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Elections In Saudi Arabia
Elections in Saudi Arabia are rare. Municipal elections were last held in 2015, the first time women had the right to vote and stand as candidates. History The first municipal elections in Saudi Arabia took place in the mid-1920s in the Hijaz cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Yanbu and Taif, as King Abdulaziz ibn Saud established local governments to replace Ottoman and Hashemite rule. Elections for other municipalities were held between 1954 and 1962 during the reign of King Saud, an experiment that ended under the centralization of King Faisal. In 2005, elections for half of the municipal councilors were held, with men aged over 21 voting for male candidates. In May 2009, elections scheduled for October were postponed so authorities could consider expanding those eligible to vote, including women. Women were not granted franchise until after the 2011 elections, which drew condemnation from Human Rights Watch; some female activists planned 'parallel' municipal councils followin ...
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2015 Saudi Arabian Municipal Elections
Elections were held in Saudi Arabia on 12 December 2015 for municipal councils, which have limited decision-making powers on local issues such as rubbish collection and street maintenance. The previous two elections, in 2005 and 2011, were for half the council seats and were open to male candidates and voters only. The 2015 election was for two thirds of the council seats, on 284 municipal councils, with both male and female candidates and voters. This was the first election in Saudi Arabia in which women were allowed to vote, the first in which they were allowed to run for office, and the first in which women were elected as politicians. Background Half the seats in municipal councils in Saudi Arabia were chosen in men-only elections in 2005 and 2011. The municipal councils reportedly have "little power" in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy. Saudi Arabian women campaigned for the right to participate in the 2011 elections, organizing through the "Baladi" (''My Country'') an ...
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Faisal Of Saudi Arabia
Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فيصل بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود ''Fayṣal ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 14 April 1906 – 25 March 1975) was a Saudi Arabian statesman and diplomat who was King of Saudi Arabia from 2 November 1964 until his assassination in 1975. Prior to his ascension, he served as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 to 2 November 1964, and he was briefly regent to his half-brother King Saud in 1964. He was prime minister from 1954 to 1960 and from 1962 to 1975. Faisal was the third son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and the second of Abdulaziz's six sons who were kings. Faisal was the son of Abdulaziz and Tarfa bint Abdullah Al Sheikh. His father was still reigning as Emir of Nejd at the time of Faisal's birth, and his mother was from the Al ash-Sheikh family which has produced many prominent Saudi religious leaders. Faisal emerged as an influential royal politician ...
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Abdullah Of Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود ''ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 2015. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia since 13 June 1982. He was the tenth son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, and the fifth of Abdulaziz's six sons who were kings. Abdullah was the son of King Abdulaziz and Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim. His mother was a member of the Rashidi dynasty, Al Rashid dynasty, historical rivals of the Al Saud dynasty. Abdullah held important political posts throughout most of his adult life. In 1961 he became mayor of Mecca, his first public office. The following year, he was appointed commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, a post he was still holding when he became king. He also served as deputy def ...
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Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson. Its original focus was prisoners of conscience, with its remit widening in the 1970s, under the leadership of Seán MacBride and Martin Ennals to include miscarriages of justice and torture. In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In the 1980s, its secretary general was Thomas Hammarberg, succeeded ...
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Women's Rights In Saudi Arabia
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy internationally. Saudi women have experienced major rights reforms since 2017, after facing religious fundamentalist dominance dating from 1979. According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, women in Saudi Arabia experience discrimination in relation to marriage, family, and divorce, despite recent reforms. The Saudi government continues to target and repress women's rights activists and movements. Prominent feminist campaigns include the Women to Drive Movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign. These campaigns have resulted in significant advances in women's rights. Women's societal roles in Saudi Arabia are heavily affected by Islamic and local traditions of the Arabian Peninsula. The Hanbali and Wahhabi schools of Sunni Islam, the traditions of the Arabian Peninsula and national and local laws, all impact women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Rankings In the World Economic Forum's ''G ...
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Gender Segregation And Islam
Gender segregation in Islamic law, custom, law and traditions refers to the practices and requirements in Islamic countries and communities for the separation of men and boys from women and girls in social and other settings. Views There have been fatwas which forbid free mixing between men and women (known as ''Ikhtilat''), when alone. The objective of the restrictions is to keep such interaction at a modest level. According to Islamic edicts, men are not permitted to touch any part of the body of the women, whether she is Muslim or non-Muslim. Islamic jurisprudence laws have traditionally ruled that Muslim men and women who are not immediate relatives may not, for instance, socialize in order to know each other with a handshake and any form of contact which involves physical contact. A number of Muslim intellectuals and Muslim scholars have challenged this view and claim that certain physical contact is permissible as long as there is no obscenity, inappropriate touching ( ...
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King Of Saudi Arabia
The king of Saudi Arabia is the monarchial head of state and ruler of Saudi Arabia who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" (), a title that signifies Saudi Arabia's jurisdiction over the mosques of Great Mosque of Mecca, Masjid al Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. The title has been used many times through the history of Islam. The first Saudi monarch to use the title was Faisal of Saudi Arabia, King Faisal; however, Khalid of Saudi Arabia, King Khalid did not use the title after him. In 1986, Fahd of Saudi Arabia, King Fahd replaced "Majesty, His Majesty" with the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and it has been ever since used by both Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah and Salman of Saudi Arabia, King Salman bin Abdulaziz. History Ibn Saud King Abdul-Aziz (known in the West as Ibn Saud) regained his patrimony, which is known as tod ...
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Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Al Ash-Sheikh
Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh (born 1948) is the chairman of the Majlis ash-Shura (Consultative Assembly) of Saudi Arabia since February 2009. He was the minister of Justice from February 1992 to February 2009. Background and education Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh is a member of a noted family of Saudi religious scholars, the Al ash-Sheikh. He was born in Diriyah in 1948 and was educated by his father, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. He also studied the interpretation of the Quran and jurisprudence principles with the late Sheikh Abdulrazaq Afifi. He attended the Shariah College in Riyadh (later renamed Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University) and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Sharia in 1975. He then studied Sharia at Al-Azhar University in Cairo and returned to Saudi Arabia to obtain a doctorate degree in 1987. He earned his PhD degree in Fiqh from Imam Mohammed bin Saudi University in 1987. Career After obtaining hi ...
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Consultative Assembly Of Saudi Arabia
The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia ( ar, مجلس الشورى السعودي, Maǧlis aš-Šūrā s-Saʿūdiyy), also known as ''Majlis ash-Shura'' or ''Shura Council,'' is the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia. It is a deliberative assembly that advises the King on issues that are important to Saudi Arabia. It has the power to propose laws to the King of Saudi Arabia and his cabinet to prove it and pass it. It has 150 members, all appointed by the king and chosen "from amongst scholars, those of knowledge, expertise and specialists". Since 2013, the Assembly has included 30 female members out of the total of 150 members, after a 20 percent minimum quota for women was imposed. The Consultative Assembly is headed by a Speaker. , the Speaker was Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh, in line with a tradition that kept the post in that family. The Assembly is based in al-Yamamah Palace, Riyadh. Influence The Consultative Assembly is permitted to propose draft laws and forw ...
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Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human rights abusers to denounce abuse and respect human rights, and the group often works on behalf of refugees, children, migrants, and political prisoners. Human Rights Watch, in 1997, shared the Nobel Peace Prize as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and it played a leading role in the 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions. The organization's annual expenses totaled $50.6 million in 2011, $69.2 million in 2014, and $75.5 million in 2017. History Human Rights Watch was co-founded by Robert L. Bernstein Jeri Laber and Aryeh Neier as a private American NGO in 1978, under the name Helsinki Watch, to monitor the then-Soviet Union's compliance with the Helsinki Accords. Helsinki Watch adopted a practice of public ...
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2011 Saudi Arabian Municipal Elections
Municipal elections in Saudi Arabian towns and cities, initially planned for 31 October 2009, were held on 29 September 2011 (a week after the initial date of 22 September 2011). Women were not allowed to participate in the elections. Women campaigned for the right to participate in the official elections and planned to create parallel municipal councils. Background Municipal elections were originally planned to be held on 31 October 2009 in Saudi Arabia. The elections were not held in 2009. Governmental authorities stated that the delay was caused by the need to "expand the electorate and study the possibility of allowing women to vote." ''Associated Press'' described the announcement that an election would be held in 2011 as having "coincided with rumblings of dissent in Saudi Arabia stemming from the wave of political unrest in the Arab world." On 22–23 March 2011, officials of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural affairs announced that the elections would be held on 22 Sep ...
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King Saud
Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Suʿūd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 15 January 1902 – 23 February 1969) was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 to 2 November 1964. During his reign, he served as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to 1954 and from 1960 to 1962. Prior to his ascension, Saud was the country's crown prince from 11 May 1933 to 9 November 1953. He was the second son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and the first of Abdulaziz's six sons who were kings. (Five more sons of Abdulaziz have since ruled the country: King Faisal, King Khalid, King Fahd, King Abdullah and King Salman.) Saud was the second son of King Abdulaziz and Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair. The death of Saud's elder brother, Prince Turki, in 1919 poised Saud to become his father's successor; King Abdulaziz appointed him as crown prince in 1933. Saud served as a commander in Abdu ...
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