Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Islam and human rights

Since so many foreign Muslims seem to want to undermine or overthrow the West and replace it with more Islamic-friendly cultures or even with Sharia Law, I thought it might be good to take a look at what they apparently want to put in place of western civilization. The following are just a few characteristics of some Middle Eastern Muslim governments as reported by recently updated reports by the U.S. State Department.

United Arab Emirates

  • Arbitrary detention
  • incommunicado detention permitted by law
  • restrictions on civil liberties--freedom of speech, press, religion, etc.
  • domestic abuse of women, sometimes enabled by police
  • trafficking in women and children
  • legal and societal discrimination against women and noncitizens

Saudi Arabia

  • beatings and other abuses
  • arbitrary arrest
  • incommunicado detention
  • significant restriction of civil liberties--freedoms of speech, press, religion, etc.
  • legal and societal discrimination against women, religious and other minorities

Iran

  • summary executions, including of minors
  • disappearances
  • torture and severe punishments such as amputations and flogging
  • violence by vigilante groups with ties to the government
  • arbitrary arrest and detention, including prolonged solitary confinement
  • severe restrictions on civil liberties--speech, press, religion, etc.
  • violence…against women…minorities, and homosexuals
  • trafficking in persons
  • child labor

Syria

  • arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life
  • torture in prison
  • arbitrary arrests and detentions
  • absence of rule of law
  • severely restricted civil liberties--freedoms of speech, press, religion, etc.
  • violence and societal discrimination against women

Egypt

  • torture and abuse of prisoners and detainees, including deaths in custody
  • arbitrary, sometimes mass, arrest and detention
  • denial of fair public trial and lack of due process
  • political prisoners restrictions on civil liberties--freedoms of speech, press, religion, etc.

Pakistan

  • extrajudicial killings, torture, and rape
  • harassment, intimidation, and arrest of journalists
  • limits on freedom of association, religion, and movement
  • imprisonment of political leaders
  • legal and societal discrimination against women
  • child abuse
  • trafficking in women and children, and child prostitution
  • indentured, bonded, and child labor

Oman

  • arbitrary arrest
  • arbitrary and incommunicado detention
  • restrictions on the exercise of civil liberties‑freedom of speech, the press, assembly, etc.
  • restrictions on religious freedom discrimination and domestic violence against women

Qatar

  • civil liberties: restricted freedoms of speech, press, religion etc.
  • legal discrimination against women
  • trafficking in persons

Yemen

  • acknowledged torture
  • arbitrary arrest
  • significant restrictions on freedom of press, and assembly, etc.
  • intensified harassment of journalists
  • limited freedom of speech, association, religion, and privacy
  • trafficking in persons
  • child labor

Kuwait

  • abuse of and alleged torture of detainees
  • restricted civil liberties--freedoms of speech, press, assembly and association
  • limited freedom of religion and of movement
  • violence and discrimination against women, especially noncitizens

For a more complete list, click on the country name.