freedom in the world 2020 - saudi arabia

3/17/2020 Saudi Arabia | Freedom House

https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2020 1/19

FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2020

Saudi ArabiaNOT FREE

Political Rights 1

Civil Liberties 6

7 Not Free

Global freedom statuses are calculated on a weighted scale. See the methodology.

7/100

/40

/60

LAST YEAR'S SCORE & STATUS/100

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https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2020/leaderless-struggle-democracy

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Overview

Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy restricts almost all political rights and civil liberties.No officials at the national level are elected. The regime relies on pervasivesurveillance, the criminalization of dissent, appeals to sectarianism and ethnicity, andpublic spending supported by oil revenues to maintain power. Women and religiousminorities face extensive discrimination in law and in practice. Working conditions forthe large expatriate labor force are often exploitative.

Key Developments in 2019

The authorities continued to detain numerous dissidents during the year, andnew arrests were reported. More than a dozen people, including two Saudi-USdual nationals, were arrested in April after allegedly expressing support forwomen’s rights activists who have been behind bars since 2018. At least sevenbloggers and other writers were arrested in November.In August, the government promulgated legal reforms that granted adultwomen the ability to obtain passports, travel abroad, and register birthswithout a male guardian’s permission, though a guardian’s approval was stillneeded for marriage and a variety of other actions.In December, a Saudi court sentenced five people to death, and three others toprison terms, for their role in the 2018 assassination of US-based Saudijournalist Jamal Khashoggi. The most senior officials investigated in connectionwith the killing were acquitted on grounds of insufficient evidence, and CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salman was never investigated by Saudi authoritiesdespite credible evidence that he was involved.

Political Rights

A. Electoral Process



A1 0-4 pts

Was the current head of government or other chief national authorityelected through free and fair elections? 0

Saudi Arabia’s king is chosen by his predecessor from among male descendants ofthe country’s founder, though the choice must be approved by a council of seniorprinces. The king rules for life. King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud appointed his sonMohammed bin Salman as crown prince in 2017, displacing the prince’s older cousin,Mohammed bin Nayef, who was stripped of all official positions and put under housearrest. The cabinet, which is appointed by the king, passes legislation that becomeslaw once ratified by royal decree. King Salman also serves as prime minister, andMohammed bin Salman serves as deputy prime minister and minister of defense.

A2 0-4 pts

Were the current national legislative representatives elected through freeand fair elections? 0

The king appoints the 150 members of the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Council), whoserve in an advisory capacity, for four-year terms. The council has no legislativeauthority.

Limited nonpartisan elections for advisory councils at the municipal level wereintroduced in 2005. In the 2015 elections, two-thirds of the seats on the 284 councilswere open to voting, while the rest were filled through appointment by the ministerof municipal and rural affairs. Women were allowed to vote and run as candidates forthe first time, and a small number won seats. The next elections were due in 2019, butthey were postponed without any clear official explanation.

A3 0-4 pts

Are the electoral laws and framework fair, and are they implementedimpartially by the relevant election management bodies? 0

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The electoral framework lacks constitutional protections, and the 2015 elections formunicipal councils were subject to a number of onerous restrictions. The kingdom’srules on gender segregation were applied to campaigns, meaning no candidates couldproduce posters showing their faces or meet in person with voters of the oppositesex. Candidates were also barred from giving media interviews, leading many tocampaign via social media. A number of candidates were disqualified for unclearreasons, though some were reinstated after appeals. Ultimately only a small fractionof the citizen population participated in the elections, reflecting doubts about theeffectiveness of the advisory councils.

B. Political Pluralism and

Participation

B1 0-4 pts

Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties orother competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system freeof undue obstacles to the rise and fall of these competing parties orgroupings?

0

Political parties are forbidden, and political dissent is effectively criminalized. Some ofthe country’s most prominent political rights organizations and activists, includingfounding members of the banned Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association(ACPRA), have been arrested and sentenced to prison in recent years. Many otherpolitical activists continue to serve lengthy prison sentences.

B2 0-4 pts

Is there a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support orgain power through elections? 0

The current leadership has given no indication that it plans to allow competitiveelections for positions of executive or legislative authority in the future. Opposition

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movements are banned, and the government is increasingly intolerant even ofmoderate critics. The Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist political organization, isbelieved to have the sympathy of a substantial minority of Saudis, but it remainsbanned and has been designated as a terrorist group by the Saudi government since2014.

Other groups and individuals that criticize the regime or call for political reform—whether Sunni or Shiite, Islamist or secularist—are subject to arbitrary detention.Many of those arrested in a crackdown that began in September 2017 had questionedor declined to vocally support the government’s campaign to isolate Qatar over itsrelations with the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. These included prominent reformistclerics such as Salman al-Awdah, Awad al-Qarni, and Ali al-Omari, who were arrestedin 2017. All three faced the threat of the death penalty on charges of terrorism,though their cases have been stalled by arbitrary delays; the verdict in al-Awdah’s trialwas repeatedly postponed in 2019.

B3 0-4 pts

Are the people’s political choices free from domination by forces that areexternal to the political sphere, or by political forces that employextrapolitical means?

0

The monarchy generally excludes the public from any meaningful politicalparticipation. In the absence of political parties, voters in Saudi Arabia’s limitedmunicipal elections are heavily influenced by tribal and religious leaders, many ofwhom benefit from close ties to the ruling establishment.

B4 0-4 pts

Do various segments of the population (including ethnic, religious, gender,LGBT, and other relevant groups) have full political rights and electoralopportunities?

0

Although political rights are curtailed for all Saudi citizens, women, religiousminorities, and LGBT+ people face additional obstacles to participation given the

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kingdom’s strict laws and customs on matters such as gender segregation and sexualactivity, and its intolerance of religious groups that deviate from Wahhabism, a highlyconservative and literalist interpretation of Sunni Islam. Some 30 women serve onthe appointed Majlis al-Shura, and women secured about 1 percent of the seats in the2015 municipal council elections. Shiites reportedly hold a small number of seats onthe Majlis al-Shura and many seats on municipal councils in Shiite-majority areas.Women and religious minorities are largely excluded from leadership positions in thegovernment. A woman was appointed in 2018 as deputy minister of labor and socialdevelopment to promote women’s employment opportunities.

Noncitizens, who make up roughly a third of the population in Saudi Arabia, have nopolitical rights, and citizenship can only be directly transmitted by a citizen fatherwhose marriage is recognized by the state.

C. Functioning of Government

C1 0-4 pts

Do the freely elected head of government and national legislativerepresentatives determine the policies of the government? 0

The kingdom’s only elected officials serve on local advisory councils and have little orno influence over national laws and policies.

C2 0-4 pts

Are safeguards against official corruption strong and effective? 1

Corruption remains a significant problem. Although the government generatesmassive revenue from the sale of oil, which it redistributes through social welfareprograms and as patronage, little is known about state accounting or the variousdirect ways in which public wealth becomes a source of private privilege for the royalfamily and its clients.

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The government has taken some steps to combat corruption and recovermisappropriated assets, but its opaque methods have raised serious concerns aboutpoliticization and lack of due process. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman heads ananticorruption committee, which in 2017 ordered the detention of more than 300people, many of whom were coerced into turning over billions of dollars in assets tothe state. In January 2019 the government said it had obtained a total of $106 billionin settlements with 87 of those arrested. The crown prince’s campaign coincided witha crackdown on dissent and targeted his potential rivals within the royal family,leading observers to suggest that it was part of a broader effort to consolidateMohammed bin Salman’s political and economic control.

Independent whistle-blowers and anticorruption advocates continue to facepunishment. Saleh al-Shehi, a columnist at Al-Watan, was sentenced in 2018 to fiveyears in prison after he suggested in a television appearance that there wascorruption in the royal court.

C3 0-4 pts

Does the government operate with openness and transparency? 0

The functioning of government is largely opaque. The availability of some economicdata is improving, but overall there is little transparency on whether or how statefunds are disbursed, or on the internal decision-making process that allocates them;there is no public mechanism for holding senior officials accountable for theirdecisions. The defense budget is especially shielded from public scrutiny.

The state’s oil revenues make up the vast majority of its financial resources, but theseare tightly controlled by the royal family, which uses the same income to supportitself. In 2018 and 2019, the state oil company, Saudi Aramco, provided moreinformation on its income and expenditures in preparation for an initial publicoffering. However, amid ongoing questions about its relationship with thegovernment, the company opted in December to list shares only on a domestic stock

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exchange, which entailed less transparency than would be required on a majorinternational exchange.

Civil Liberties

D. Freedom of Expression and

Belief

D1 0-4 pts

Are there free and independent media? 0

The government controls domestic media content and heavily influences regionalprint and satellite-television coverage. Journalists can be imprisoned for a variety ofvaguely defined crimes. A 2011 royal decree amended the press law to criminalize,among other things, any criticism of the country’s grand mufti, the Council of SeniorReligious Scholars, or government officials; violations can result in fines and forcedclosure of media outlets. All blogs and websites must have a license from the Ministryof Information or face fines and possible closure. The government has developed anextensive system of social media surveillance and regulation, and it investsconsiderable resources in automated “bot” and other accounts to influence and attimes distort the social media environment.

In October 2018, one of the country’s most prominent journalists, Jamal Khashoggi,was murdered by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi, whohad been critical of the government under Mohammed bin Salman, had been workingin the United States as a columnist at the Washington Post. Saudi officials blamedrogue intelligence agents, but according to a UN special rapporteur, the evidencesuggested that the crown prince was involved. In December 2019, a Saudi courtsentenced five men to death for their role in the killing, and three others receivedprison sentences, but the most senior officials under investigation were acquitted

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due to a supposed lack of evidence. Mohammed bin Salman was never officiallyinvestigated.

In December 2019, Reporters Without Borders said that at least 32 journalists andcitizen journalists were behind bars in Saudi Arabia. At least seven bloggers andcolumnists were arrested in November, including some who had been inactive afterwriting in favor of the 2011 Arab Spring protests in previous years.

D2 0-4 pts

Are individuals free to practice and express their religious faith or nonbeliefin public and private? 0

The 1992 Basic Law declares that the Quran and the Sunna are the country’sconstitution. Islam is the official religion, and all Saudis are required by law to beMuslims. A 2014 royal decree punishes atheism with up to 20 years in prison. Thegovernment prohibits the public practice of any religion other than Islam andrestricts the religious practices of the Shiite and Sufi Muslim minority sects. Theconstruction of Shiite mosques is constrained through licensing rules and prohibitedoutside of Eastern Province, where most Shiites live. Although the governmentrecognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship in private, it does not always respectthis right in practice.

The government exercises significant influence over Muslim clerics—both theofficially appointed figures who depend on government patronage and moreindependent religious scholars who need a measure of official goodwill in order tofunction openly, appear on television, and avoid prison or other penalties.

Online commentary that touches on religion can be harshly punished. Among otherprominent cases, liberal blogger Raif Badawi, arrested in 2012, received a 10-yearprison sentence for blasphemy in 2014 and remained behind bars in 2019.

D3 0-4 pts

Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free fromextensive political indoctrination? 1

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Academic freedom is restricted, and informers monitor classrooms for compliancewith curriculum rules, including a ban on teaching secular philosophy and religionsother than Islam. Despite changes to textbooks in recent years, intolerance in theclassroom remains a significant problem, as some educators continue to espousediscriminatory and hateful views of non-Muslims and Muslim minority sects.

Academics face punishment for critical public analysis of government policies.Among other cases, Hatoon al-Fassi, a history professor and women’s rightsadvocate, was arrested in 2018, days after she had been quoted in the New YorkTimes about her views on the crown prince’s reforms. She was provisionally releasedin May 2019, along with three other rights activists, but still faced trial for illegalcontact with foreign media, diplomats, and human rights groups. Also in 2018, thewell-known economist Essam al-Zamil, who had critiqued the plan to privatize part ofthe state oil company, was charged with terrorism. In March 2019, university lecturerAnas al-Mazroui was arrested after expressing support for detained women’s rightsactivists during a panel discussion at the Riyadh book fair the previous month.

D4 0-4 pts

Are individuals free to express their personal views on political or othersensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution? 1

Saudis are able to engage in some degree of private discussion on political and othertopics, including criticism of certain aspects of government performance, both onlineand offline. However, severe criminal penalties deter more direct criticism of theregime and free discussion on topics like religion or the royal family. Laws are oftenvaguely worded, giving the state considerable discretion to determine whatconstitutes illegal expression. Surveillance is extensive inside Saudi Arabia, and evenSaudis living abroad are subject to spying and intimidation.

The climate for free expression has deteriorated sharply since 2018, with theassassination of Jamal Khashoggi and the arrests of even mild critics of government

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policy, such as high-profile women’s rights activists, serving as warnings to ordinarySaudis to avoid public dissent.

E. Associational and

Organizational Rights

E1 0-4 pts

Is there freedom of assembly? 0

Freedom of assembly is not respected, and the government has imposed harshpunishments—including the death penalty—on those who lead or participate inpublic protests. In one case in 2018, six Shiite activists were put on trial in a terrorismcourt for protest-related offenses. These included Israa al-Ghomgham, a femaleactivist, who was threatened with the death penalty until a court confirmed inJanuary 2019 that she would not be executed, though she reportedly remainedbehind bars at year’s end.

E2 0-4 pts

Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations, particularly those thatare engaged in human rights– and governance-related work? 0

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) must obtain a license from the governmentto operate. Until the adoption of an NGO law in 2015, officials had approved licensesonly for charitable groups; the authorities have expressed a desire to encourage thegrowth of civil society, but they discourage independent work on human rights andgovernance issues. Reformist organizations have been denied licenses in practice, insome cases through arbitrary delays. Human rights activists and other civil societyrepresentatives face regular harassment and detention.

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In 2018, a month before women were allowed to drive for the first time, theauthorities arrested several women who had campaigned for the change; prominentcampaigners against the kingdom’s male guardianship laws were also arrested later inthe year. In April 2019, another 13 activists and writers who had supported women’srights were arrested, including two Saudi-US dual nationals. The arrests were seen asa signal that the government sought to discourage further independent activism onwomen’s rights.

E3 0-4 pts

Is there freedom for trade unions and similar professional or labororganizations? 0

No laws protect the rights to form independent labor unions, bargain collectively, orengage in strikes. Workers who engage in union activity are subject to dismissal ordetention.

F. Rule of Law

F1 0-4 pts

Is there an independent judiciary? 1

The judiciary has very little independence in practice. Judges are appointed by theking and overseen by the Supreme Judicial Council, whose chairman is also thejustice minister. A special commission of judicial experts issues opinions that serve asguidelines for judges on the interpretation of Sharia (Islamic law), which forms thebasis of Saudi law. Judges have significant discretion in how they interpret Sharia anddo not have to publish an explanation of their judgments.

F2 0-4 pts

Does due process prevail in civil and criminal matters? 1

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Defendants’ rights are poorly protected by law. Detainees are often denied access tolegal counsel during interrogation, and lengthy pretrial detention and detentionwithout charge are common. Statistics on prisoners are lacking, and the number ofpolitical prisoners is therefore difficult to assess, but a Human Rights Watch reportfound that dozens of dissidents were on trial or in prison as of mid-2019.

An antiterrorism law that took effect in 2014 includes lengthy prison sentences forcriticizing the monarchy or the government. Among other provisions, it expanded thepower of police to conduct raids targeting suspected antigovernment activitywithout judicial approval.

The hundreds of people arrested in the anticorruption crackdown in 2017 did not goto trial or pass through the judicial system, but were instead compelled to hand overassets to the government in return for being released. Supporters of the governmentclaimed that the courts lacked the capacity to process the cases swiftly, and thattaking the judicial route would have led to a years-long process.

Due process is notably lacking in death penalty cases. In April 2019, for example, 37people—mostly Shiites—were put to death in a single day. Human rights groupsnoted that the defendants were denied access to a lawyer while their charges werebeing investigated, and many had retracted confessions made under torture.

F3 0-4 pts

Is there protection from the illegitimate use of physical force and freedomfrom war and insurgencies? 0

Allegations of torture by police and prison officials are common, and access toprisoners by independent human rights and legal organizations is extremely limited.In March 2019, international media published leaked prison medical records indicatingthat a number of political prisoners were suffering from cuts, bruises, burns, andmalnutrition. Human rights groups had reported in late 2018 that detained women’srights activists were given electric shocks, whipped, beaten, sexually abused, andthreatened with rape. The family of one of them, Loujain al-Hathloul, said she had

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been offered freedom if she publicly recanted her allegations of torture, which sherefused to do.

Corporal punishment, most often lashing, is common in criminal sentencing. Capitalpunishment is applied to a wide range of crimes other than murder, including drugand protest-related offenses; juvenile offenders are not exempt from the penalty. Useof the death penalty has increased in recent years. According to the British humanrights group Reprieve, Saudi Arabia executed at least 184 people in 2019, comparedwith 149 in 2018.

Saudi Arabia has faced a series of cross-border military attacks from Yemen since2015, when it entered a war against that country’s Shiite-led and Iranian-backedHouthi (Ansarallah) movement. In 2019 the Saudi military said it had interceptedseveral hundred missiles and drones, most of which came from Yemen, though it wasunclear over what period the interceptions took place. A missile attack in Septemberdisabled the kingdom’s main oil refinery; while the Houthis claimed responsibility, UNinvestigators reportedly disputed the claim, and Saudi Arabia as well as the UnitedStates and several European governments said Iran was responsible.

F4 0-4 pts

Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of varioussegments of the population? 0

The courts engage in routine discrimination against various groups, citing theirinterpretations of Sharia. A woman’s testimony is generally given half the weight of aman’s, and the testimony of anyone other than observant Sunni Muslims can bedisregarded by judges.

Shiites, who make up 10 to 15 percent of the population, face socioeconomicdisadvantages, discrimination in employment, and underrepresentation ingovernment positions and the security forces.

Education and economic rights for Saudi women have improved significantly inrecent years, but women are still subject to extensive legal and societal

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discrimination, most notably through the guardianship system, in which women mustrely on a close male relative to approve many basic activities. Although legal reformshave recently reduced the scope of the guardianship system, it remains deeplyentrenched in societal practices and customs, and an individual woman’s degree offreedom depends to a large extent on the attitudes of her family. Reforms announcedin August 2019 included a ban on gender discrimination in employment, potentiallypreventing employers from requiring women to obtain a guardian’s permission towork.

Same-sex sexual activity is generally understood to be prohibited under Sharia, andLGBT+ people are at risk of harassment, discrimination, criminal punishment, andviolence.

G. Personal Autonomy and

Individual Rights

G1 0-4 pts

Do individuals enjoy freedom of movement, including the ability to changetheir place of residence, employment, or education? 0

The government punishes activists and critics by limiting their ability to travel outsidethe country, and reform advocates are routinely stripped of their passports. Familymembers of activists can also be banned from travel.

Gender segregation restricts freedom of movement for both men and women, butmale guardianship and other factors impose especially onerous constraints onwomen. The long-standing ban on women driving was lifted in June 2018. Also in2018, women were able to attend sporting events in stadiums for the first time, andboth men and women could visit the movie theaters that began opening in April.Under reforms announced in August 2019, adult women would be able to obtainpassports and travel abroad without a male guardian’s permission.

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Foreign workers cannot change jobs unless they have a no-objection letter from theirexisting employer, and some employers confiscate workers’ passports to preventthem from leaving.

G2 0-4 pts

Are individuals able to exercise the right to own property and establishprivate businesses without undue interference from state or nonstateactors?

1

While a great deal of business activity in the kingdom is dominated by or connectedto members of the government, the ruling family, or other elite families, officials havegiven assurances that special industrial and commercial zones are free frominterference by the royal family.

Women face legal discrimination regarding property rights, with daughters typicallyreceiving half the inheritance awarded to sons. Women are no longer legally requiredto obtain permission from a male guardian to obtain business licenses.

G3 0-4 pts

Do individuals enjoy personal social freedoms, including choice of marriagepartner and size of family, protection from domestic violence, and controlover appearance?

0

There are a number of official restrictions on marriage. For example, Muslim womenmay not marry non-Muslims, citizens typically require permission to marrynoncitizens, and men are barred from marrying women from certain countries. Allsexual activity outside of marriage is criminalized, and the death penalty can beapplied in certain circumstances. Women face legal disadvantages in divorce andcustody proceedings, and they cannot marry without a male guardian’s permission.Under the reforms announced in August 2019, women can register children’s birthsand oversee children’s travel.

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A 2013 law broadly defined and criminalized domestic abuse, prescribing fines and upto a year in prison for perpetrators. However, enforcement remains problematic, withsome officials prioritizing privacy and family integrity over safety and justice forvictims. Prosecutions are extremely rare. Women’s practical ability to leave abusiverelationships is severely limited. While women are no longer legally required to livewith their husbands under the August 2019 reforms, social taboos and otherobstacles often deter women from leaving their family home; there are a limitednumber of shelters for women escaping abuse, but women are not allowed to leavethe facilities without the permission of their guardian.

The authority of the religious police to enforce rules governing gender segregationand personal attire has been sharply curtailed in both law and practice since 2016.Nevertheless, some Saudis have faced penalties for breaching similar rules on socialmedia. In October 2019, an openly gay Saudi man was arrested for electronic crimesand public nudity after using social media to post pictures of himself wearing shortson the beach.

G4 0-4 pts

Do individuals enjoy equality of opportunity and freedom from economicexploitation? 1

A number of amendments to the labor law that went into effect in 2015 grantedbroader rights and protections to workers in the private sector. However, the lawdoes not apply to household workers, who are governed by separate regulations thatprovide fewer safeguards against exploitative working conditions.

Foreign workers—who make up more than half of the active labor force—enjoy onlylimited legal protections and remain vulnerable to trafficking and forced labor,primarily through employers’ exploitation of the kafala visa-sponsorship system. In2014, the Ministry of Labor ruled that expatriate workers who are not paid theirsalaries for more than three consecutive months are free to switch their worksponsors without approval. In practice, foreign workers are subject to periodic massdeportations for visa violations or criminal activity, though due process is often

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lacking in such cases. Government programs give preferential treatment tocompanies that hire certain percentages of Saudi citizens and penalize those that failto meet such targets.

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