[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 192 (Friday, December 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S15653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESULTION 406--URGING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI 
        ARABIA TO OVERTURN THE SENTENCE OF THE ``GIRL OF QATIF''

  Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Levin, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Clinton, 
Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. Specter) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 406

       Whereas, in March 2006, the then-teenage woman known in 
     media reports as the ``Girl of Qatif'' was abducted and raped 
     by 7 men;
       Whereas the ``Girl of Qatif'' endured significant physical 
     and emotional harm as a result of her rape--a crime that was 
     neither her fault nor acceptable under any circumstances;
       Whereas, in October 2006, the General Court in Qatif, Saudi 
     Arabia sentenced the 7 rapists to prison terms ranging from 
     10 months to 5 years, but also sentenced the victim to 90 
     lashes for being alone in a car with a man to whom she was 
     not related;
       Whereas, on November 13, 2007, when the ``Girl of Qatif'' 
     appealed the decision of the General Court with her attorney, 
     Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem, the victim's sentence was increased to 
     200 lashes, a 6-month prison term was added, and the prison 
     terms of the rapists were increased to 2 to 9 years;
       Whereas, also on November 13, 2007, the General Court 
     suspended Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem's license to practice law, 
     and he was summoned to appear before a disciplinary committee 
     of the Ministry of Justice of Saudi Arabia on December 5, 
     2007, for allegedly ``misrepresenting legal subjects through 
     the media to confuse the judicial establishment's image and 
     thus harming the country'', but his hearing was postponed to 
     an unspecified date;
       Whereas, on November 20 and 24, 2007, the Ministry of 
     Justice issued statements on the case of the ``Girl of 
     Qatif'', alleging that the victim was guilty of an ``illegal 
     affair'' that is ``religiously prohibited'', that she was in 
     ``an indecent condition'' at the time of her abduction, and 
     that ``the main reason for the occurrence of the crime'' was 
     that the victim and her accompanying person ``violated the 
     provisions of Islamic law'', but Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem has 
     denied these accusations;
       Whereas, when asked about the case of the ``Girl of Qatif'' 
     on November 20, 2007, Department of State spokesman Sean 
     McCormack stated, ``We have expressed our astonishment at 
     such a sentence. I think that when you look at the crime and 
     the fact that now the victim is punished, I think that causes 
     a fair degree of surprise and astonishment. But it is within 
     the power of the Saudi Government to take a look at the 
     verdict and change it'';
       Whereas, on November 27, 2007, the Foreign Minister of 
     Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud bin Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, 
     stated that the judiciary of Saudi Arabia would further 
     review the case of the ``Girl of Qatif'';
       Whereas the Department of State's 2006 Country Report on 
     Human Rights Practices in Saudi Arabia (referred to in this 
     preamble as the 2006 Country Report), released on March 6, 
     2007, cited ``significant human rights problems'', including 
     ``infliction of severe pain by judicially sanctioned corporal 
     punishments'', ``denial of fair public trials'', ``exemption 
     from the rule of law for some individuals and lack of 
     judicial independence'', and ``significant restriction of 
     civil liberties--freedoms of speech and press, including the 
     Internet; assembly; association; and movement'';
       Whereas the 2006 Country Report also stated that Islamic 
     law, or Shari'a, prohibits abuse and violence against all 
     innocent persons, including women, yet reportedly spousal 
     abuse and other forms of violence against women were common 
     problems, although the Government did not keep statistics on 
     such violence and abuse;
       Whereas the 2006 Country Report also cited complaints that 
     ``judges often acted capriciously and did not base judgments 
     on precedent, leading to widely divergent rulings'';
       Whereas the 2006 Country Report also stated that, ``A 
     woman's testimony does not carry the same weight as a man. In 
     a Shari'a court, the testimony of one man equals that of two 
     women'';
       Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done at 
     Paris December 10, 1948, stipulates that all human beings 
     have the right to security of person, that, ``All are equal 
     before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to 
     equal protection of the law'', and that, ``No one shall be 
     subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
     treatment or punishment'';
       Whereas the legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on 
     Shari'a and does not mandate specific punishments for many 
     offenses, leaving judges with wide discretion in issuing 
     verdicts; and
       Whereas, in October 2007, the King of Saudi Arabia, 
     Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, issued a decree to reform 
     aspects of the country's judicial system, including new 
     training for judges, changes to the appeals process, and the 
     establishment of two supreme courts to replace the Supreme 
     Judicial Council as the final recourse after courts of first 
     instance and appellate courts: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) respects the sovereign rights of the Kingdom of Saudi 
     Arabia;
       (2) welcomes the commitment of the Government of the 
     Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reform its judicial system;
       (3) condemns sexual violence in all forms;
       (4) urges the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 
     undertake robust efforts to address the significant problem 
     of violence against women in the society of Saudi Arabia, to 
     promote equal treatment of women in the country's legal 
     system, and to ensure that victims of sexual violence are not 
     punished for the crimes committed against them and have 
     access to and recourse through the country's legal system to 
     bring the perpetrators of such violence to justice;
       (5) urges the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 
     overturn the sentence of the ``Girl of Qatif'' of 200 lashes 
     and 6 months in prison; and
       (6) expresses solidarity with the ``Girl of Qatif'' and the 
     women of Saudi Arabia in their efforts to address violence 
     against women and attain equal treatment in their country's 
     legal system, and with the many citizens of Saudi Arabia who 
     were outraged by the sentence of the ``Girl of Qatif''.

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