Tuesday, June 29 -- White House Event -- Women's Rights and Religious
Freedom in Saudi Arabia

http://www.realcourage.org/2010/06/saudi-white-house/

On Tuesday, June 29 at 12 Noon at the blocked off area of
Pennsylvania Avenue, between the White House and Lafayette Park,
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supporters will urge
President Obama and Saudi
Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to seek women's
equal rights and religious
freedom in Saudi Arabia, during their
meeting that day at the White House.

If you are interested in attending or for more information, contact:
Jeffrey Imm, mailto:info@realcourage.org
301-613-8789

Responsible for Equality And
Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has submitted an assembly plan notification to
the Washington DC Metropolitan Police for public awareness activity. In
May, we had a similar event regarding negotiations with the Taliban
while Afghan President Karzai was at the White House. If weather or
security conditions warrant, we will move to Lafayette Park, which we
have also discussed with the National Park Service (NPS).

Calling for Women's Equal Rights

We challenge the
lack of women's equal rights in Saudi Arabia, including the laws
that demand segregation of women in public life, the male
guardianship program, and the inequality for women in education,
employment, health, and equality before the law. We reject the
treatment of women, including public lashing, abuse of women at the
hands of religious police, and a culture which has allowed women to
become viewed as second class citizens - in the law and daily life.

We challenge the gender apartheid in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and
call for its leaders to accept the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which calls for such freedoms "in the equal rights of men and
women" in every part of the world.

We also call upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to recognize the
unqualified, universal human rights for all women in Saudi Arabia,
for a life not based on segregation, fear, intimidation, and oppression,
but as equal partners in that nation and in the world.

Calling for Human Rights of Religious Freedom

Our consistent support for freedom of religion, freedom of worship,
and freedom of conscience is based on the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18, which states that:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and
freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice,
worship and observance." We call upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and
the nations of the world to support such unqualified, universal human
rights on our fellow human beings right to believe and worship as they
see fit. We support all of our fellow human beings RIGHT
TO BELIEVE - without exception, without qualification - free from
intolerance, intimidation, and fear.

The U.S. State
Department continues to denote the lack of freedom of religion in Saudi
Arabia, and the United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended
that Saudi Arabia be listed as a Countries of Particular Concern (CPC).
We share the concerns about religious freedom in Saudi Arabia described
in both the U.S. State Department and the USCIRF reports, and we urge
U.S. President Obama to follow the recommendations
of the USCIRF in his June 29 meeting with Saudi King Abdulaziz.

In terms of religious freedom, we urge the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
(KSA) leaders to support Article
18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in the
interests of world peace and harmony, as well as the long term security
both for the KSA and the world.

Calling for Consistency in Our Universal Human Rights

We believe that support for such universal human rights is a
demonstration of our love for our fellow human beings.

We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate - Love Wins.

===========================================

Postscript: I know that some believe that calling for the KSA to
support women's human rights, the UDHR, and UDHR Article 18 for
religious freedom may seem impossible. In 1979, I also stood before
representatives of the Apartheid Government of South Africa calling for
the end to the racial supremacism of Apartheid laws created in 1750.
This was just 6
years before the founding of the first Saudi nation-state by Prince
Muhammed Ibn Saud and Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab.

The end of apartheid was
announced in 1990, and by
1992, apartheid was ended in South Africa. But in 1979, such calls
then too were viewed as impossible . But we have seen in the world
that the march for human freedom is relentless and consistent, like the
waves of the ocean, such universal human rights will ultimately not be
denied. It is our obligation to continue to participate in that march
for freedom, as human beings Responsible for Equality AND Liberty.

===========================================

Logistics and Map:

If you are taking the Washington DC subway (Metro), you should
exit at the Farragut West (Orange/Blue Lines), Farragut North (Red
Line), or McPherson Square (Orange/Blue Lines) metro
stops.

FARRAGUT WEST METRO STATION to WHITE HOUSE Walking Directions:
1. Exit station through 18TH & I (EYE) ST NW entrance. 2. Walk
approx. 1 block S on 18th St NW. 3. Turn left on Pennsylvania Ave NW. 4.
Walk approx. 3 blocks SE on Pennsylvania Ave NW.

FARRAGUT
NORTH METRO STATION to WHITE HOUSE Walking Directions: 1.
Exit station through CONNETICUT AVE & K ST NW entrance. 2. Walk a
short distance S on Connecticut Ave NW. 3. Walk straight on 17th St NW.
4. Walk approx. 1 block S on 17th St NW. 5. Turn left on I St NW. 6.
Walk a short distance E on I St NW. 7. Turn right on Connecticut Ave NW.
8. Walk approx. 1 block S on Connecticut Ave NW. 9. Bear right on
Jackson Pl NW. 10. Walk approx. 1 block S on Jackson Pl NW. 11. Turn
left on Pennsylvania Ave NW. 12. Walk approx. 1 block E on Pennsylvania
Ave NW.

===========================================

Additional Background on KSA and Women's Rights Issues:

Women's
rights in Saudi Arabia

Perpetual
Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex
Segregation in Saudi Arabia

-- Adobe
Acrobat PDF File

Saudi
Cleric Fired for Rejecting Segregation of Sexes -- Ahmed Qassim
Al-Ghamdi

Saudi
Cleric Calls for Gender Segregation or Death: Shaikh Abdul-Rahman
al-Barrak

Saudi Woman Criticizes Muslim
Clerics in TV Poetry Contest -- Gets Death Threats

Saudi
Arabia: "Domestic abuse goes unreported due to sensitivity"

Escaping
Saudi Arabia's gilded cage -- on oppression of women in Saudi Arabia

"Saudi
Arabia — The World's Largest Women’s Prison"

Saudi
Woman Challenges Male-Only Polygamy, Accused of Blasphemy

Saudi
judge: It's OK to slap spendthrift wives

Saudi religious
police blamed in 'honor' killing of sisters

Saudi Arabia: Brother
kills two sisters in Social Affairs shelter over "honor"

Saudi Arabia: 75 year old woman
lashed, press concerned about men

Saudi
Arabia: Philippine Woman Imprisoned for Being Rape Victim

===========================================

Additional Background on KSA and Religious Freedom Issues:

USCIRF Recommendations to President Obama for June 29 Meeting

The United
States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has
called upon President Obama to urge "the Saudi government to
implement effective strategies for preventing people from embracing
violent extremism in the first place. They will need to focus on
reforms that ensure that intolerance has no place in their culture.
Despite the Saudi government pledging to the United States nearly four
years ago that it would undertake such reforms, very little progress has
been made. In this regard, we appeal to you to raise three important
issues: revising the Saudi government-controlled curriculum and
textbooks; reining in the government-funded Commission to Promote Virtue
and Prevent Vice (CPVPV), or religious police; and releasing Hadi
Al-Mutif, the longest serving religious prisoner in Saudi Arabia."

U.S. Department of State International Religious Freedom Report
2009 on Saudi Arabia - Excerpts

The U.S.
Department of State International Religious Freedom Report 2009 on Saudi
Arabia states that:

"Freedom of religion is neither recognized nor protected under the law
and is severely restricted in practice."

"Moreover, the public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited,
and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice
(CPVPV) continued to conduct raids on private non-Muslim religious
gatherings. Although the Government also confirmed its stated policy to
protect the right to possess and use personal religious materials, it
did not provide for this right in law, and the CPVPV sometimes
confiscated the personal religious materials of non-Muslims."

"the Government continued to enforce its official interpretation of
Sunni Islam. Some Muslims who do not adhere to this interpretation faced
significant political, economic, legal, social, and religious
discrimination, including limited employment and educational
opportunities, underrepresentation in official institutions, and
restrictions on the practice of their faith and on the building of
places of worship and community centers. The largest group affected was
the Shi'a. Non-Muslims, most of whom are citizens of other countries,
also face significant restrictions on the practice of their faith. There
were fewer charges of harassment and abuse at the hands of the CPVPV,
but incidents of CPVPV excesses continued to cause many non-Muslims to
worship in secret, for fear of the police and CPVPV. Textbooks continued
to contain some overtly intolerant statements against Jews and
Christians and subtly intolerant statements against Shi'a and other
religious groups, notwithstanding Government efforts to review
educational materials to remove or revise such statements."

"On January 16, 2009, the Secretary of State re-designated the
country as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC)."

USCIRF
2010 Report on Saudi Arabia - Excerpts

"Despite King Abdullah undertaking some limited reform measures and
promoting inter-religious dialogue in international fora in recent
years, the Saudi government persists in banning all forms of public
religious expression other than that of the government’s own
interpretation of one school of Sunni Islam and also interferes with
private religious practice. Ismaili Muslims continue to suffer severe
discrimination and abuse on account of their religious identity and
there is an ongoing crackdown on Shi’a Muslim dissidents, which has
resulted in numerous arrests and detentions. Members of the Commission
to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (CPVPV or religious police) continue
to commit abuses, overstep their authority with impunity, and are not
subject to judicial oversight. Moreover, the government continues to be
involved in supporting activities globally that promote an extremist
ideology, and in some cases, violence toward non-Muslims and disfavored
Muslims."

"USCIRF again recommends in 2010 that Saudi Arabia be designated as a
"country of particular concern," or CPC. Although so designated by the
State Department since 2004, an indefinite waiver on taking any action
in consequence of the CPC designation has been in place since 2006."

"Little discernible progress has been made nearly four years after
the State Department publicly announced that, as a result of bilateral
discussions, the Saudi government had confirmed that it would advance
specific policies with the aim of improving religious freedom
conditions. The Saudi government continues to engage in an array of
severe violations of human rights as part of its repression of freedom
of religion or belief. Abuses include: torture and cruel and degrading
treatment or punishment imposed by judicial, security, and
administrative authorities; prolonged detention without charges and
often incommunicado; and blatant denials of the right to liberty and
security of the person, including through coercive measures aimed at
women and the broad jurisdiction and abusive actions of the CPVPV. The
full implementation by the Saudi government of the July 2006 policies
would diminish some of its institutionalized abusive practices that have
resulted in severe violations of freedom of thought, conscience, and
religion or belief in Saudi Arabia and worldwide."