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1. Crime in Saudi Arabia

2. Saudi Arabian Law and Legal System Basic law of Saudi Arabia is separated into 9 chapters and consists of 83 articles1: Chapter 1: General Principles Chapter 2: Monarchy Chapter 3: Features of a Saudi Family Chapter 4: Economic Principles Chapter 5: Rights and Duties Chapter 6: Authorities of the State Chapter 7: Financial Affairs Chapter 8: Control Bodies Chapter 9: General Provisions
3. The legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on Sharia, Islamic law derived from the Qu'ran and the Sunnah (the traditions) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Uniquely in the Muslim world, Sharia has been adopted by Saudi Arabia in an uncodified form.2 The Sharia court system constitutes the basic judiciary of Saudi Arabia and its judges and lawyers form part of the ulema, the country's religious leadership. However, there are also extra-Sharia government tribunals which handle disputes relating to specific royal decrees. Final appeal from both Sharia courts and government tribunals is to the King and all courts and tribunals follow Sharia rules of evidence and procedure. 2 The Sharia courts have general jurisdiction over most civil and criminal cases. At present there are two types of courts of first instance: general courts and summary courts dealing with lesser cases. Cases are adjudicated by single judges, except criminal cases if the potential sentence is death, amputation or stoning when there is a panel of three judges. 2 The judicial establishment is composed of qadis, who give binding judgements in specific court cases, and muftis and other members of the ulema, who issue generalised but highly influential legal opinions (fatwas). 2
4. The Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in the country, is the most senior member of the judicial establishment, and his opinions are highly influential among the Saudi judiciary. The judiciary proper (that is, the body of qadis) is composed of about 700 judges. 2 Criminal law is governed by Sharia and comprises three categories: hudud (fixed Quranic punishments for specific crimes), Qisas (eye-for-an-eye retaliatory punishments), and Tazir, a general category. Hududcrimes are the most serious and include theft, robbery, blasphemy, apostasy, adultery, sodomy and fornication. Qisas crimes include murder or any crime involving bodily harm. Tazir represents most cases, many of which are defined by national regulations such as bribery, trafficking, and drug abuse. The most common punishment for a Tazir offence is lashing. 2 A conviction requires proof in one of three ways. The first is an uncoerced confession. Alternatively, the testimony of two male witnesses can convict (four in the case of adultery), unless it is a hudud crime, in which case a confession is also required. Women's evidence normally carries half the weight of men in Sharia courts, however in criminal trials women's testimony is not allowed at all. Testimony from non-Muslims or Muslims whose doctrines are considered unacceptable (for example, Shia) may be discounted. Lastly, an affirmation or denial by oath can be required. Giving an oath is taken particularly seriously in a religious society such as Saudi Arabia's, and a refusal to take an oath will be taken as an admission of guilt resulting in conviction. 2
5. The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion. 2 Repeated theft can be punishable by amputation of the right hand and aggravated theft by the cross-amputation of a hand and a foot. 2 Homosexual acts are punishable by flogging, imprisonment or death. Lashings are a common form of punishment and are often imposed for offences against religion and public morality such as drinking alcohol and neglect of prayer and fasting obligations. 2 People arrested are often not informed of the crime of which they are accused or given access to a lawyer and are subject to abusive treatment and torture if they do not confess. At trial, there is a presumption of guilt and the accused is often unable to examine witnesses and evidence or present a legal defense. Most trials are held in secret. 2
6. Mutaween (Religious Police) The Mutaween (plural: Mutawwa) are a government authorized “religious police force” that are tasked with enforcing varied interpretations of Sharia law. The concept of the Mutawwa originated from Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia. Their ‘job’ is to prevent un-Islamic activities ranging from enforcing strict dress code, preventing unmarried couples from socializing to ensuring Muslims preform prayers. Mutawwa is Arabic for volunteer and in the Muslim world refers to someone who spreads the word of Islam on his own accord. The Mutawwa are quite controversial due to their highly unorthodox methods of enforcing Sharia law and their general validity and integrity. Public humiliation has been their main weapon, using methods such as flogging, forcibly cutting long hair and arresting and harassing teenage boys.
7. The Mutawwa are seen with much negativity in Saudi Arabia from the majority but being a monarchy there is no democratic say in anything. Rumors from various sources (including an investigation from a member of the royal family) state that the Mutawwa members comprise of ex convicts whose only option to escape prison was memorize the Quran. The Mutawwa are seen by few as a religious force that maintains peace and is there for the good of the community. An incident involving a fire in an all girls school in Mecca in 2002, destroyed the Mutaween’sreputation. It is reported that the Mutawwa refused the girls escaping the fire from leaving the campus due to not covering properly. This resulted in many students dying and public outrage.
8. Crime Statistics 345 executions reported between 2007 and 2010, more than twice as much as the US. Though the crime rate in the US is much higher than Saudi Arabia, the legal system in the latter supports the use of capital punishment while the former varies from state to state.3 4 A 2002 survey showed 84, 599 crimes reported in Saudi Arabia while 11,877,218 were reported in the United States. The high amount of executions and population differences contribute to the statistics. Saudi has less than half of the US population. 5.2% of the Saudi population is unemployed while 5.8% of the American population is unemployed.5 6 Illegal immigration is a big problem in both countries with Saudi Arabia and the US ranking 5th and 1st respectively in immigrant population.7 There had been a surge in extremist activity and two notable terrorist attacks in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US but ceased the following years.
9. Prison in Saudi Arabia According to the Eighth United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, Saudi Arabia has 28,612 prisoners as of 2002 and there are 110.0 prisoners per 100,000 people. 8 25% of the Saudi population are attributed to immigrants. This is around 6,361,000 people. 50.9% of the prisoners are foreign national.9 10 There is no form of tax in Saudi Arabia so the prisons are not tax funded. There is an unknown number of political prisoners but they are still present. Political parties are banned in the country. Prisoners are punished rather than rehabilitated to prevent further crimes and show dominance. There is said to be overcrowding in Saudi jails and drugs are rampant.
10. Prisoners have little rights and are often abused by the police to extract confessions. False imprisonment is an issue since the War on Terror began and expatriates have been arrested and detained under false allegations. Authorities need to control the happenings inside prison to avoid illegal activities and show more concern towards foreigners and immigrants.
11. Charting a Crime Rape Case in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, 2006. 19 year old woman and her male friend raped by seven assailants. 11 Punishment: 1-4 years prison for four of the men plus 80-1000 lashes. The girl and the male friend also received 90 lashes. Remaining three awaiting trial.11 The victim received punishments for being together with a male who she was not married to and vice versa. 11 Not much information has been released on the trial. The impact of this crime is bigger than it seems. The injustice shown against the rape victims has caused uproar around the world but the rape case itself has scarred the community. First off, the girl comes from an ultra conservative part of an already ultra conservative country so when faced with a situation regarding sexual violence there is major turmoil. Another problem is that the relatively low crime rate in Saudi Arabia has left the nation innocent towards heinous acts of crime so when something like this comes along it sparks much paranoia. The families of the victims will live in shame and embarrassment and will further isolate them to avoid ridicule from the community. The criminals will become pariahs and will almost never be able join mainstream society. This will probably be the same case for the victims.
12. Seeking to explore the reason or motives behind the crime, there is one very common answer among locals, segregation. Obviously that is not the only reason but the lack of contact with the opposite sex can lead to sexual violence like this case. The courts have been called into question for their verdict on the case but of course being an absolute monarchy there is little hope for reform. The trial is one of the few that has been highlighted as normally convictions such as these are kept secret to avoid distressing the families involved and to keep the conservative society stable.
13. Bibliography "The Basic Law." - SAMIRAD (Saudi Arabia Market Information Resource). N.p., n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://saudinf.com/main/c541.htm>. "Capital Punishment in Saudi Arabia." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia>. "Crime Stats: Saudi Arabia vs United States." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/Saudi-Arabia/United-States/Crime>. "Executions in the United States." Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions-united-states>. Factbook. "People Stats: Saudi Arabia vs United States." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/Saudi-Arabia/United-States/People>. "Labor Stats: Saudi Arabia vs United States." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/Saudi-Arabia/United-States/Labor>. "Legal System of Saudi Arabia." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_system_of_Saudi_Arabia>.
14. Persons, Trafficking In. "Saudi Crime Statistics - Compared to Other Countries." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.nationmaster.com/country/sa-saudi-arabia/cri-crime>. "Rape Case Calls Saudi Legal System into Question." MSNBC. Associated Press, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15836746/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/rape-case-calls-saudi-legal-system-question/#.T9Rqv1IeX32>. Refugees. "Immigration Stats: Saudi Arabia vs United States." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/Saudi-Arabia/United-States/Immigration>.
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