Equality Now Press Release

December 19, 2007 – On December 17, 2007, Saudi Arabian Justice Minister Abdullah Al-Asheikh announced that King Abdullah had pardoned the rape victim from Qatif who had been sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison in November 2007. Media reports also suggest that the charges against the victim’s lawyer have been dropped and his license to practice law will be reinstated. International human rights organization Equality Now welcomes this important decision by the king.

Approximately 18 months ago, a 19-year-old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia was brutally attacked and gang raped by seven men. While seeking justice in her case, the woman was herself sentenced in October 2006 to 90 lashes for being in the company of an unrelated man at the time of the attack. She appealed this decision to a higher court, and the Qatif General Court announced on Wednesday November 14, 2007 that the victim’s sentence had been more than doubled to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison.

Following the second decision, Equality Now launched a global appeal calling on the Ministry of Justice of Saudi Arabia immediately to revoke the sentence of lashing and imprisonment of the rape victim. Equality Now also called on the Ministry to restore the victim’s legal representation by rescinding its decision to revoke the license of her lawyer.

While it is positive that international advocacy and media pressure helped ensure that the rape victim was not subjected to the lashing, the requirement for a “pardon” of the rape victim is disconcerting. Though the king’s decision protects the Qatif girl from being subjected to lashing and imprisonment, it does not ensure that a similar sentence will not be meted out to another woman in the future.

Jessica Neuwirth, President of Equality Now notes, “King Abdullah’s decision to pardon the rape victim is welcome, but we deeply regret that the Saudi authorities did not take the opportunity to end all punishments for women for so-called “immoral” acts. Women have a fundamental human right to freedom of movement and freedom of association. No pardon should be required for exercising these rights.”

Equality Now remains concerned about the gender-based discrimination faced by Saudi Arabian women. As long ago as 1999 it highlighted the ban on women’s driving of automobiles in Saudi Arabia as one of many sex discriminatory laws still in force around the world. It continues to call on all countries to review their legal codes and revoke all laws that discriminate on the basis of sex.

For more information contact: Lakshmi Anantnarayan, (212) 586-0906, or email: lanant@equalitynow.org.

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