faisal Al-Shareef ,( of Al-Ashraf
Family which used to govern al-hijaz
Region ) & currently A
businessman , signed, the
second, above-mentioned reform
document , in a second lists of
names , that were supposed to be
published in a later stage, but
because of March-2004 arrests
never sent officially .
As for the other guys being
arrested , this includes : #
6-Dr.Abd-Alaziz Al-Khuraiji, who
is a medical doctor &
businessman , and ; # 7- Saud
Al-Hashmi, a medical Professor
at King Abd-alaziz university (Jeddah).Both
men have supported political
reform as well as civil society
approach . Moreover. Dr, Saud
Al-Hashmi visited me and my
colleague Dr. Abd-Allah Al-Hamid
three times After our release
and took part in discussions
in our " civil Society Diwanyah
( a weekly open , but not
officially licensed , meeting ,
arranged by Dr. Al-Hamid and me
in Riyadh ) , and assured both
of us that he supported civil
society approach &
constitutional reform , and
since then he has become very
active in promoting and
spreading the ideas & elements
of constitutional reform
movement in Saudi Arabia,
through interviews& open
weekly(Diwanyah ) meeting in his
house in Jeddah .
As for the arrested # 8 , who
is Mr. Fahad Al-Sakhry Al-Gurashi
, he is a college's student at
Medina University , and he has
been very supportive of the
movement of
constitutional reform &
ivil
society approach , as he
assured Dr.Abd-Allah Al-Hamid ,
several times , during meetings
with him , about his position .
In fact , Mr. Fahad Al-Gurashi
has , along with Dr.Al-Garni and
Al-Roshoodi , before their
arrest , signed the latest
reform document, entitled : "
Milestones in the Road to a
State of constitutional Monarchy
; A State of Justice & Shora(
people's participation &
representation ) , put on a web
site ( see :
www.dostor-islami.com, or ,
if unable to reach , see text &
names , in Arabic , in attached
file ) the very day of the
group's arrest on Feb.2-2007 .
The newest document reform ,
which is somehow an extension to
the previous two ones, and
which was sent to King Abd-Allah
early April 2007 , is calling
upon the Saudi government to
adopt and introduce several
democratic reform's elements ,
including ; independent
judiciary & free election of
legislature to have the
governments' policies &
officials accountable , issuing
& protecting a code of human
rights & public liberties ,
including free speech &
expression , as well as
approving & allowing the
formation & working of
independent civil society
organizations. The Document also
called upon the King to curtail
the already overpower of
Ministry of Interior , which
dominate totally over a very
aspect of life in the country ,
by splitting Ministry of
Interior into two , one for
security per se , and the other
to focus in development issues
and the people's needs , and
should be under a new
Ministry of local & regional
government , now being under the
control & direction of Ministry
of Interior . The Document also
demands that Ministry of
Interior should respect the
code of criminal procedures that
itself approved & as well as
respecting international
regional human rights
conventions & agreements that
the Saudi government signed or
agreed to ; to achieve this the
document demands turning ,
without delay , all prisoners
( hundreds if not thousands )
to public open just trials
.
The newest-Feb- April-2007
reform document , based on a
very genuine & progressive
vision and interpretation of
Islam which is very compatible
with the concept & essence of
democratic state , has been
signed by around 100 persons of
various schools of thought &
political currents , as well as
of different religions (
Islamic sects ) of various
regions of the country ,
including Shiites & Ismaelis .
As for those of the men being
under arrest, and who did not
sign the newest reform document,
they were actually about to sign
it, but they were caught before
signing it.
As for the 9th person
being under arrest , along with
the group , and about whom
Ministry of Interior said , in
its arrest's statement , he is a
foreigner of north African
origin , so as to give
credibility to its accusation
that the men were pro-terrorism
, facts speak differently as
follows : It is true that this
guy is from Morocco , but the
Ministry of interior failed to
mention that this guy , with a
legal residence in the country,
under the sponsorship of Mr.
Mohammed Saied Tayeb ( a
well-known Hijazi figure &
reformer ) is a helper and and a
special driver to , Mr.Issam
Basrawi , who is a well-known
handicapped person and who
without this guy's help &
assistance would not be able to
move any where , including going
to bathroom.
In addition, other facts about
the arrested- 8-men include the
following: Mr. Suleiman Al-Roshodi
, Mr. Issam Basrawi , Dr. Mosa
Al-Garni , Dr. Abdul-Rahman
Shumairy , and Al- Shareef
Saif-Aldeen Faisal Al-Shareef
were among the team of
lawyers who defended the three
" constitutional reformers "
during their trials of 2004-2005
; this true for the first two
men (Al-Roshodi &, Basrawi )
for the whole process of trials
before and after the verdict
and up to the release . As for
the remaining three men (Al-Garni
, Shumairy , and Al- Shareef
Saif-Aldeen ) it is true for
their participating with the
team in writing collectively
the " appeal defense " to the
higher court .
As for the real actions taken ,
or were probably about to be
taken , by the 8-men , that most
likely moved the Ministry of
Interior to arrest them , and in
a way to kill any serious
attempt to activate any
democratic & political reform's
demand , some points deserve
mentioning ;
a- It is somehow understood ,
among some reformers in the
country , especially the
so-called " Constitutional
Reformers " ( to which I &
Dr.Al-Hamid belong ) that some
of the 8-men , and not all of
them , and in a way to
concretely push the democratic
reform movement , were
interacting & discussing , for a
while , an idea, revolving
around , the plausibility &
possibility of announcing and
creating a somehow political
forum ( party ) , but the
arrests seem to Abort the very
idea itself .
b- It is also widely understood
, among various reformers in
Saudi Arabia , including the "
Constitutional Reformers " (
including me & Dr. Al-Hamid )
, that some of the 8-men, and
not all of them , were
interacting & discussing between
themselves and with others ,
for a while , the idea of
concretely pushing the
democratic reform movement as
it relates to protecting human
rights activists in Saudi Arabia
in case they were to be harmed
, or arrested by Saudi
Authorities , through
announcing and creating a "
Committee for the Protection of
the Defenders of Public
Liberties & Human Rights'
Activists " . But the arrests
seem to target Aborting the idea
too.
c- - It is also widely
understood , and known as fact ,
not only among various reformers
in Saudi Arabia , including the
" Constitutional Reformers " (
including me & Dr. Al-Hamid )
, but also among several Saudi
families concerned with their
boys & sons being under arrest
for long time by Ministry of
Interior without charging & or
turning them to trials , that
some of the 8-men, and
especially Mr. Suleiman Al-Roshodi
, Mr. Issam Basrawi , and Dr.
Mosa Al-Garni , were interacting
& discussing between themselves
and with several other lawyers
, for a while , the idea of
concretely pushing the
democratic reform movement ,
through legally compelling
Ministry of Interior to turn
all arrested persons to open and
just trials . To implement this
step the group of lawyers
concerned here, including some
of the 8-men under consideration
, have planned , after
receiving powers of attorney ,
from over 40 Saudi families ,
to represent their
beloved-arrested ones , to take
Ministry of Interior to the "
Diwan Madhalim " ( that is :
Grievances Department/or Court )
. They were supposed to present
the case against Ministry of
Interior, formally to the ":
Grievances Department/or Court)
the morning day (Saturday; 02-
Feb- 2007) that follows their
night's arrests. To abort this
action , Ministry of Interior ,
not only arrested them , but
stormed their houses & offices ,
without any respect to any laws
locally or internationally ,
and confiscated all" powers
of attorney " as well as
documents and personal
computers .
Accordingly, it is absolutely
absurd that these 8- men under
Arrest "are pro-terrorism". The
terrorist charge by Ministry Of
Interior is only a cover-up
to hide the real reasons for
the arrests which are to
suppress and kill any reform
demands & advocates under the
pretext of fighting terrorists&
terrorism so as to avoid
any sympathy with them ,
internally as well as
internationally , especially
from human rights organization
as well as western governments &
public figures .By the way the
so-called " Constitutional
Reformers " ( including me , Dr,
Al-Hamid , and Mr. Al-Dummani )
were accused publicly , too , by
Ministry of Interior & its
Public Attorney , during our
trials(2004-2005) that we
supported & justify violence &
terrorism , and the Saudi
authorities , moreover, had
tried to market this charge
against us even to the
UN-Commission on Human Rights ,
but eventually failed to
substantiate .
Final note , and as a matter of
fact , and in clear violations
of Islamic laws as well as all
human rights' conventions , the
8-men , now for two consecutive
months , have been imprisoned
incommunicado , and they have
been unable to receive or to see
their families as well as their
lawyers , not to mention that
recently , Dr. Basim A-lim ,
their volunteer lawyer, , has
been added to the lists of no
travel )
The Dominating General Rule ,
here in Saudi Arabia , could be
put as it follows : you can eat
, and you may see and/or
hear , but don’t speak up ,
don’t criticize , don’t write
or sign collective petition &
demands , don’t associate , and
, why not , don’t travel . The
consequent result , I don’t
need to contemplate , but I
leave it to all or anyone
whom it may concern .
Best Regards.
……………………………………….
By;
***Matrook Alfaleh
Prof. of Political Science
College of Law & Political
Science
King Saud University.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Issued: 02-04-2007
E-mail: malfaleh@yahoo.com |
