WASHINGTON Ñ In its latest global survey, the U.S.-based Freedom House ranks Saudi
Arabia as one of the 10 least-free countries in the world. The other nations on the list
include Afghanistan, Burma, Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria,
and Turkmenistan.
The United States obtains 17 percent of its crude oil imports from Saudi
Arabia. U.S. civilian and military merchandise exports to the country in
2000 were reported to have totaled $6.23 billion.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia is by far the biggest customer for U.S. arms
exports among developing countries, Middle East Newsline reported. Riyad took deliveries worth more than
$28 billion in the 1993-2000 period.
A report by Human Rights Watch said the West has ignored Saudi
violations of human and religious rights to ensure a steady supply of oil.
The report said decades of disrespect by the kingdom for human rights have
resulted in a decreasing prospect of peaceful political reform.
"The ruling family is perpetuating a system that breeds intolerance and
political violence," the report by the New York-based organization said.
"Saudi citizens should be able to participate in public affairs and openly
debate ideas and policies rather than have to take their activities
underground or abroad."
The report said Saudi Arabia must urgently institute reforms in such
areas as women's rights, freedom of expression and assembly and
administration of justice. The organization urged Britain, the European
Union, the United States and the kingdom's Gulf Arab allies to press for a
reversal of long-standing policies that "deny the most fundamental human
rights for the kingdom's 22 million residents, including foreigners.
"The lack of human rights in Saudi Arabia should be high on the list of
bilateral concerns, and not ignored as the price of selling arms or buying
oil," Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa
division of Human Rights Watch, said. "Concern for human rights in Saudi
Arabia has ranked extremely low on the agenda of the United States."
