Saudi Arabia: When vice is wearing eye makeup

last updated 8 January 2015

Khalid Alnowaiser

Arab News

Saudi Arabia’s vice police are out of control, said Khalid Alnowaiser. There’s no question that virtue must be safeguarded among all Muslims, as mandated in the Koran. But the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which arrests women for perceived infractions of dress or demeanor, is not the way to do it. Members of this police squad “have repeatedly shown that they do not respect the people’s right of privacy.” They exploit the vague bylaws that govern their activity to “engage in practices that are objectionable, such as chasing and assaulting people and forcing segregation between men and women.” In Saudi Arabia, of course, women must cover themselves from head to toe in black and may not walk or shop alone. But some have been arrested for wearing makeup on their eyes, the only body part left visible. When one man tried to stand up for his wife after she was ordered to cover her eyes, police beat and stabbed him; later he was sentenced to be lashed. The government took a small step forward recently by appointing a relative moderate to head the commission. Let’s hope he changes the group’s focus from harassing women to arresting drug dealers and smugglers. “This will do more to benefit Saudi society than chasing people and seeking to control their personal lives.”