Few societies are more identified with Islamist armed violence than Saudi Arabia—country of origin of Usama bin Laden and 15 of the 9/11 hijackers, as well as more than a thousand insurgents in... Show moreFew societies are more identified with Islamist armed violence than Saudi Arabia—country of origin of Usama bin Laden and 15 of the 9/11 hijackers, as well as more than a thousand insurgents in Iraq, and itself the site of attacks on expatriate housing compounds. The author draws on discussions with Saudi activists and intellectuals to reflect on ambivalent public and elite attitudes toward this violence. The author’s interlocutors attribute this “neutrality” to the accommodating relationship between a repressive state and an intolerant religious establishment, and argue that only a vibrant civil society can combat such violence. Show less
Human Rights Watch (HRW), an independent non-governmental organization based in New York, investigates and reports on human rights abuses in some seventy countries, including the United States. HRW... Show moreHuman Rights Watch (HRW), an independent non-governmental organization based in New York, investigates and reports on human rights abuses in some seventy countries, including the United States. HRW’s purpose is to hold governments accountable for violations of internationally recognized human rights and humanitarian law, and to generate pressure from other governments, international organizations, and civil societies to end such abuses. We address the practices of governments without regard to ideological or geopolitical orientation, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. The organization also responds to abuses committed by armed insurgent groups. Among the major concerns of the organization are freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and disappearances. HRW recognizes the indivisibility of human rights, including economic, social, and cultural rights, although its main work focuses on civil and political rights, including the right of workers to exercise freedom of association and to engage in collective bargaining. Show less