Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights

The Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR; Arabic: لجنة الدفاع عن الحقوق الشرعية) was a Saudi dissident group created in 1993 which opposed the Saudi government as un-Islamic.^[1]

History

Founded in Riyadh on May 3, 1993 by six scholars, the Committee served to "pass on the views of the Islamist opposition that was rapidly developing in the universities and mosques" of Saudi Arabia. In its Arabic language pronouncements the CDLR maintained a strict "Islamist line," claiming to defend "the rules laid out in the sharia," while its English language statements denounced violations of human rights in Saudi.^[1]

Following an interview by the BBC of Mohammad al-Masari, its official spokesman, the CDLR's "signatories and their sympathizers promptly lost their jobs and were thrown into jail."^[1] The organization was banned, and its members either left Saudi Arabia or went underground. The CDLR was described as "banned and defunct" by the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association when the latter was created in October 2009.^[2]

Following a campaign by Amnesty International, al-Masari was released from prison, and along with Sa'ad Al-Faqih reestablished the CDLR in London, United Kingdom in April 1994. The group made "feverish use" of fax machines and later an Internet website to criticize the ruling family and deliver its message to Saudi Arabia. Their campaign was effective enough that the Saudi royal family threatened the British government with an end to "lucrative defence contracts and other commercial deals" if "Mr Masari was not silenced," and a court battle ensued over Whitehall's attempt to do just that. "In the end, Mr Masari won a legal battle ... but soon after that he faded from public prominence."^[3]

In 1996, Faqih broke with al-Masari, "arguing that the Saudi opposition should operate only within the strict boundaries of UK law," and created the rival Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA).^[3]

Criticism

Scholar Gilles Kepel has described CDLR and Al-Masari as "failing to raise any groundswell of support" within Saudi Arabia and "sadly lacking" in Islamic "doctrinal ... ballast", as became evident after "he was confronted by a barrage of fatwas issued by the regime's ulema supporters."^[1] Al-Masari is also criticised for being two-faced, presenting himself as a fighter of human rights abuses and corruption to English language audiences, while regailing Arabic speakers with attacks on Saudi for its lack of shari'a law enforcement and even pronouncing "takfir against all Muslims who obeyed the laws of Riyadh". In particular, his takfir "destroyed much of his support among [Saudi] dissidents." ^[4]

In recent years the CDLR has been denounced by the U.S. government for expressing its "understanding" of the "bombings of U.S. military facilities in 1995 and 1996 and sympathy for the perpetrators." Its splinter group, the Islamic Reform Movement, has also been denounced as having "implicitly condoned the two terrorist attacks as well, arguing that they were a natural outgrowth of a political system that does not tolerate peaceful dissent."^[5]

In the US State Department's 2005 report^[5], the CDLR is described as an extremist organization which seeks the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy by force.

Although blacklisted in the US and many EU countries, the CDLR does not appear on any US or UN list of terrorist groups.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Kepel, Gille, Jihad : the trail of political Islam, Harvard University Press, (2002), p.215
2. ^ "Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) (An Establishing Declaration) — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Monday, October 12 2009". Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. 2009-10-12. Archived from the original on 2011-03-25. http://www.acpra.net/news_view_5.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Profile: Saudi political opposition by Gerald Butt Last Updated: Thursday, 10 February 2005
4. ^ Kepel, Jihad, (2002), p.216
5. ^ ^{a b} Saudi Arabia: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -- 2004, US Department of State

Reading List

• Teitelbaum, Joshua (2000). Holier Than Thou: Saudi Arabia's Islamic Opposition (Man and Poet Series). Brookings Institution,U.S.. ISBN 0944029353. 

External links

• Asia Times Online - The dangers of silencing Saudi dissent Jan 21st 2005
• SAUDI ARABIA Human Rights Developments 1997
• Human Rights Watch - Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: A Deafening Silence December 2001
• Meria - State, Islam and Opposition in Saudi Arabia - July 1997
• The Washington Institute: Holier Than Thou executive summary