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These are our friends?
Britain's support for illiberal regimes is a shameful story
Just a few weeks ago:
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Minister for the Middle East Kim Howells joined dignitaries to welcome the king as he arrived at the central London parade ground with the Prince of Wales earlier in the day.
The head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair, who led the force through the London terror attacks of 2005, also greeted the king with a handshake and a smile.
The king reviewed a guard of honour before heading to Buckingham Palace in a carriage.
An appeal court in Saudi Arabia has doubled the number of lashes and added a jail sentence as punishment for a woman who was gang-raped.
The victim was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack.
When she appealed, the judges said she had been attempting to use the media to influence them.
I somehow doubt that subjects like this were not on the agenda during the King's visit. Whilst our shameful dignitaries shake the hands of leaders like these, we can only conclude that justice, liberty and humanity are virtues entirely absent from our foreign policy. Vince Cable's decision to boycott the visit has been utterly vindicated.
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That's just par for the course for the Saudis. Consider this excerpt from a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom:
"In one case, the Commission was told of a foreign domestic worker who had become pregnant after being raped by her employer. She was subsequently imprisoned because it is illegal for female foreign workers to become pregnant in Saudi Arabia if they are not married."
http://www.uscirf.gov/countries/region/middleast/saudi/saudiReport.pdf
And if the ruling of that judge amazes you, guess who he looks to for controlling legal precedent:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7645118/
Saudi society is saturated with this crap. It's truly endemic:
http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com
'An appeal court in Saudi Arabia has doubled the number of lashes and added a jail sentence as punishment for a woman who was gang-raped.'
Yes,but this is Sharia law and is supported by the majority of muslims in this country.
Natuarlly Saudi Arabia is an easy and popular target for your comments,why is it,that we don't hear the same comments directed by you at the large proportion of the muslim population in the UK that supports Sharia law,forced marriages,female circumcision,the death penalty and the other various barbaric acts that are regarded as normal in many muslim countries?
Surely you and other so called liberals could at least be consistent in your approach instead of always going for the populist soft targets.
Forced marriage, female circumcision and the death penalty are all wrong. We should not permit these things in Britain, irrespective of who carries them out or why.
One of the key points about Saudi Arabia, though, is that they fund groups which actively promote that harsh interpretation of Islam around the world, including here in Britain.
Well said Rob. And 'anonymous' should be ashamed. Punishing a gang rape victim with 200 lashes is utterly repellent regardless of who carries it out, or why. And by 'soft target' do you mean 'carries out a lot of practices that liberals and progressives ought to denounce'?
If activity like that constitutes Sharia law (and I'll admit to not being an expert) then where and how to I engage in any activity to stand against it?