Opposition sources said Saudi Arabia has used its religious police to
arrest women drivers. They said the religious police marked the lead agency
in the crackdown against women who violated a ban on driving in the Wahabi
kingdom.
"If Saudi police think arresting women drivers is going to stop what has
already become the largest women's rights movement in Saudi history, they
are sorely mistaken," Saudi Women for Driving said.
The women's right coalition said the religious police, comprised of
Wahabi seminary students, were arresting women drivers in Jedda, the
kingdom's second largest city, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the police were checking cars and
forcing women drivers and passengers to sign a pledge that they would not
drive.
"On the contrary, these arrests will encourage more women to get behind
the wheel in direct defiance of this ridiculous abuse of our most basic
human rights," the coalition said.
The sources said the religious police have formed a network of informers
to monitor women drivers. They said at least five women drivers were
arrested in Jedda and later released.
On June 17, Saudi women launched their campaign to shatter the driving
ban. In all, 42 women drove vehicles around the Gulf Cooperation Council
kingdom in a move endorsed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
European Union leaders.
The Saudi government has pledged to increase supervision on the
religious police, accused of accosting and arresting married couples. But
over the last two years, officials said the Interior Ministry was doubling
the size of the religious police to 10,000 officers.
"This will not scare us," Saudi women's rights activist Eman Al Nafjan said.
Comments
The religious police is only a tool for the men who hire, pay for, instruct and use them to terrorize society in general,but women in particular.
The only power they have is the one assigned to them by their masters and handlers, especially Interior Minister, Prince Naif. See below.
“The Kingdom is an Islamic country. Therefore, the Commission of Virtue Promotion and Vice Prevention will be present as long as Islam is present on the earth. The promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah, is a major pillar of any Islamic country.” - Prince Naif
Ali Alyami
2:10 p.m. / Monday, July 11, 2011
It is about time the women of Saudi Arabia stood up for their rights. Saudi Arabia is so far behind in times of equality in the world that it is almost to a point of being ridiculous. Too many women have been out of the country to know what life in the world is really all about. Not just religion.
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