Saudi Arabia: Religious police role in school fire criticised
Source:
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch call upon the Saudi authorities to conduct an independent, thorough and transparent investigation of the fire on 11 March at a girls' public intermediate school that claimed the lives of at least fourteen students.
The tragedy has focused attention on the role of the religious police as well as the state agency responsible for the education of girls and women in the kingdom. Eyewitnesses, including civil defense officers, reported that several members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (mutawwa'in, in Arabic) interfered with rescue efforts because the fleeing students were not wearing the obligatory public attire (long black cloaks and head coverings) for Saudi girls and women.
Website Link:
http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/03/saudischool.htm
Submitted on Mon, 03/18/2002 - 01:00
Related News
- Mynamar: Kristallnacht in Myanmar
- Afghanistan: $2,500: The Value of a 6 year-old Afghan Girl.
- International: The Ethics of Alliance and Solidarity: An Exchange Between Rafia Zakaria and Meredith Tax
- Pakistan: Statement issued by the Women Action Forum (WAF), Karachi, following the attack on Shia residents of Abbas Colony
- Saudi Arabia: Breakthrough in Saudi Arabia: Women Allowed An Parliament
Related Actions
- Declaration of the Senegalese Feminist Forum statement during the Reflection on the Malian Crisis Meeting
- Saudi Arabia: WLUML/VNC Statement: 'We Say "Yes" to Women's Full Enjoyment of their Rights'
- Pakistan: Ensure safety of Asia Bibi and her family and repeal Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws
- UPDATE: Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani case: another test of Iran's flawed justice system
- Iran: A Statement of Concern Regarding the Televised ‘Confession’ by Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani