COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES REVIEW OF SAUDI ARABIA'S REPORTS ON COMPLIANCE WITH CONVENTION

CERD
62nd session
6 March 2003
Morning



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its review of the initial and second periodic reports of Saudi Arabia after hearing the response of a Government delegation to questions raised yesterday.
The 12-member Saudi Arabian delegation, said, among other things, that Saudi law allowed non-Muslims to practice their religious rituals, and the law punished non-State agents who impeded such practices.
The delegation also affirmed that the role of women in Saudi Arabia was growing and that they were participating in the overall development of the country; there was no discrimination against women; and being veiled did not mean that Saudi women were inactive.
Marc Bossuyt, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the reports of Saudi Arabia, said that the Saudi delegation had provided specific information to questions raised by members of the Committee. Education was given to children of foreign residents in 178 institutions and the education system respected the children's identities.
Mr. Bossuyt also said that the delegation had given assurances that employers could no more hold the passports of their foreign employees, and that the "Saudization" plan was to provide work for the country's emerging young labour force and not to take the place of foreign workers.
Committee Chairperson Ion Diaconu also said that while maintaining its traditions, Saudi Arabia was changing, and it should continue with the same path of change. The change in mentality was very essential, he added.
The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Saudi Arabia towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes on 21 March.
Taking part in the debate were Committee Experts Regis de Gouttes, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Mohamed Aly Thiam, Morten Kjraeum, Yuri A. Reshetov and Mario Jorge Yutzis.
As one of the 167 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, Saudi Arabia must submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it is giving effect to the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee is scheduled to take up the thirteenth to seventeenth periodic reports of Tunisia when it reconvenes at 3 p.m.

Response of Saudi Arabia
The members of the Saudi Arabian delegation provided responses to the questions raised by Committee Experts yesterday afternoon. They said, among other things, that Saudi Arabia was a young country and it had suffered from scourges of health, education and development before its unification. The country could not be compared with other developed countries. In the past, it had also suffered from a lack of infrastructure which had impeded it from developing. However, things had now changed.
The allegations made by Amnesty International concerning foreign workers sentenced to the death penalty, which the country rapporteur had referred to, were being carefully studied by the authorities, the delegation.
Children of foreign origin living in Saudi Arabia enjoyed all rights pertaining to education and health, the delegation said. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had authorized the establishment of schools for the foreign community living and working in the country. There were 178 foreign schools of different nationalities providing education to more than 100,000 students. The Kingdom furnished all the necessary educational materials.
If the nature of a work required the mingling of men and women, the situation could be tolerated, the delegation said. In places such as hospitals and oil by-product sites, men and women could work together.
In some Saudi schools girl students attended technical education classes, the delegation said, alluding to an Expert's question on the absence of female engineers and journalists. There were also women journalists in the country.
Any lawyer had the right to assist an accused person throughout the judicial process, the delegation said. The case could go through the different levels of the justice system as required. Special tribunals were also set up to deal with labour conflicts.
Shariah was the basis for all laws of the country, the delegation said. There was no conflict between the Basic Law and Shariah. Islamic law did not oblige non-Muslims to learn Islamic rules.
The Koran prohibited Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men. Also according to the Koranic text and the Sunna, the witness of two women was equivalent to one man's witness, the delegation said.
Saudi law allowed non-Muslims to practice their religious rituals, the delegation said. The law also punished the offenders who prohibited the religious practice of non-Muslims. The offence was usually the act of individuals and not that of the State.
There was no impediment to the right to freedom of women and they did not need to be accompanied by men, the delegation said. There were no directives given to foreign women to cover their body with a black garment.
Article 9 of the Law on Nationality provided for the acquisition of Saudi nationality provided the individual was an adult, permanent resident and had a good moral conduct, the delegation said. A foreign man who married a Saudi woman could obtain Saudi nationality after fulfilling the conditions enumerated under article 9 of the Law on Nationality. However, a foreign woman who married a Saudi man could automatically obtain Saudi nationality or keep her original nationality.
Concerning the status of the Iraqi refugees in the Kingdom, the delegation said that their status was recognized in accordance to relevant international conventions. The former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, during her visit to Saudi Arabia, had taken note of their situation. A memorandum of understanding had already been signed between UNHCR and Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom was providing all the necessary material support to the Iraqi refugees. The allegations of maltreatment of the refugees were untrue. Among the 5,000 Iraqi refugees, the Government had granted permanent residence permits to 2,500 of them. There was no discrimination against asylum-seekers and refugees in the country.
The use of the Internet was disciplined to follow the strict guidelines against the dissemination of hatred or instigation of discrimination, the delegation said. The Saudi authorities were monitoring Internet networks to hamper individuals from diffusing racial hatred or manifesting any form of racial superiority.
Labour regulations were applied to both Saudis and foreign workers, the delegation said. There were no migrant workers in Saudi Arabia; but there were foreign employees working on fixed term contracts with their "sponsors". The term "sponsor" was jargon used by some quarters and it should be replaced by "employer".
The situation in which an employer retained the passport of his foreign employer and limited his movement was under study by the Saudi authorities and the ILO experts. There was no law prohibiting the movement of the worker within the country. The retention by the employer of the employee's passport was illegal.
An employer or an employee could lodge complaints with labour tribunals in the event of conflict between them, the delegation said. If the labour dispute was not settled amicably outside the court, the case could be addressed by the tribunal.
The rapporteur had referred to article 160 of the Labour Code as prohibiting the mingling of women and men, the delegation said, adding that the provision was based on Islamic law which could not be denied. However, it did not hamper women and men from working together in certain workplace such as hospitals.
The launching of the "Saudization" plan by the Government of Saudi Arabia was aimed at providing work for its citizens, as was the case in many countries.
The allegations that workers from Asia and Africa were discriminated against were without basis, the delegation said. The Kingdom was signatory to the International Labour Organization Convention No. 111 of 1958 concerning discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
The role of women was growing and they were participating in the overall development of the country, the delegation said. Saudi women received the highest levels of education and contributed to the country's growth through their work. There was no discrimination against women; and they were active in taking decisions concerning themselves and their families. Being veiled did not mean that Saudi women were inactive.
The delegation said the Saudi authorities were making all efforts to fight any form of racial discrimination in order to allow all individuals, Saudis and foreigners, to live in full harmony.

Experts' Remarks
Following the delegation's response, members of the Committee made comments. An Expert said that the affirmation by the delegation that there was no conflict between the Basic Law and the Shariah was encouraging. However, in its conclusions, the Committee on the Rights of the Child had commented that the narrow interpretation of the Islamic law by the Saudi authorities might be detrimental to the full implementation of the rights of the child.
Another Expert said, expressing himself in Arabic, that Arabic was discriminated against in the Committee because he was not allowed to speak in Arabic. Although it one of the UN official languages, the Committee was the only body that did not allow Arabic to be spoken by its experts. He said that much of the Committee's time had been spent discussing matters not related to the provisions of the Convention. The issue of women and children was not related to the Convention, for example. It was also wrong to say that Saudi Arabia was discriminating against foreigners.
An Expert said that the host State had the prime responsibility concerning the well-being of refugees and was obliged to take care of them in accordance with international norms. The allegations regarding the ill-treatment of Iraqi refugees had been affirmed by Amnesty International.
Another Expert said that there was a need for dialogue among civilizations, and both sides should reinforce the dialogue. Saudi Arabia, although a young nation, had contributed a great deal to the growth of the United Nations.
An Expert wondered why the West had to impose its culture on others. Every nation had rights and was entitled to defend its own identity.
MARC BOSSUYT, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the reports of Saudi Arabia, said that Saudi Arabia was a young nation as it was emphasized by the delegation. The delegation had provided specific information to questions raised by members of the Committee. Education was given to children of foreign residents in 178 institutions and the education system respected the children's identities. The delegation had also provided information that religions minorities existed in the country and that they had the right to practice their respective religions. Information was also given on how to acquire the Saudi nationality; however, the conditions leading to the striping of Saudi nationality was not elucidated.
Mr. Bossuyt also said that the delegation had given assurances that employers could not hold the passports of their foreign employees any more. The delegation had also explained that the "Saudization" plan was to provide work for the country emerging young labour force and not to take the place of foreign workers.
In conclusion, Mr. Bossuyt said that the successful first presentation of the Saudi reports was an important signal of the country's openness.
ION DIACONU, Committee Chairperson, said that while maintaining its traditions, Saudi Arabia was changing, and it should continue on the same path of change. The change in mentality was very essential.



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