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They are perhaps most urgently required in the culturally diverse, but ethnically homogenous nation of Saudi Arabia, where women are accorded similar rights to what they were in the West, a century ago. That is, they are viewed as a slave to their own family.
Amongst the many discriminatory laws against them, women are not allowed to drive, they are not allowed to travel abroad unless either their husband or father has given written permission first, and they have to adhere to a strict dress code. Worst of all is the ease they can be accused of prostitution, and the harsh penalties that a claim can lead to.
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Yet sometimes women can be accused of worse crimes, with much more serious consequences. The following letter written by a woman facing the death penalty for charges of murder, to a former female prisoner, encapsulates the sense of injustice felt by women in Saudi Arabia. "Madam --- help me --- I have no-one here who will help me. My poor family has lost hope. I cannot have contact with the outside world. I cannot defend myself."
The Saudi Arabian government's official web site only acknowledges that the West has been outraged by the Kingdom's treatment of women, not that there is room for improvement. The site is highly critical of the West's liberal attitude to women, saying that taking women out of the family has led to increased social instability, crime rates, materialism and erosion of moral values, and besides in Saudi Arabia, "women are accorded respect and rights which until relatively recent times, were denied to the vast majority of women in the West." The site goes on to say that mild forms of economic liberation granted to women in the last twenty years has struck the necessary balance between their rights, and their role in the family, which the West has no right to impose its values upon.
Colonel Gadhafi said at a recent EU-Africa summit that the imposition of Western values onto Africa is a sign of Western ignorance to the causes of Africa's problems. "What Africa needs is water not democracy" he claimed. Presumably, King Fahd Ibn Abdu l-Aziz of Saudi Arabia would agree. But Saudi Arabia is, thanks to oil, at a stage in its development where it can afford as much water as it likes. Democracy does not necessarily have to follow anyway. The US is the freest nation in the world but it is highly intolerant of its own criminals. General emphasis on the prevention of causes of crimes through education and rehabilitation play second fiddle to biblical notions of individual punishment. Therefore, Saudi Arabia, in its bid to reject Western values as it rightly identified Western problems, has retained the very worst aspects of Western culture without adopting any benefits. Like Soviet- style Communism, in its insatiable desire to distance itself from the horrors of Western capitalist society, it has created something worse. For women are by no means the only group discriminated against in Saudi Arabia.
Anything that differs from the norm can receive severe treatment. People have been manhandled because of their religion, political views, nationality, sexual preference, or because they contravened one of the many moral codes that operate in Saudi Arabia.
As the King has absolute power, there are no political parties or elections. Yet the greatest problem in the battle for human rights, is that there are no trade unions, no independent legislature, no lawyers associations and no human rights organisations. Wide powers of arrest, vague laws, numerous unaccountable arresting authorities, the denial of basic rights for detainees and strict censorship of the media, television and use of the Internet lead to, as the independent analyst Kate Allen told G21, "secrecy, fear and suffering being the hallmarks of the judicial system in Saudi Arabia, which often results in systematic torture and execution." Saudi Arabia's rulers are so desperate to maintain the status quo, that some "criminals" feel lucky to escape that torture and execution following unfair trials with merely a flogging or amputation.
There is no freedom of religious belief, as apostasy and proselytism are considered punishable crimes. The most commonly persecuted religious groups are the nomadic Shi'a Muslims, who risk arrest even if they practice their religion in private, and whose books are forbidden. Sheik Salman bin Fahd al-'Auda was jailed for five years in 1994 for his religious beliefs. The Interior Ministry stated, "security forces have arrested him after about one year of attempts to convince him to repent his extremist ideas which threaten the unity of the Islamic society in the Kingdom." Abdul-Karim al-Nagihabandi was beheaded in 1996 after confessing to magic and witchcraft. Yet he said, "the officer put his shoe in my mouth, beat me up, put me in a cell and did not allow any visits. He threatened me with worse treatment if I refused to agree to the confession in court."
Political views are also only allowed if you do not act upon them. Dr Muhammed al-Mas'ari went too far when he publicly called for more human rights in the Kingdom. Released after a seven month detention without a trial, he illegally fled the country (former prisoners are not allowed passports, presumably to deny them an international voice) risking the wrath of the government against his family. Both his son and sister have since been detained.
Foreigners are also discriminated against. Foreign workers make up a huge percentage of the country's population, yet they are often tricked into signing Arabic papers that take away the limited rights that they had. A UK national, Pat Foster, was shopping in Riyadh in 1992 when he was abducted and thrown into a car. "I could only manage to repeat "what is the problem." At no point did I receive a response. They attached leg shackles round my ankles, secured my arms and handcuffed my wrists. Then they punched my head, chest and stomach."
The Saudi authorities also despise petty criminals. Despite the fact that young people consume many aspects of Western culture, they are not allowed to be actively involved in it, which leads to boredom and drugs. Yet as with elsewhere, the cause of the issues is not addressed, there is no rehabilitation for the offender, but as much as 6 years imprisonment for smoking one joint of cannabis.
However, most people are more concerned with the violence in Saudi Arabia that abuses human rights under any definition, than the overt prejudice against various groupings. Severe beatings and cruel torture methods that can involve sticks, electric shocks, cigarette burns and nail pulling are used, simply to obtain confessions. Once they have confessed they are left open to whippings, some as high as thousands of lashes, amputations and execution. The death penalty can be carried out for religious offences, drug dealing and homosexuality, and there is no minimum age for it.
The Saudi government's official line on human rights appears to be that two wrongs make a right: it is critical of the West but not of itself. According to its web site, the West only has knowledge of what human rights abuses are, because the West is responsible for committing the worst cases in history. It goes on to say that the "concept of human rights is dynamic [but anyway] there is a solid basis for the protection of human rights in the Kingdom."
It is certainly difficult for the West to be critical of Saudi Arabia's record when the US continually elects a death penalty supporter for its President. At least the fact that it no longer has a sexist leader shows progression has been made. Perhaps it is time that it went a bit further and showed the rest of the world, just as Sylvia Pankhurst did, that oppression should not and must not be accepted.
Then the Saudi government would have to think of something more than either the same views espoused by Western traditionalists 100 years ago, or "you're just as bad", as its defence of human rights violations.