Rape in Saudi Arabia

Last updated

Rape in Saudi Arabia is regulated by Saudi Arabia's interpretation of Sharia law, under which someone convicted of the criminal offense of rape can be sentenced to a variety of punishments, ranging from flogging to execution. [1] In 2019, eight executions took place in Saudi Arabia for rape. [2]

Contents

As of 2002, Saudi Arabia reported 0.3 rapes per 100,000 people per year. [3] [4] There is no prohibition of marital rape in the country. [5]

Rape under Saudi Arabian law

Rape is regarded as a hudud crime by the Judges of Saudi Arabia which are viewed as the ordinances of God as per Islam and have fixed punishments derived from Islamic sources. A 1981 Saudi fatwa stipulates that offenses of sexual honour should be covered by hirabah (brigandage or highway robbery) a hadd crime which is an unusual interpretation and departs from classical Islamic jurisprudence. Two male witnesses or a confession from the perpetrator are needed as evidence to prove it but a judge can treat rape as a tazir crime, that is, an offense for which punishments are not stipulated in the Quran or Sunnah (the Islamic prophet Muhammad’s words, actions, and practices) meaning the punishment is left to the judge's discretion. This seems to allow circumstantial evidence but rape remains difficult to prove to Saudi’s conservative judiciary, which is keener to punish the offense of intermingling of people of opposite sexes. [6]

In Saudi Arabia, pregnancy can be used as evidence of sex having occurred and women who are found to have had out of wedlock sex (zina) could be prosecuted and maybe subject to be punished by corporal punishments which can include punishments like floggings and even stoning. [7]

Reports

Human Rights Watch has investigated the situation, and their report concludes that a rape victim may be punished when they speak out against the crime. In one case, the victim's sentence was doubled for speaking out, and the court also harassed the victim's lawyer, going so far as to confiscate his professional licence. [8]

However, it has also been acknowledged that Shariah law, which punishes rapists, [9] serves as the basis of the country's legal system.

In 2009, the Saudi Gazette reported that a 23-year-old unmarried woman was sentenced to one year in prison and 100 lashes for adultery after the judge refused to believe that she was raped. This woman had been gang-raped, became pregnant, and had tried (unsuccessfully) to abort the fetus. The flogging was postponed until after the delivery. [10]

The sentences for rape cases are also extremely unbalanced in Saudi Arabia. For example, in February 2013, a Saudi preacher raped, tortured, and murdered his five-year-old daughter. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, 800 lashes, and a diyat (blood money) of one million riyals (US$270,000) to be paid to the girl's mother, his ex-wife. [11] Contrasted with this is the case of two Pakistani citizens who were beheaded by the state after being convicted of a rape. [12]

The Qatif rape case is a much-publicized gang rape case. The victims were a Shia teenage girl from Qatif (Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia) and her male companion, who were kidnapped and gang-raped by seven Saudi men in mid-2006. A Saudi Sharia court sentenced the perpetrators to varying sentences involving 80 to 1,000 lashes and imprisonment up to ten years for four of them. The court also sentenced the two victims to six months in prison and 90 lashes each for "being alone with a man who is not a relative" in a parked car. The appeals court doubled the victims' sentences in late 2007 as punishment for the heavy media coverage of the event in the international press regarding the treatment of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Saudi judicial practices. In December 2007, the Saudi King Abdullah issued an official pardon for the two victims, citing his ultimate authority to revise "discretionary" punishments in accordance with the public good, although the pardon did not reflect any lack of confidence in the Saudi justice system or in the fairness of the verdicts. [13]

The Saudi Justice ministry, said the rape could not be proved as there were no witnesses and the rapists had recanted the confessions they had made during interrogation, originally. Sharia (Islamic law) allows defendants to deny signed confessions, according to Abdul-Aziz al-Gassem, a lawyer who was not involved in the case. Punishment in such cases is still possible if convicted, but the verdict is lighter. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudud Ordinances</span> Laws in Pakistan enacted in 1979

The Hudud Ordinances are laws in Pakistan enacted in 1979 as part of the Islamization of Pakistan by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the sixth president of Pakistan. It replaced parts of the British-era Pakistan Penal Code, adding new criminal offences of adultery and fornication, and new punishments of whipping, amputation, and stoning to death. After much controversy and criticism parts of the law were extensively revised in 2006 by the Women's Protection Bill.

Zināʾ (زِنَاء) or zinā is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, zina can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, rape, sodomy, incest, and bestiality. Zina must be proved by testimony of four Muslim eyewitnesses to the actual act of penetration, or a confession repeated four times and not retracted later. The offenders must have acted of their own free will. Rapists could be prosecuted under different legal categories which used normal evidentiary rules. Making an accusation of zina without presenting the required eyewitnesses is called qadhf (القذف), which is itself a hudud offense.

Hudud is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam, it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are mandated and fixed by God as per Islam. These punishments were applied in pre-modern Islam, and their use in some modern states has been a source of controversy.

Rajm in Islam refers to the Hudud punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Under some versions of Islamic law (Sharia), it is the prescribed punishment in cases of adultery committed by a married person which requires either a confession from either the adulterer or adulteress, or producing four witnesses of sexual penetration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Saudi Arabia face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. The government of Saudi Arabia provides no legal protections for LGBT rights. Both male and female expressions of same-sex sexual activity are illegal within the nation.

Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Iran. Crimes punishable by death include murder; rape; child molestation; homosexuality; pedophilia; drug trafficking; armed robbery; kidnapping; terrorism; burglary; incestuous relationships; fornication; prohibited sexual relations; sodomy; sexual misconduct; prostitution; plotting to overthrow the Islamic government; political dissidence; sabotage; arson; rebellion; apostasy; adultery; blasphemy; extortion; counterfeiting; smuggling; speculating; disrupting production; recidivist consumption of alcohol; producing or preparing food, drink, cosmetics, or sanitary items that lead to death when consumed or used; producing and publishing pornography; using pornographic materials to solicit sex; recidivist false accusation of capital sexual offenses causing execution of an innocent person; recidivist theft; certain military offenses ; "waging war against God"; "spreading corruption on Earth"; espionage; and treason. Iran carried out at least 977 executions in 2015, at least 567 executions in 2016, and at least 507 executions in 2017. In 2018 there were at least 249 executions, at least 273 in 2019, at least 246 in 2020, at least 290 in 2021, at least 553 in 2022, and at least 309 so far in 2023.

Qisas or Qiṣāṣ is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind", "eye for an eye", or retributive justice.

In Islamic law, hirabah is a legal category that comprises highway robbery, rape, and terrorism. Ḥirābah is an Arabic word for 'piracy', or 'unlawful warfare'. It comes from the triliteral root ḥrb, which means “to become angry and enraged”. The noun ḥarb means 'war' or 'wars'.

Islamic criminal law is criminal law in accordance with Sharia. Strictly speaking, Islamic law does not have a distinct corpus of "criminal law". It divides crimes into three different categories depending on the offense – Hudud, Qisas, and Tazir. Some add the fourth category of Siyasah, while others consider it as part of either Hadd or Tazir crimes.

Capital punishment exists in Saudi Arabia, with most executions in the country being carried out by decapitation (beheading) – Saudi Arabia being the only country in the world to still use the method. In 2022, recorded executions in Saudi Arabia reached 196, the highest number recorded in the country in 30 years.

The Qatif rape case is a much-publicized gang rape case. The victims were a Shia young woman from Qatif and her male companion, who were kidnapped and gang-raped by seven Saudi men in mid-2006. A Saudi Sharia court sentenced the perpetrators to varying sentences involving 100 to 1,000 lashes and imprisonment up to ten years for four of them. The court also sentenced the two victims to six months in prison and 90 lashes each for "being alone with a man who is not a relative" in a parked car. The appeals court doubled the victims' sentences in late 2007 as punishment for the heavy media coverage of the event in the international press regarding the treatment of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Saudi judicial practices. In December 2007, the Saudi King Abdullah issued an official pardon for the two victims, citing his ultimate authority to revise "discretionary" punishments in accordance with the public good, although the pardon did not reflect any lack of confidence in the Saudi justice system or in the fairness of the verdicts.

Abdul Rahman Al-Lahim is a Saudi human rights lawyer active in defending the civil rights of Saudi citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoning</span> Method of capital punishment

Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judicial corporal punishment</span> Punitive practice

Judicial corporal punishment is the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence imposed on an offender by a court of law, including flagellation, forced amputations, caning, bastinado, birching, or strapping. Legal corporal punishment is forbidden in most countries, but it still is a form of legal punishment practiced according to the legislations of Brunei, Iran, Libya, the Maldives, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Qatar, as well as parts of Indonesia and Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal system of Saudi Arabia</span> Overview of the legal system of Saudi Arabia

The legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on Sharia, Islamic law derived from the Quran and the Sunnah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The sources of Sharia also include Islamic scholarly consensus developed after Muhammad's death. Its interpretation by judges in Saudi Arabia is influenced by the medieval texts of the literalist Hanbali school of Fiqh. Uniquely in the Muslim world, Sharia has been adopted by Saudi Arabia in an uncodified form. This, and the lack of judicial precedent, has resulted in considerable uncertainty in the scope and content of the country's laws. The government therefore announced its intention to codify Sharia in 2010, and, in 2018, a sourcebook of legal principles and precedents was published by the Saudi government. Sharia has also been supplemented by regulations issued by royal decree covering modern issues such as intellectual property and corporate law. Nevertheless, Sharia remains the primary source of law, especially in areas such as criminal, family, commercial and contract law, and the Qur'an and the Sunnah are declared to be the country's constitution. In the areas of land and energy law the extensive proprietorial rights of the Saudi state constitute a significant feature.

Rape is a major issue in Afghanistan. A number of human rights organizations have criticized the country's rape laws and their enforcement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment for homosexuality</span> Death penalty for same-sex sexual activity

Capital punishment as a criminal punishment for homosexuality has been implemented by a number of countries in their history. It currently remains a legal punishment in several countries and regions, most of which have sharia–based criminal laws except for Uganda.

In Islam, human sexuality is governed by Islamic law, also known as Sharia. Accordingly, sexual violation is regarded as a violation of moral and divine law. Islam divides claims of sexual violation into 'divine rights' and 'interpersonal rights' : the former requiring divine punishment and the latter belonging to the more flexible human realm.

Capital punishment for offenses is allowed by law in some countries. Such offenses include adultery, apostasy, blasphemy, corruption, drug trafficking, espionage, fraud, homosexuality and sodomy, perjury, prostitution, sorcery and witchcraft, theft, and treason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran</span> One of the three forces in Islamic republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran was founded after the 1979 overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty by the Islamic Revolution, and its legal code is based on Islamic law or sharia, although many aspects of civil law have been retained, and it is integrated into a civil law legal system. According to the constitution of the Islamic Republic, the judiciary in Iran "is an independent power". The entire legal system—"from the Supreme Court to regional courts, all the way down to local and revolutionary courts"—is under the purview of the Ministry of Justice, but in addition to a Minister of Justice and head of the Supreme Court, there is also a separate appointed Head of the Judiciary. Parliamentary bills pertaining to the constitution are vetted by the Council of Guardians.

References

  1. Peters, R. (2012). "Zinā or Zināʾ". In P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8168.
  2. Naimul Karim. "Which countries carry the death penalty for rape?". news.trust.org. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  3. James Sheptycki; Ali Wardak; James Hardie-Bick (2005). Transnational and Comparative Criminology. Routledge Cavendish. p. 95. ISBN   1-904385-05-2.
  4. S., S. Harrendorf,M. Heiskanen (2010). United Nations Office on Drugs And Crime(UNODC) (PDF). HEUNI Publication. p. 39. ISBN   978-952-5333-787.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Haddad, Mais (10 May 2017). "Victims of Rape and Law: How the Laws of the Arab World Protect Rapists, Not Victims". JURIST. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  6. Tønnessen, Liv (2016). "Women's Activism in Saudi Arabia: Male Guardianship and Sexual Violence". CMI Report. R 2016:1.
  7. "Saudi Arabia: Forthcoming Penal Code Should Protect Rights". Human Rights Watch. 2022-04-29. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  8. "Saudi Arabia: Rape Victim Punished for Speaking Out". HRW. 2007.
  9. Wolf, Leslie F. (10 December 2016). "Leslie F. Wolf; Sexual Violation in Islamic Law: Substance, Evidence, and Procedure By HINA AZAM". Journal of Islamic Studies. doi:10.1093/jis/etw060.
  10. Shabrawi, Adnan. "Girl gets a year in jail, 100 lashes for adultery". The Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  11. "Fayhan al-Ghamdi, Saudi Preacher, Sentenced To 8 Years, 800 Lashes For Raping, Killing Daughter". Huffington Post. 2013.
  12. "Two Pakistanis beheaded in Saudi for rape". The Independent. 2010.
  13. "Saudi King Pardons Rape Victim Sentenced to Be Lashed, Saudi Paper Reports". The New York Times. 18 December 2007. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  14. "Rape case calls Saudi legal system into question". Today News. Associated Press. 2013. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013.

Further reading