Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights: Difference between revisions
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*[https://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/WR97/ME-07.htm SAUDI ARABIA Human Rights Developments 1997] |
*[https://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/WR97/ME-07.htm SAUDI ARABIA Human Rights Developments 1997] |
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*[http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/saudi/ Human Rights Watch - Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: A Deafening Silence] December 2001 |
*[http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/saudi/ Human Rights Watch - Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: A Deafening Silence] December 2001 |
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*[http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/1997/issue2/jv1n2a8.html Meria - State, Islam and Opposition in Saudi Arabia] - July 1997 |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061209124727/http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/1997/issue2/jv1n2a8.html Meria - State, Islam and Opposition in Saudi Arabia] - July 1997 |
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*[http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC04.php?CID=53 The Washington Institute: Holier Than Thou] executive summary |
*[http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC04.php?CID=53 The Washington Institute: Holier Than Thou] executive summary |
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Revision as of 04:29, 14 January 2018
The Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR; Arabic: لجنة الدفاع عن الحقوق الشرعية) was a Saudi dissident group created in 1993 which opposed the Saudi government as un-Islamic.[1]
The CDLR was the first opposition organization in the Kingdom openly challenging the monarchy, accusing the government and senior ulama of not doing enough to protect the legitimate Islamic rights of the Muslims.[2]
History
Founded in Riyadh on May 3, 1993 by six prominent Islamist scholars and academics, the Committee served to "pass on the views of the Islamist opposition that was rapidly developing in the universities and mosques" of Saudi Arabia. In its Arabic language pronouncements the CDLR maintained a strict "Islamist line," claiming to defend "the rules laid out in the sharia," while its English language statements denounced violations of human rights in Saudi.[1]
Using the new media such as faxes and Internet efficiently, the CDLR members from the Kingdom and later from the exile in London, challenged the foundation of the Saudi regime, that is, the contract between Saudi rulers and the religious establishment, and criticized the behavior and decisions of the Saudi authorities, and King Fahd in particular.[2]
Following an interview by the BBC of Mohammad al-Masari, its official spokesman, the CDLR's "signatories and their sympathizers promptly lost their jobs and were thrown into jail."[1] The organization was banned, and its members either left Saudi Arabia or went underground. The CDLR was described as "banned and defunct" by the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association when the latter was created in October 2009.[3]
Following a campaign by Amnesty International, al-Masari was released from prison, and along with Sa'ad Al-Faqih reestablished the CDLR in London, United Kingdom in April 1994. The group made "feverish use" of fax machines and later an Internet website to criticize the ruling family and deliver its message to Saudi Arabia. Their campaign was effective enough that the Saudi royal family threatened the British government with an end to "lucrative defence contracts and other commercial deals" if "Mr Masari was not silenced," and a court battle ensued over Whitehall's attempt to do just that. "In the end, Mr Masari won a legal battle ... but soon after that he faded from public prominence."[4]
In 1996, Faqih broke with al-Masari who was then a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, "arguing that the Saudi opposition should operate only within the strict boundaries of UK law," and created the rival Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA).[4]
Response from the Kingdom
The Saudi government strongly responded to the activities of the CDLR. In September 1994, two leaders of the CDLR,
Criticism
Scholar Gilles Kepel has described CDLR and Al-Masari as "failing to raise any groundswell of support" within Saudi Arabia and "sadly lacking" in Islamic "doctrinal ... ballast", as became evident after "he was confronted by a barrage of
In recent years, the CDLR has been denounced by the
In the US State Department's 2005 report,[6] the CDLR is described as an extremist organization which seeks the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy by force.
Although blacklisted in the US and many EU countries, the CDLR does not appear on any US or UN list of terrorist groups.
References
- ^ a b c d Kepel, Gilles, Jihad : the trail of political Islam, Harvard University Press, (2002), p.215
- ^ . Retrieved April 25, 2012.
- ^ "Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) (An Establishing Declaration) — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Monday, October 12, 2009". Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. 2009-10-12. Archived from the original on 2011-03-25. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Profile: Saudi political opposition by Gerald Butt Last Updated: Thursday, 10 February 2005
- ^ Kepel, Jihad, (2002), p.216
- ^ a b Saudi Arabia: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -- 2004, US Department of State
Reading List
- Teitelbaum, Joshua (2000). Holier Than Thou: Saudi Arabia's Islamic Opposition (Man and Poet Series). Brookings Institution,U.S. ISBN 0-944029-35-3.
External links
- Asia Times Online - The dangers of silencing Saudi dissent Jan 21st 2005
- SAUDI ARABIA Human Rights Developments 1997
- Human Rights Watch - Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: A Deafening Silence December 2001
- Meria - State, Islam and Opposition in Saudi Arabia - July 1997
- The Washington Institute: Holier Than Thou executive summary