Stirrings of reform

Riyadh

Saudi Arabia took its first, hesitant steps toward democratic reform this week, hosting a human-rights conference and announcing future city-council elections. Neither reform was whole-hearted, however. Speakers at the human-rights conference insisted that sharia, Islamic law, must take precedence over the U.N.’s universal declaration of human rights. Under Saudi Arabia’s version of sharia, criminals face amputation and flogging, which the U.N. considers torture. The country still lacks freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and any rights for women. And the elections the monarchy has planned for next year cover only half of the seats on city councils, bodies that have little power.

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