Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has moved from position 2 to 3. This does not mean the situation of religious freedom for Christians has improved. The minor loss of points is caused by the fact that contrary to the previous reporting period, we did not receive any reports of Christians killed or physically harmed for their faith and only one report of a Christian arrested. A foreign pastor felt forced to flee the country after he received death threats, some coming from the ‘’Mutaween’’, the Saudi religious police.

Religious freedom does not exist in the Wahhabist kingdom where citizens are only allowed to adhere to one religion: Islam. No legal protection is provided for freedom of religion, nor does this protection exist in practice. The legal system is based on Islamic law (sharia). Apostasy -- conversion to another religion -- is punishable by death if the accused does not recant. Although the government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship in private, the public practice of non-Muslim worship is prohibited. Non-Muslim worshippers who engage in such activities risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture. Believers from a Muslim background also run the great risk of honour killing if their family or social environment discover their new faith.

January 2010

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