[Futurework] Inhuman rights

[Ed Weick]

Last night I watched Peter Mansbridge of the CBC interview William Sampson, a Canadian, who had been held in a Saudi prison for two and a half years for a crime he did not commit. He was finally released in mid-August. Mr. Sampson alleged that he had been severely beaten and tortured. Judging by the difficulty and obvious pain he experienced in recalling it all, what he said was credible. Under extreme torture, he had made a public confession of his "crime", feeling that he might be able to save some of his co-accused who had wives and children whereas he did not. He was sentenced to beheading. His brief descriptions made Saudi Arabia sound like a nightmare. Foreigners, like himself, live in compounds. Since liquor is not officially allowed, people in the compounds bring it in clandestinely or make their own beer and wine. Their biggest worry is the religious police, who, in making arrests, appear all to ready to use extreme force. How could what occurred to Mr. Sampson happen? One explanation might be that who calls the shots in Saudi Arabia is becoming less and less certain. For about two centuries, the house of Saud has been in an intimate relationship with Wahhabism, a fundamentalist form of Islam. Using its oil revenues, it has funded Wahhabist schools throughout the Islamic world. It has also used such revenues to fund terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad on grounds that they also undertake charitable works. As well, it has made a pact with the "great Satan", permitting American military bases on Arabian soil, which many Moslems regard as holy because of its historic role in the history of Islam. But while doing all of these things, it has not done very much for its own population, which now contains many seethingly angry young people. The House of Saud is in a bind. As one source puts it: … the House of Saud finds itself split between two antagonistic forces. On the one hand, it desires to keep the United States as an ally, and certainly not as an enemy. In order to do this, it must crack down on the militancy brewing within Saudi society. On the other hand, by tightening the leash on militant groups within Saudi society -- both physically and financially -- Riyadh makes itself a target for these groups, thus risking domestic stability. (http://www.pinr.com/) All of which suggests that what happened to Mr. Sampson and his co-accused could happen because no one is quite sure of who is in charge or just what to do. Those who feel they are in charge can, for whatever reason, exercise their inhuman rights if they choose to do so. Some of the things Mr. Sampson said suggested that he was being used as a personal punching bag. Another case of the exercise of inhuman rights involves another Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, who happened to route himself via New York in coming home on an international flight. For some incomprehensible reason, even though he was traveling on a Canadian passport, the Americans deported him to Syria, of which he is also considered a citizen because he was born there. He spent a year in prison even though he was never charged with anything. He is now on his way home, though presumably not via New York. It will be interesting to hear what he has to tell. Ed Weick