Editing Saudi Arabia (section)

=== Human rights ===
{{main|Human rights in Saudi Arabia}}
{{see also|Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia|Public executions in Saudi Arabia}}

The Saudi government, which mandates Muslim and non-Muslim observance of Sharia law under the absolute rule of the House of Saud, has been denounced by international organizations and governments for violating human rights.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41731.htm|title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2004|author=Unattributed|date=28 February 2005|access-date=2 June 2008|publisher=US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour|archive-date=7 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107004858/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41731.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The authoritarian regime is consistently ranked among the "worst of the worst" in [[Freedom House]]'s [[Freedom in the World|annual survey of political and civil rights]].<ref>[https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Worst%20of%20the%20Worst%202010.pdf Worst of the Worst 2010. The World's Most Repressive Societies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024180123/https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Worst%20of%20the%20Worst%202010.pdf |date=24 October 2021 }}. freedomhouse.org</ref> According to [[Amnesty International]], security forces torture and ill-treat detainees to extract confessions to be used as evidence against them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/|title=SAUDI ARABIA 2016/2017|access-date=4 November 2017|archive-date=15 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815175129/https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/|url-status=live}}</ref> Saudi Arabia abstained from the UN vote adopting the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], saying it contradicted Sharia.<ref>{{cite book |author=Nisrine Abiad |title=Sharia, Muslim states and international human rights treaty obligations: a comparative study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dex7TKuoUhgC |year=2008 |publisher=BIICL |isbn=978-1-905221-41-7 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dex7TKuoUhgC&pg=PA60 60–65] |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118134309/https://books.google.com/books?id=dex7TKuoUhgC |url-status=live }}</ref> Mass executions, such as those carried out [[2016 Saudi Arabia mass execution|in 2016]], [[2019 Saudi Arabia mass execution|2019]], and [[2022 Saudi Arabia mass execution|2022]], have been condemned by international rights groups.<ref name="Anishchenkova2020">{{cite book | author = Valerie Anishchenkova | date = 1 June 2020 | title = Modern Saudi Arabia | publisher = ABC-CLIO | pages = 74– | isbn = 978-1-4408-5705-8 | oclc = 1137212712 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=F7XjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 | access-date = 16 January 2022 | archive-date = 28 March 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240328144421/https://books.google.com/books?id=F7XjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Since 2001, Saudi Arabia has engaged in [[Censorship in Saudi Arabia#The Internet|internet censorship]]. Most censorship falls into two categories: one based on censoring "immorality" (mostly pornographic and LGBT-supportive sites along with sites promoting any religious ideology other than Sunni Islam) and one based on a blacklist run by [[Ministry of Media (Saudi Arabia)|Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Media]], which primarily censors sites critical of the regime or associated with parties that are opposed to or opposed by Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 November 2018 |title=Saudi Arabia |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2018/saudi-arabia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222220534/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2018/saudi-arabia |archive-date=22 February 2020 |access-date=31 March 2019 |website=freedomhouse.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Alisa |first1=Shishkina |last2=Issaev |first2=Leonid |date=14 November 2018 |title=Internet Censorship in Arab Countries: Religious and Moral Aspects |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/11/358/pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331181346/https://res.mdpi.com/religions/religions-09-00358/article_deploy/religions-09-00358.pdf?filename=&attachment=1 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |access-date=31 March 2019 |journal=Religions|volume=9 |issue=11 |page=358 |doi=10.3390/rel9110358 |doi-access=free }} [[iarchive:religions-09-00358|Alt URL]]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Saudi internet rules, 2001 |url=https://al-bab.com/saudi-internet-rules-2001 |access-date=31 March 2019 |website=al-bab.com |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331182424/https://al-bab.com/saudi-internet-rules-2001 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Dira Square.JPG|thumb|right|[[Deera Square]], central Riyadh. It is a former site of public beheadings.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=al-Omar|first1=Asmaa|last2=Hubbard|first2=Ben|date=2021-08-13|title=For a Crime at 14, He Faces Death in a Case Casting Doubt on Saudi Reforms|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-execution.html|access-date=2022-01-19|issn=0362-4331|quote=A former site of public executions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital.|archive-date=3 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003010148/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-execution.html|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Saudi Arabian law does not recognize [[LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia|sexual orientations]] or religious freedom, and the public practice of non-Muslim religions is actively prohibited.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136079.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315154836/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136079.htm |archive-date=15 March 2010 |title=2009 Human Rights Report: Saudi Arabia |publisher=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref> The justice system regularly engages in [[capital punishment]], which has included public executions by [[decapitation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/004/1993/en/|title=Saudi Arabia: An upsurge in public executions|website=Amnesty International|date=30 June 1993 |access-date=2018-11-21|archive-date=2018-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122054039/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/004/1993/en/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Rights group condemns Saudi beheadings|date=14 October 2008|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27184784|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=14 October 2008|archive-date=4 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104031323/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27184784/|url-status=live}}</ref> In line with Sharia in the [[Legal system of Saudi Arabia|Saudi justice system]], the death penalty can theoretically be imposed for a range of offenses,<ref>{{cite news |title=Saudi system condemned |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/09/saudiarabia.brianwhitaker |newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 August 2003 |access-date=27 July 2011 |location=London |first=Brian |last=Whitaker |archive-date=13 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313062308/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/aug/09/saudiarabia.brianwhitaker |url-status=live }}</ref> including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, [[apostasy]],<ref name= BBCexecutioner>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2966790.stm |title=Saudi executioner tells all |date=5 June 2003 |work=BBC News |access-date=11 July 2011 |archive-date=1 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401233508/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2966790.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> adultery,<ref name= FRD306>{{cite book |title=Saudi Arabia A Country Study |last=Federal Research Division |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4191-4621-3 |page=304}}</ref> witchcraft and sorcery,<ref name= Miethe>{{cite book |title=Punishment: a comparative historical perspective  |last=Miethe |first=Terance D. |author2=Lu, Hong |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-60516-8 |page=63|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> and can be carried out by beheading with a sword,<ref name= BBCexecutioner/> [[stoning]] or firing squad,<ref name= FRD306/> followed by [[Crucifixion#Legal execution in Islamic states|crucifixion]] (exposure of the body after execution).<ref name= Miethe/> In 2022, the Saudi Crown Prince stated that capital punishments will be removed "except for one category mentioned in the Quran", namely [[Qisas#Traditional jurisprudence|homicide]], under which certain conditions must be applied.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-12 |title=Saudi Arabia puts 81 to death in its largest mass execution |url=https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-saudi-arabia-al-qaida-dubai-united-arab-emirates-a1984eab0faadefa0152d5c138525d80 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |quote=Well about the death penalty, we got rid of all of it, except for one category, and this one is written in the Quran |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024081433/https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-saudi-arabia-al-qaida-dubai-united-arab-emirates-a1984eab0faadefa0152d5c138525d80 |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2020, Saudi Supreme Court issued a directive to eliminate the punishment of flogging from the court system, replaced by imprisonment or fines.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52420307|title=Saudi Arabia to abolish flogging – supreme court|date=24 April 2020|work=BBC News|access-date=24 April 2020|archive-date=24 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424214438/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52420307|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/04/24/Saudi-courts-ordered-to-stop-use-of-lashing-as-punishment-Okaz-report.html|title=In landmark decision, Saudi Arabia to eliminate flogging punishment|date=24 April 2020|website=Al Arabiya English|access-date=24 April 2020|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428151858/https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/04/24/Saudi-courts-ordered-to-stop-use-of-lashing-as-punishment-Okaz-report.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Historically, Saudi women faced [[discrimination]] in many aspects of their lives and under the [[Wali (Islamic legal guardian)|male guardianship system]] were effectively treated as [[minor (law)|legal minors]].<ref name="HRW2016">{{cite journal| title =Boxed In — Women and Saudi Arabia's Male Guardianship System| journal =[[Human Rights Watch]] | date =16 July 2016| url =https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/16/boxed/women-and-saudi-arabias-male-guardianship-system | access-date =22 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826080422/https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/16/boxed/women-and-saudi-arabias-male-guardianship-system |archive-date=26 August 2016}}</ref> The treatment of women had been referred to as "[[sex segregation]]"<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.hri.ca/pdfs/HRT%20Spring,%20Volume%208,%20No.%201,%202001.pdf
 |access-date=21 August 2007
 |title=Human Rights Tribune – ed. Spring 2001
 |work=Human Rights Tribune
 |date=Spring 2001
 |publisher=International Human Rights Documentation Network
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002083608/http://www.hri.ca/pdfs/HRT%20Spring%2C%20Volume%208%2C%20No.%201%2C%202001.pdf
 |archive-date=2 October 2008
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/WarZoneChaptIIIA.html
|title=A Feminist Looks at Saudi Arabia
|year=1978
|author=Andrea Dworkin
|publisher=Andrea Dworkin on nostatusquo.com
|access-date=2 June 2008
|archive-date=29 August 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829142441/http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/WarZoneChaptIIIA.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> and "gender [[apartheid]]".<ref name=Handrahan>{{cite journal |author=Handrahan LM |title=Gender Apartheid and Cultural Absolution: Saudi Arabia and the International Criminal Court |publisher=Human Rights Internet |journal=Human Rights Tribune' |volume=8 |issue=1 |date=Spring 2001}} {{dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/the-australian-who-has-become-a-prisoner-of-gender-apartheid-20091113-ier0.html|title=The Australian who has become a prisoner of gender apartheid|date=14 November 2009|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=6 March 2010|archive-date=17 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217045604/http://www.smh.com.au/world/the-australian-who-has-become-a-prisoner-of-gender-apartheid-20091113-ier0.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As of June 2023, the kingdom has reportedly reversed its ban on women "becoming lawyers, engineers, or geologists" and established "aggressive [[affirmative action]] programmes", doubling the female labour force participation rate. It has added "its first female newspaper editors, diplomats, TV anchors and public prosecutors", with a female head of the Saudi stock exchange and member on the board of [[Saudi Aramco]].<ref name="GFOELLER 5 June 2023">{{cite news |last1=GFOELLER |first1=MICHAEL |last2=RUNDELL |first2=DAVID H. |date=5 June 2023 |title=Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Are More Than Just Oil and Water |agency=Newsweek |url=https://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-us-are-more-just-oil-water-opinion-1804607 |access-date=6 June 2023 |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606002230/https://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-us-are-more-just-oil-water-opinion-1804607 |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2018, the Saudi government issued a law officially allowing women to drive.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44576795.amp | title=Saudi Arabia's ban on women driving officially ends | date=23 June 2018 }}</ref> However, an investigation by ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper in 2025 found that the ''[[Dar al-Reaya]]'', officially "care homes", continued to be effectively "jails" for women whose families wish to institutionalize them for disobedience, extramarital sexual relations or being absent from home. Some women are sent to Dar al-Reaya to protect a family's reputation after a woman is sexually abused by a brother or father. Treatment was reported to be "hellish": very harsh, with solitary confinement, flogging, and no visits or contact.<ref name=levitt>{{cite news |last=Levitt |first=Tom |last2=Parent |first2=Deepa |date=28 May 2025 |title=Revealed: Saudi Arabia's secretive rehabilitation 'prisons' for disobedient women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/28/saudi-arabia-women-girls-rehabilitation-prisons-dar-al-reaya |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

Saudi Arabia is a notable destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of [[slavery|slave]] labour and sexual exploitation.<ref name="factbook">{{cite web |title=Trafficking In Persons |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/print_2196.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208041651/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/print_2196.html |archive-date=8 December 2015 |access-date=4 December 2015 |website=cia.gov |publisher=[[The World Factbook]]}}</ref> Migrants from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are employed in the country's construction, hospitality, and domestic work sectors under the [[kafala system]] which human rights groups say is linked to abuses [[Slavery in Saudi Arabia|including slavery]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2022 |title=Saudi Arabia: "It's like we are not human": Forced returns, abhorrent detention conditions of Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/5826/2022/en/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=[[Amnesty International]] |page=6 |language=en |quote=Under Saudi Arabia’s repressive sponsorship (kafala) system, migrant workers are only able to obtain a work permit or residency through an employer, and they are only able to terminate their contracts or change employers under certain conditions without the consent of their employer. Those who lose their residency status, either because they leave their jobs without the consent of the employer or overstay their work permits, and those who are unable to find employment in the formal sector are at risk of arbitrary detention, deportation to their home country by the authorities, as well as abuses such as forced labour and physical and sexual assault. |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314062320/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/5826/2022/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 July 2021 |title=French prosecutors probe slavery claims against Saudi prince |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-prince-accused-modern-day-slavery-french-prosecutors |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=[[Middle East Eye]] |language=en |quote=Human rights groups have often criticised Saudi Arabia's kafala system, a policy they say is exploitative and a form of modern slavery. |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314062320/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-prince-accused-modern-day-slavery-french-prosecutors |url-status=live }}</ref>