HRW Calls on Saudi King to Withdraw Counterterrorism Law

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, wrote a letter to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah today, urging him to withdraw from cabinet consideration the draft Penal Law for Crimes of Terrorism and Its Financing. Roth argues, “the draft law contains numerous flaws that seriously undermine basic human rights and fundamental freedoms in the name of combating terrorism.”

HRW also attached a memorandum with the letter, identifying the following ways in which the law seriously undermines the protection of human rights: “problematic definitions of terrorism; broad restrictions on rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and association; excessive police and prosecutorial powers, infringing on the right to privacy; and intrusions on the independence of the courts and on the right to a fair trial.”

HRW recommended that Saudi Arabia work with international human rights experts in drafting a law that will protect basic rights.