Caryle Murphy's Notebook:

Eid Al Adha in Riyadh

This morning, I looked out my window and saw a goat. Actually, four goats.

Today is Eid al Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice. One of Islam’s two major religious holidays, it is celebrated by Muslims around the world.

The major ritual of this holiday involves slaughtering a goat or a sheep or a camel to commemorate Prophet Abraham’s obedience to God after he was divinely ordered to sacrifice his son.

The ritual also recalls the mercy of God, who provided Abraham, known in Arabic as Ibrahim, with a ram to sacrifice instead of his son.

Ibrahim’s obedience to God’s will is something Muslims are encouraged to imitate.

The feast of Eid al Adha is always celebrated amid the annual pilgrimage that draws millions of Muslims from around the world to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city in western Saudi Arabia.

Today is the third day of the 2009 pilgrimage, which so far has gone smoothly. The only disruption was a huge rainstorm on the first day that left many pilgrims wet and muddy.

Saudi Arabia has about 8 million foreign workers and a huge number of them are Muslim. They come from such countries as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Here, at the compound where I live in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, most of the staff are foreign workers. They are maintenance men, electricians, cleaners, landscapers. These men cannot bring their families with them to Saudi Arabia so they live in a singles dormitory on the compound. They get around the sprawling compound on bicycles.

The goats I saw this morning out my window were purchased by the compound’s Muslim workers at a market in Riyadh in order to comply with their religious obligation on Eid al Adha. Each goat cost $150.

After noon prayers at a nearby mosque, the men slaughtered their sacrificial animals in an empty lot next to their dormitory.

They will cook the meat in their communal kitchen, and distribute it to all their fellow workers. And they’ll wish each other “Eid Mubarak,” or “Blessings on the Feast.”
Tradition calls for meat that is not eaten to be given to friends, neighbors and the poor.

King orders no flogging of journalist

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Monday ordered the cancellation of a court sentence of 60 lashes imposed on a female employee of a satellite television channel because of her involvement in a program about sex.

Wire services quoted Information Ministry spokesman Abdul-Rahman al-Hazzaa as saying that the king had ordered the flogging dropped and her case, as well as that of another woman, be transferred from criminal court to a media court run by the ministry.

On Saturday, a court in Jeddah sentenced Rozanna Al Yami, 22, to 60 lashes after finding that she assisted Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) to produce the program in which a Saudi man, Mazen Abdul Jawad, 32, spoke frankly about his sexual adventures. His interview scandalized many Saudis.

"The king has vindicated me. I am satisfied with the king's order and I accept the decisions of the sovereign," Alyami told Reuters after being informed of the pardon.

Abdul Jawad was sentenced to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes after the court found he had promoted immorality in recounting his active sex life. He is appealing.

Today, his lawyer Suliman Aljimaie said that his client's case should also be transferred from criminal court to the media court. If necessary, he said he would approach the king to request that this be done.

Saudi woman to be lashed for promoting program about sex

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Remember the unfortunate Saudi man who got five years in jail and 1,000 lashings for boasting about his colorful sexual life on television?

Well, the same court in Jeddah has now sentenced a young woman to 60 lashes for helping prepare and promote online the program on which he made his boasts.

Rozanna Al Yami, who is in her 20s, was also barred from traveling outside Saudi Arabia for two years, according to attorney Suliman Al Jumaie.

Al Jumaie is not Al Yami’s lawyer, but he represents Mazen Abdul Jawad, 32, who got the earlier harsh sentence after the court found him guilty of spreading immorality and vice by speaking openly of his sex life.

Al Yami was a part-time worker in the Jeddah office of the Beirut-based Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), which aired the offensive program, called “Bold Red Line.”

The channel, which is controlled by billionaire Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz, has declined to comment on the incident from the beginning.

If the verdict issued Oct. 24 against Al Yami stands, “it will be a big problem for any journalist” because it means that media workers can be taken to criminal courts, Al Jumaie said in an interview. “Any journalist will be afraid in his work.”

He said that Al Yami began crying loudly when the verdict was announced, but she fears that appealing would only bring her a harsher sentence.

UAE sheikh detained while torture allegations probed

A member of the United Arab Emirates’ ruling family has been detained while prosecutors investigate allegations that he tortured an Afghan grain dealer in 2004, according to a government statement issued Monday.

The allegations stem from a videotape of the 2004 assault that purportedly shows the detained man, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, beating the victim with a nail-studded wood plank, setting his genitals on fire, hitting him with a cattle prod, and repeatedly running him over with an SUV.

The video was broadcast by ABC Television on April 22. It sparked calls from human rights groups and some U.S. legislators for an official investigation.

The official statement said that the judicial department of Abu Dhabi, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, has transferred all documents relating to the incident to the Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution Office, which “has officially launched a criminal investigation into the events depicted on video, and detained Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan pending the outcome of this investigation.”

The victim, who survived the attack, was interviewed by the department’s human rights office, the statement said.

It added that the department’s action is meant “to ensure that all human rights obligations are met and enforced, that all national laws are applied equally and with transparency to all, and that the country continues in its efforts to respect the rule of law and ensure that all individuals in the Emirates are provided fair and equitable trials and have an opportunity to be heard."

Torture caught on camera in UAE

The Abu Dhabi government, a staunch U.S. ally, has reversed course and announced that it will launch a “comprehensive review” of the videotaped torture of an Afghan businessman — purportedly inflicted by a member of its ruling family.

The videotape, aired by ABC Television April 22, shows the Afghan, Mohammed Shah Poor, being beaten with a nail-studded wood plank, having his genitals set on fire, his anus pierced by a cattle prod and then repeatedly run over by an SUV.

ABC identified the alleged perpetrator, assisted by someone wearing what appears to be a policeman’s uniform, as Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan.

Sheikh Issa is the son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, late president of the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf Arab nation comprised of seven semi-autonomous emirates, including Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Issa’s brothers include current UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who also rules Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy commander of UAE’s armed forces.

Sheikh Issa, a businessman, holds no government position.

According to press reports, he was angered that Poor had allegedly short-changed him in a $5,000 grain deal. During the 2004 assault, he also tormented Poor by stuffing sand in his mouth and pouring salt into his wounds, the video shows.

In its initial response to ABC’s broadcast of the video, UAE’s Interior Ministry acknowledged that Sheikh Issa is the man seen assaulting Poor. But it said the assault was investigated and that the two sides settled the matter “privately,” with the police following “all rules, policies and procedures.”

Poor reportedly survived the torture, but spent months in the hospital recovering from severe internal injuries, according to media reports.

New York-based Human Rights Watch early this week called on the UAE to do more, urging it to set up an independent body to investigate the torture and “the Ministry of Interior’s failure to bring those involved to justice,” according to the group’s website.

Its Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, called the government’s response to the assault “an appalling miscarriage of justice."

On April 29, the Human Rights Office of Abu Dhabi’s Judicial Department issued a statement saying that the Abu Dhabi government “unequivocally condemns” the video’s “graphic scenes of physical abuse.”

It promised to carry out “a comprehensive review of the matter immediately and make its findings public at the earliest opportunity.”

The office’s statement added that although the UAE’s Interior Ministry statement had said that the assault “was resolved between the two parties and that no criminal charges were brought,” there appears to be “a violation of human rights” that needs examination.

Human Rights Watch called Abu Dhabi’s promise of a new and thorough review of the incident “a positive first step.”

The U.S. government regards the UAE as a close ally. In January, the two governments signed a nuclear deal, similar to ones with Egypt, Morocco and India, under which the United States will transfer nuclear technology and material to the UAE for its projected power plants. In return, the UAE agrees to abide by international non-proliferation rules and safeguards.

But the torture videotape has prompted U.S. Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) to urge a halt to implementation of the agreement until the UAE government responds to human rights concerns sparked by the videotaped abuse.

McGovern made the request in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing “horror and revulsion” at the tape, according to a report on CNN’s website. McGovern asked for “a temporary hold on further U.S. expenditures of funds, training, sales or transfers of equipment or technology, including nuclear, until a full review of this matter and its policy implications can be completed,” the report said.

At Friday's daily State Department press briefing in Washington, department spokesman Robert Wood was asked directly about the video and whether it impacted the UAE nuclear deal (or the "123" deal, as it's called).

QUESTION: I know you touched on this yesterday, but is there anything moving on the UAE 123 deal? The — is that their — well, you know about the disturbing video. Is that holding it up?

WOOD: Sue, as I said yesterday, we are reviewing this agreement. As you know, it’s a holdover from the previous administration. That review, as I mentioned to you, is ongoing. But I don’t have anything further to offer you at this point.

QUESTION: Are you talking to members of Congress about the videotape and how that might impact whether they’re going to support the deal?

WOOD: Well, they’re two separate issues, as I’ve said.

QUESTION: Well, some people are looking at them as one issue, actually.

WOOD: Well, we do talk to Congress about a number of issues. We certainly have had conversations about this agreement with representatives on the Hill. But again, we’re still reviewing it. So you know, I can’t really go into very much detail in terms of, you know, where we go with this agreement at this point. We still need to review it and then we’ll go from there.

Experts in the region said they do not anticipate a major fall-out on bilateral relations because of the tape.

“The U.S. is aware of UAE’s strategic significance, so I cannot imagine that this [will have] serious repercussions in a deterioration of relations with the United States,” said a professor of political science at a university in the Gulf area who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case.

The professor said he also doubted that the tape will have major domestic reverberations because of the current global economic crisis, which has prompted the government to take steps to protect its citizens from the downturn. It is thus seen, he said, as “the ultimate protector of Emiratis.”

The State Department has responded in a low-key manner to the incident, with Wood saying only, "We urge all governments to fully investigate allegations of criminal acts."

According to the State Department’s annual human rights review, published in February, “there were unverifiable allegations of tortured political prisoners” in the UAE during 2008, “as well as reports that a royal family member tortured a foreign national who had allegedly overcharged him in a grain deal.”

For the most part, the local press has ignored the controversy. Human Rights Watch suggested the reason for that is a UAE draft media law that would impose fines up to $1.3 million for anyone who "disparages" senior government personnel or royal family members.

The videotape surfaced as part of a U.S. federal lawsuit against Sheikh Issa brought by Texas businessman Bassem Nabulsi, a former business partner of the sheikh. The tape was recorded by Nabulsi’s brother, Nabulsi told ABC.

Sheikh Issa’s lawyer, Daryl Bristow of Houston, said in a statement that Nabulsi “and his lawyer are attempting to use a videotape of a third party (not Nabulsi) to influence the court and public opinion about a business dispute currently before a U.S. Federal Court in Texas. 


“The public should know that ... Bassam Nabulsi kept the video from the media while his lawyer was asking for money," Bristow added. And “when all of the facts are known, the one-sided ‘story’ being told by Nabulsi and his lawyer will be completely addressed and Nabulsi will be discredited.”

One of Sheikh Issa’s businesses is real estate development. And in 2007, one of his companies, Pearl Properties, announced plans to construct a 61-story building named Al Hekma Tower.

It means “Wisdom Tower.”

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