In a unique case, two women in Saudi Arabia have filed a case against a member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The women allege that he terrorized them and violated their rights in an incident at a Riyadh shopping center in 2004. The case which finally arrived for hearing last week was promptly postponed because the commission member failed to appear in court. The case in fact suggests a number of points for discussion as well as providing indicators of both social and judicial changes. The mere fact that the women came forward with a complaint of this nature is indicative of the changed social pressure on women and it also means that people now feel more free than ever to voice publicly their grievances against an authority figure.
The women’s lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem who has handled a number of very controversial cases lately, says he has taken the case in order to make the point that the rule of the law is above all and that any one with the slightest amount of power should know that there is no such thing as an untouchable person.
If the media coverage of this case says anything, I think it too indicates a change in how the media used to report — or not report — such cases in the past. Formerly these matters were approached warily, with the writer tiptoeing around the subject and being careful to avoid any outright condemnation or judgment. That this case has been reported as widely and as plainly as it has says a great deal about the opening up of our press.
The story is that the women, who were stopped in front of a Riyadh shopping center with their driver, were approached by commission members who accused them of “not conforming to customs of decency.” One commission member then told the driver to leave the car and he himself took the wheel, driving in the direction of a commission center. On the way, however, he hit a lamppost and when he noticed smoke coming out of the car, he abandoned the vehicle and the women — after locking them inside. One wonders why it has taken so long to punish this person? The reason is evidently the existence of a fatwa, an outdated one but a fatwa nonetheless, that states that individuals may not hold commission members accountable.
The case calls attention to the abuse of power by institutions and individuals. Sadly, it seems that when people — wherever they are in the world — are given power, they do not refrain from using it. As Lord Acton so succinctly observed, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In other words, abuse seems to come with the territory. Ask any of our foreign workers in the Kingdom and they can all tell you tales of how power has been abused and their rights violated. For them to complain of abuse is seldom tolerated and, in most cases, their complaints go unheard. In such circumstances, if one of them went to court, he knows very well that the ruling would likely be against him. He would probably also be blacklisted which would open a new cans of worms and make his life even more difficult. The case of the women is an interesting parallel. Because they complained, they are facing a wave of social pressure and verbal assault — for no reason other than that they are seeking justice.
A friend told me how he had problems at work and that he felt that his rights were constantly abused by his supervisor. My question was, “Why don’t you file a complaint?” which, I admit, was a naïve one. I assumed that there was actually a system to protect people’s rights. He shook his head and answered, “Complain and then what? My supervisor will remain where he is and I’ll gain a powerful enemy as well as landing at the top of his blacklist. It is useless.”
I am hoping that the women get a ruling in their favor in order to make the point the lawyer wants to make: That there is a limit to power and that the law should be above any one person.
