"Mohammed bin Salman's ill-advised ventures have weakened Saudi Arabia’s position in the world"
The murder of Jamal Khashoggi has focused attention on Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses. We need to remember all of the thousands in prison.
By Katherine Zoepf Ms. Zoepf is a journalist who writes about the Middle East.
Dec. 13, 2018
Brian Stauffer
In November 2015, I spent a couple of weeks reporting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It had been less than two years since my last visit to the country and just 10 months since King Salman’s ascension to the throne, but the mood among local activists and intellectuals had darkened considerably. On my final evening, my friend Fahad al-Fahad, a marketing consultant and human rights activist, offered to take me on a tour that, he suggested, might help to explain the new atmosphere.
We drove to the Jaffali mosque, where, just outside, public beheadings are carried out, and where, earlier that year, Raif Badawi, another Saudi activist, had been flogged .. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/world/middleeast/saudis-begin-public-caning-of-blogger-first-50-of-1000-blows-are-administered.html?module=inline .. before hundreds of onlookers. Then we drove through the desert toward the village of Dhahban, where the Interior Ministry was building a massive new prison complex, which Fahad said was to help house the burgeoning population of Saudis convicted under the country’s broad counterterrorism laws. Under King Salman, Fahad explained, these laws were increasingly being used to lock up peaceful dissidents.
“Every time my doorbell rings, I think someone has come to arrest me,” Fahad said.
Dhahban Central Prison opened a few weeks after our visit, and many of the kingdom’s highest-profile detainees — including Mr. Badawi and his former lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair — were transferred there. Four months later, the arrest Fahad had been dreading finally came, and he was jailed at Dhahban, too. He is now serving a five-year prison term .. https://pen-international.org/news/saudi-arabia-writer-and-human-rights-defender-fahad-al-fahad-detained .. for “inciting hostility against the state” via tweets. His sentence includes a 10-year travel ban, which will begin following his release, as well as a lifelong writing ban.
The killing of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 has led to intensifying international scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince and day-to-day ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, and of his actions abroad. Though President Trump has stood by the crown prince, the Senate voted in November to advance a bill .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/politics/trump-saudi-arabia-yemen.html?module=inline .. that would end American support for his military campaign in Yemen. Last week, Senate leaders demanded a briefing from the C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel, on the evidence surrounding Mr. Khashoggi’s murder; after meeting with Ms. Haspel, senior senators told reporters .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/us/politics/cia-senate-khashoggi-.html?module=inline .. they were convinced that Prince Mohammed had ordered the killing.
But despite continuing anger over Mr. Khashoggi’s fate, too little attention is being paid to the crown prince’s treatment of dissidents inside the kingdom, who often lack the resources to consider lives in exile, and who are now being imprisoned in record numbers. More than 2,600 Saudi dissidents, including prominent scientists, writers, lawyers and women’s rights campaigners, are in detention in Saudi Arabia, according to Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners. Most were convicted under the kingdom’s counterterrorism laws, receiving sentences for such nonviolent offenses as “criticizing the royal court” and “ridiculing religious figures.” Few of these people are as well known in Western capitals as Mr. Khashoggi was, but their stories are no less important.
Saudi Arabia was not always like this. Viewed from afar, Saudi kings may look like one long, undifferentiated line of autocrats. But the degree to which dissent is tolerated has fluctuated over time, depending on the temperament of the ruler and the pressures he faces.
Though King Salman’s predecessor, King Abdullah, was often castigated by Western human rights groups, Saudi conservatives attacked him for encouraging public discussion of reform. In 2003, while he was still crown prince, Abdullah initiated a series of meetings that brought together representatives from diverse sectors of Saudi society to examine potential solutions to the kingdom’s problems. After becoming king in 2005, he gave hundreds of thousands of young Saudis scholarships to European and North American universities. By 2010, Saudis were among the world’s most avid users of social media, taking to Twitter and Facebook to campaign for greater rights and freedoms, particularly for women.
But the spectacle of Arab leaders succumbing to the Arab Spring uprisings alarmed the elderly king and his advisers, leading them to wonder if they’d gone too far. The Saudi government tried to buy off the opposition, spending billions on public housing and higher salaries. It also imprisoned some of the most outspoken activists, including Mohammed Fahad al-Qahtani, Abdullah al-Hamid, and Mohammed Saleh al-Bejadi, founding members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association .. https://hrwa.cul.columbia.edu/search/10177518 .. who had steadfastly refused to be co-opted.
After King Salman took the throne in January 2015, the pace of arrests accelerated. Executions spiked, reaching levels unseen for two decades. Alongside this crackdown came a deliberate shift in narrative, led by Prince Mohammed, who, within months of his father’s coronation, had been put in charge of oil, economic policy and the armed forces. Public discussion of social reform was sharply reduced. The national conversation about progress was now limited to technology and entrepreneurship. This new emphasis struck many Saudi intellectuals as cynical, calculated to impress Western visitors, who came away from meetings with the crown prince gushing praise.
After the crown prince’s Vision 2030 plan to diversify the Saudi economy was announced in April 2016, pressure to toe the official line laid out in the vision became more aggressive. Crackdowns on activists grew even more severe. And it wasn’t just the Saudis who disagreed with Prince Mohammed who found themselves detained: The prince was leading an “anti-corruption” drive, but simultaneously overseeing the imprisonment of writers like Fahad, who had criticized official graft. At the same time that the government permitted women to drive, female right-to-drive activists, such as Loujain al-Hathloul and Eman al-Nafjan, were imprisoned. Last month, Amnesty International reported .. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/11/saudi-arabia-reports-of-torture-and-sexual-harassment-of-detained-activists/ .. that some have been tortured.
In the 18 months since Prince Mohammed became heir apparent, the message to those inside the kingdom has become clear: The prince’s need to control the narrative is so great that he will brutally suppress not only dissidents but also those who agree with him — should they dare to express their views in public. The intended message to outsiders is clear, too: Prince Mohammed is Saudi Arabia’s only hope and savior, a visionary bent on dragging his resistant subjects into the future.
That narrative is now fraying. The killing of Mr. Khashoggi, a relatively mild critic of the kingdom, has exposed Prince Mohammed and the Saudi government’s intolerance of any kind of dissent. But the thousands of political prisoners should be part of the conversation, too, even if they didn’t write columns for major Western newspapers or were never popular dinner-party guests in Washington and London.
Saudi Arabia’s allies — in particular the United States and especially Congress, since the Trump administration seems intent on giving Prince Mohammed a pass .. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-saudi-exclusive/exclusive-trump-says-standing-by-saudi-crown-prince-despite-pleas-from-senate-idUSKBN1OB01C — must insist on the release of the kingdom’s political prisoners. The Khashoggi scandal has wrong-footed the Saudi leadership, significantly increasing the likelihood that such a demand will be acted upon. Western leaders who wish to avenge the murder should demand freedom for Mr. Khashoggi’s fellow dissidents.
Prince Mohammed may not realize it, but his obsession with maintaining his image as the sole voice of Saudi progress is hobbling his own reform efforts. By releasing political prisoners and loosening restrictions on free expression, the crown prince would not only earn a great deal of good will and silence some of the calls to punish the kingdom, but he also would restore an organic, homegrown check on his power, thereby increasing his chances of achieving the social and economic reforms he claims to aspire to. My friend Fahad and his fellow dissidents are, like Mr. Khashoggi, Saudi patriots who want nothing more than to devote their energies and talents to their country’s advancement.
Katherine Zoepf (@katherinezoepf) is the author of “Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri quits as anti-government protests turn violent
- "Mohammed bin Salman's ill-advised ventures have weakened Saudi Arabia’s position in the world [...] Saudi relations with other countries used to be cautious, conservative and aimed at preserving the status quo. But today its behaviour is zany, unpredictable and often counterproductive: witness the bizarre episode in November when the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri was summoned to Riyadh, not allowed to depart and forced to resign his position. The objective of this ill-considered action on the part of Saudi Arabia was apparently to weaken Hezbollah and Iran in Lebanon, but has in practice empowered both of them.
What all these Saudi actions have in common is that they are based on a naïve presumption that “a best-case scenario” will inevitably be achieved. There is no “Plan B” and not much of a “Plan A”: Saudi Arabia is simply plugging into conflicts and confrontations it has no idea how to bring to an end.
MbS and his advisers may imagine that it does not matter what Yemenis, Qataris or Lebanese think because President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and chief Middle East adviser, are firmly in their corner. “I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing,” tweeted Trump in early November after the round up and confinement of some 200 members of the Saudi elite. “Some of those they are harshly treating have been ‘milking’ their country for years!” Earlier he had tweeted support for the attempt to isolate Qatar as a supporter of “terrorism”.
But Saudi Arabia is learning that support from the White House these days brings fewer advantages than in the past. The attention span of Donald Trump is notoriously short, and his preoccupation is with domestic US politics: his approval does not necessarily mean the approval of other parts of the US government. The State Department and the Pentagon may disapprove of the latest Trump tweet and seek to ignore or circumvent it. Despite his positive tweet, the US did not back the Saudi confrontation with Qatar or the attempt to get Mr Hariri to resign as prime minister of Lebanon." -
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has resigned, saying he has hit a "dead end" in trying to resolve a crisis unleashed by huge protests against the ruling elite, plunging the country deeper into turmoil.
Key points:
* Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war
* Mr Hariri has been traditionally backed by the West and Sunni Gulf Arab allies
* The Government will stay on in a caretaker capacity as talks begin on forming a new one
Mr Hariri addressed the nation after a mob loyal to the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah and Amal movements attacked and destroyed a protest camp set up by anti-government demonstrators in Beirut.
It was the most serious strife on the streets of Beirut since 2008, when Hezbollah fighters seized control of the capital in a brief eruption of armed conflict with Lebanese adversaries loyal to Mr Hariri and his allies at the time.
Mr Hariri's resignation points to rising political tensions that may complicate the formation of a new government capable of tackling Lebanon's worst economic crisis since its 1975-90 civil war.
Photo: Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announces his resignation. (AP: Hassan Ammar)
Lebanon has been paralysed by the unprecedented wave of protests against the rampant corruption of the political class.
"For 13 days, the Lebanese people have waited for a decision for a political solution that stops the deterioration [of the economy]. And I have tried, during this period, to find a way out, through which to listen to the voice of the people," Mr Hariri said.
"It is time for us to have a big shock to face the crisis. To all partners in political life, our responsibility today is how we protect Lebanon and revive its economy."
Iranian-backed Hezbollah form part of Mr Hariri's ruling coalition, but his resignation could lead Lebanon further under the sway of Hezbollah, making it even harder to attract badly needed foreign investment.
Mr Hariri, who has been traditionally backed by the West and Sunni Gulf Arab allies, is seen as the focal point for Western and Gulf Arab aid to Lebanon, which is in dire need of financial support promised by these allies.
Lebanon is facing a deep-running fiscal crisis as it staggers under one of the highest debt ratios in the world — $86 billion, or more than 150 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.
'If the thugs come in bigger numbers, so will we'
Photo: Security forces did not initially intervene to stop the assault. (AP: Hussein Malla)
On Tuesday night, baton-wielding Hezbollah supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut, torching tents, smashing plastic chairs and chasing away protesters.
Head of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said last week that roads closed by protesters should be reopened and suggested the demonstrators were financed by its foreign enemies to implement their agenda.
Smoke rose as some of the protesters' tents were set ablaze by Hezbollah and Amal supporters, who earlier fanned out in the downtown area of the capital shouting "Shia, Shia" in reference to themselves and cursing anti-government demonstrators.
"With our blood and lives we offer ourselves as a sacrifice for you Nabih!" some chanted in reference to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, head of the Amal Movement.
"We heed your call, we heed your call, Nasrallah!" they chanted.
Photo: Hezbollah supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut, torching tents and chasing away protesters. (AP: Hussein Malla)
Security forces did not initially intervene to stop the assault, in which protesters were hit with sticks and were seen appealing for help as they ran, witnesses said. Tear gas was eventually fired to disperse the crowds.
The demonstrators later returned to the camp in time to hear the news the Prime Minister was stepping down. The protesters erupted in cheers.
Some described Mr Hariri's resignation as a victory for the "October 17 uprising" and said the attack on the protest camp had redoubled their determination.
"What happened is a point of strength for us … If the thugs come in bigger numbers, so will we," protester Kamal Rida said.
"The tents that are broken can be rebuilt, easy."
In his address, Mr Hariri did not refer to the violence but urged all Lebanese to, "Protect civil peace and prevent economic deterioration, before anything else".
Photo: Anti-government protesters returned to set up new tents following the attack. (AP: Bilal Hussein)
Lebanon's power-sharing system
Under Lebanon's constitution, the Government will stay on in a caretaker capacity as talks begin on forming a new one.
It took nine months to form the Hariri coalition cabinet that took office in January.
Lebanon has gone through long periods of paralysis before. A complex power-sharing arrangement distributes power and high offices among Shiites, Sunnis and Christians.
That has prevented the country from sliding back into civil war but has spawned networks of patronage and nepotism, and has made it virtually impossible for the Government to take major decisions or even provide reliable public services.
The protesters have called for sweeping change to the political system that would produce non-sectarian governments capable of addressing the country's many challenges.
Photo: The protesters have called for sweeping change to the political system. (AP: Bilal Hussein)
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
