Replies

PERSECUTION.ORG - COUNTRY INFO - SAUDI ARABIA
http://www.persecution.org/newsite/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=23&PHPSESSID=8c865088a786bc73bf6fc8ddae78d582

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TRAVE.STATE.GOV - CONSULAR INFORMATION SHEET - SAUDI ARABIA
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1012.html

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http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200604/INT20060425a.html

"Now Saudi Arabia Wants Seat on UN Rights Body"
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
April 25, 2006

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "(CNSNews.com) - Saudi Arabia has become the latest undemocratic state with a poor human rights record to seek a seat on the United Nation's new Human Rights Council.

With elections for the body just two weeks away, the number of controversial would-be members is slowly climbing, even as human rights campaigners step up efforts to ensure the best membership possible.

The HRC was established in a bid to restore the U.N.'s standing in the human rights field, after its flagship institution, the Commission for Human Rights, was discredited when rights-abusing governments became members and then blocked criticism of themselves and their allies.

Proponents of the U.N. resolution that set up the council argued that it would be more effective than its predecessor, because the document asks the U.N.'s 191 member states to take into account candidates' human rights records before voting.

Also, each member will be subject to a "periodic review," although it will still require a two-thirds majority vote to remove one of them.

Despite these touted improvements, however, among the 65 nations that have so far announced their candidacies for the HRC's 47 seats are a number whose respect for human rights is frequently questioned.

They include Iran, Cuba, China, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria, Pakistan, Russia, Azerbaijan -- and now Saudi Arabia, a newcomer to the list of candidates."