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Saudi 'Witch' to Be Beheaded
by
findingDulcinea Staff
A woman has been convicted of witchcraft in a Saudi court and sentenced to death under Islamic law. Human Rights Watch has appealed the ruling.
30-Second Summary
Fawza Falih, an illiterate Saudi woman living in the town of Quraiyat near the Jordanian border, is in prison awaiting death by decapitation for practicing “witchcraft.”
According to CNN, male witnesses accused her of committing adultery with “evil spirits,” after which the men were rendered “impotent after being bewitched by her.”
Witchcraft is considered a crime against God under Sharia law, which Saudi Arabia uses as its sole form of jurisprudence.
Falih was arrested in 2005. In April 2006, she was sentenced after what Human Rights Watch calls a flawed trial.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says that the judges assigned to the case “were interested in anything but a quest for the truth. They completely disregarded legal guarantees that would have demonstrated how ill-founded this case was.”
Falih was barred from seeking legal counsel and from sitting in on most of the trial sessions.
Her sentence was then commuted in September 2006 on the grounds that her confession had been forced. However, the commutation was overturned by a lower court that said it wanted “to protect the creed, souls and property of this country.”
On Feb. 14, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah Al Saud pleading Falih’s cause.
That same day, Turkish sociologist Yakin Ertürk, on behalf of the United Nations, asked Saudi Arabia to codify a body of laws guaranteeing women’s rights.
Middle East blog The Black Iris, written by a 24-year-old male Jordanian, offers a sarcastic take on Saudi justice: “It’s actually not as bad as it sounds … They could’ve thrown her in a deep well of water to see if she floats or drowns.”
According to CNN, male witnesses accused her of committing adultery with “evil spirits,” after which the men were rendered “impotent after being bewitched by her.”
Witchcraft is considered a crime against God under Sharia law, which Saudi Arabia uses as its sole form of jurisprudence.
Falih was arrested in 2005. In April 2006, she was sentenced after what Human Rights Watch calls a flawed trial.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says that the judges assigned to the case “were interested in anything but a quest for the truth. They completely disregarded legal guarantees that would have demonstrated how ill-founded this case was.”
Falih was barred from seeking legal counsel and from sitting in on most of the trial sessions.
Her sentence was then commuted in September 2006 on the grounds that her confession had been forced. However, the commutation was overturned by a lower court that said it wanted “to protect the creed, souls and property of this country.”
On Feb. 14, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah Al Saud pleading Falih’s cause.
That same day, Turkish sociologist Yakin Ertürk, on behalf of the United Nations, asked Saudi Arabia to codify a body of laws guaranteeing women’s rights.
Middle East blog The Black Iris, written by a 24-year-old male Jordanian, offers a sarcastic take on Saudi justice: “It’s actually not as bad as it sounds … They could’ve thrown her in a deep well of water to see if she floats or drowns.”
Headline Link: ‘Saudis to Execute Woman for “Witchcraft”’
New York-based Human Rights Watch made an appeal to the government of Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14 to put a halt to the planned decapitation of Fawza Falih. In April 2006, when she was originally convicted, witnesses claimed that Falih had put a hex on them. She then retracted her confession on the grounds that it was coerced, and her death sentence was commuted in September of that year. However, a lower court later overturned the commutation.
Source: MSNBC
Fawza Falih was arrested by the “mutaween,” the Saudi religious police, after a number of men accused her of using “witchcraft” on them. The witnesses, who later testified against Falih, said they became “impotent after being bewitched by her.” They also said she carried a “foul-smelling substance.”
Source: CNN
Background: ‘UN Tells Saudis to Tackle Violence Against Women’
Yakin Ertürk, the UN’s expert on human rights on violence against women, on Feb. 14 called on Saudi Arabia to develop a body of laws that would make domestic abuse illegal. “The lack of written laws governing private life constitutes a major obstacle to women's access to justice," she said. The UN statement follows another made in early February calling on the Gulf kingdom to end the requirement that women only go out in public with the accompaniment of their fathers, brothers, husbands or sons.
Source: Reuters
Historical Context: Sharia law
Sharia, which can be translated as “the way” in Arabic, is the Islamic legal system delineated in the Quran. It is applied to varying extents in Muslim countries. In Saudi Arabia, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, “the Quran is considered the constitution.” Sharia covers all facets of daily life—from family affairs to banking.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations
Opinion & Analysis: Flawed evidence
According to Jeff Stork, Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, the behavior of the judges assigned to Falih’s case showed “they were interested in anything but a quest for the truth. They completely disregarded legal guarantees that would have demonstrated how ill-founded this case was.” According to HRW, Falih was not allowed to sit for most of the sessions of the trial, was barred from legal counsel and the panel had fewer than the three judges necessary to try a capital case.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Nasseem Tarawnah, the 24-year-old male Muslim blogger behind The Black Iris, sardonically observes of the Falih case, “It’s actually not as bad as it sounds. I mean, technically they only beat her and forced a confession out of her. They could’ve thrown her in a deep well of water to see if she floats or drowns.”
Source: The Black Iris
Blog Jezebel asks readers, “When women in Saudi Arabia are reliving the Salem witch trials, it's definitely time for international intervention. What's next, dunking women in the Persian Gulf to see if they float?” The blog likens the Falih case to another recent story about a Saudi woman who was sentenced to be lashed for being in a car with an unrelated male driver.
Source: Jezebel
Reference: Human Rights Watch’s letter
The full text of Human Rights Watch’s letter to Saudi King Abdullah al Saud is available on the organization’s Web site.
Source: Human Rights Watch
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