"Qatif Girl" is Pardoned

Welcome news in the story of the 20-year-old Saudi woman given a harsh prison sentence herself after being raped by seven men in 2005: King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud has pardoned "Qatif Girl."

Ebtihal Mubarak, who monitors human rights for Arab News in Jidda, also reports that a disciplinary case against the victim's lawyer, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, has been dropped and that his confiscated license to practice law will be returned to him.

Due partly to more aggressive than usual press coverage inside the Kingdom, the rape victim's case made headlines around the world and prompted widespread criticism of Saudi justice, including a rare rebuke from President Bush two weeks ago. "My first thoughts were these: What happens if this happened to my daughter?" Bush said at a press conference on Dec. 4. "How would I react? And I'd have been very emotional, of course. I'd have been angry at those who committed the crime, and I'd be angry at a state that didn't support the victim."

The case involves seven men who were convicted of raping the victim a total of 14 times when she was an 18-year-old 11th grade high school student in Qatif, in eastern Saudi Arabia. According to Arab News, the attack reportedly occurred after she arranged to meet alone--in contravention of ultra strict Saudi religious law-- with a former boyfriend who may have been threatening to distribute old photos of the woman.

She was given a sentence of 90 lashes when the verdicts were initially handed down in 2006, but on appeal the punishment was increased to 200 lashes plus six months jail time. Last month, Human Rights Watch quoted an official at the General Court of Qatif saying that the court had increased the sentence on Nov. 14 because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."

By issuing his pardon on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a customary occasion for royal humanitarian gestures, Abdullah clearly sought to defuse growing international criticism of Saudi Arabia at a time when the Kingdom has regained a prominent role in various Middle East issues, including the Arab-Israeli peace process. It's likely that Abdullah would also have been concerned about a widening Sunni-Shi'ite schism over the case. Saudi justice is administered by ultra conservative Wahhabi Sunni religious scholars, while the rape victim herself is from the Kingdom's Shi'ite minority.

Quoting King Abdullah, Saudi Justice Minister Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Alshiekh said that the woman had been "subject to psychological and physical pressures that could be considered enough punishment."

So while welcome, it's looking too much like the king did the right thing for the wrong reasons. If nothing else, the case of "Qatif Girl" is a good example of how strict Wahhabi legal doctrine barring such behavior as unrelated men and women mixing together is incompatible with 21st century life, including in Saudi Arabia, not to mention with international standards of individual liberty. Whether Abdullah's pardon is a signal to the Saudi government and religious establishment to undertake reform very much remains to be seen.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo