The government often cooperated with the NSHR, the only state-accredited national human rights organization, and sometimes accepted recommendations. The NSHR has received requests for assistance and complaints about government policies that violate human rights. Under Sharia law, as interpreted in the country, consensual same-sex conduct is punishable by death or flogging, depending on the perceived seriousness of the case. It is illegal for men to “behave like women” or wear women`s clothing and vice versa. Due to social conventions and possible persecution, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) organizations were not openly active and there were no gay rights events of any kind. Official cases of social discrimination, physical violence and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity have been reported in the areas of employment, housing, access to education and health care. Stigmatization or bullying have helped limit reports of abuse. Sexual orientation and gender identity could form the basis of harassment, blackmail or other acts. Freedom of assembly is not respected and the government has imposed harsh penalties – sometimes even the death penalty – on those who lead or participate in public demonstrations. Access to basic services: The government reserves access to education, health care, social housing, courts and court proceedings, legal and other social services to citizens only. A 2012 royal decree grants free access to education to all Syrians in Saudi Arabia, and a separate 2015 decree grants Yemenis in Saudi Arabia free access to schools. In 2015-2016, the government wrote and funded 141,406 Syrian students and 285,644 Yemeni students in local schools, and provided university scholarships to 7,950 Syrians and 3,880 Yemenis.
The UNHCR office in Riyadh provided a subsistence allowance to a limited number of vulnerable families to cover basic services based on a needs assessment. The authorities worked with UNHCR to provide medical treatment even after a needs assessment. Since 2015, the government has provided free medical care to 47,000 Yemenis and paid for the treatment of more than 3,426 injured Yemenis in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Sudan. The government viewed unauthorized local human rights groups with suspicion, frequently blocking their websites and accusing their founders of creating and operating unauthorized organizations. ACPRA applied for a licence in 2008, which the authorities did not grant. The government initially allowed exploitation without a licence, but it remained unclear what activities the group could undertake without risking punishment. The company was unable to legally obtain resources, which limited its activities. In 2013, a court ordered the dissolution of ACPRA and the confiscation of its property (see Section 2.b., Freedom of Association).
Eleven ACPRA founders were initially arrested and eight remained in detention for their organisation-related activities. Courts continued to use corporal punishment as judicial punishment, usually in the form of flogging, flogging, or flogging, a common punishment that government officials defended as dictated by Sharia law. According to local human rights activists, the police carried out the flogging according to a set of guidelines determined by the local interpretation of Sharia law. The sentencing officer must place a copy of the Quran under his arm that prevents the hand from rising above his head, which limits the ability to inflict pain or injury on the person being sentenced, and the instructions prohibit the police from breaking the skin or causing scarring when administering the eyelashes. Human rights organizations denied that the authorities had carried out flogging in accordance with these guidelines for all prisoners and described flogging as a cruel and unusual form of punishment. The mutawa religious police impose restrictions on women when they are in public. [75] [140] These restrictions include requiring women to sit in separate and specially designated family rooms in restaurants, wear an abaya (a full-body, loose black coat that covers the entire body) and hide their hair. [140] Women are also at risk of arrest if they operate a vehicle driven by a man who is not an employee or close relative of the male. [140] Although there is no written ban on women driving cars, it was previously illegal for women in Saudi Arabia to drive because a Saudi driver`s license is required by law and has not been issued to women. [147] Driver`s licenses have been issued to women since June 2018 and the effective ban was lifted on June 24, 2018. [148] Saudi Arabia`s vast oil reserves belong to the Saudi government, in fact to the Saudi royal family.
[130] Article 14 of Basic Law states: In 2010, U.S. children born to a single mother who is not legally affiliated with the citizen`s father may be considered stateless even if the father has recognized the child as his child or if the government has not authorized the marriage of a citizen father and a foreign mother before the children are born. Citizenship laws do not allow Saudi women married to foreigners to pass on their citizenship to their children, except in certain circumstances, such as fathers who are unknown, stateless or of unknown nationality, or who do not establish ancestry. Sons of citizen mothers and non-citizen fathers can apply for citizenship as early as age 18 (if they have not already obtained citizenship at birth under certain circumstances). Girls can only obtain citizenship by marrying a Saudi man. A child may lose his or her legal identification and accompanying rights if the authorities revoke the identity documents of one of the parents (possible if a naturalized parent voluntarily denaturalizes or loses citizenship through other acts). In the absence of a codified law on civil status, judges decide family matters on the basis of their own interpretation of Islamic law. Although racial discrimination was illegal, social discrimination against members of national, racial and ethnic minorities had been a problem. There is also discrimination based on tribal or non-tribal descent. Descendants of former slaves of African descent in the country have faced discrimination both in employment and in society. There is formal and informal discrimination, particularly racial discrimination, against foreign workers from Africa and Asia.
The King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue`s tolerance campaign sought to address some of these issues by providing training during the year to combat discrimination against national, racial or ethnic groups. In some cases, however, people have publicly criticized certain government agencies or actions without impact. The Consultative Council (Majlis as-Shura), an advisory body, frequently allowed print and broadcast media to observe its meetings and meetings, but the Council closed some high-profile or controversial meetings for the media. Political parties and political participation: There were no political parties or similar associations.