Gay Travel Advisory

Saudi Arabia

Islamic Sharia Law, the Sura 7:80/81 & Anti-Cyber Crime Law from 2007

Legal Code Text

Article 6 - “Any person who commits one of the following cybercrimes shall be subject to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years and a fine not exceeding three million riyals or to either punishment: Production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers; [...] The preparation, publication, and promotion of material for pornographic or gambling sites which violates public morals.”

ILGA Analysis & Notes

Instead, the country applies strict Islamic Sharia law. According to the interpretation, Sura 7:80/81, describes sexual intercourse between men as a misdemeanour, but does not specify a punishment. However, just as all sexual relations outside of marriage are illegal, the penalty for a married man is generally understood to be death by stoning. The penalty to be imposed for same sex sexual acts is a matter of dispute. According to a report to the German parliament “some call for whipping, and others believe they are quoting the Prophet that “both men to be killed”. However, same-sex sexual behaviour is not listed in the Sharia as one of the crimes deserving of death – as are murder, adultery, apostasy, or highway robbery”. In its 1st cycle UPR in February 2009, there were four brief mentions of sexual orientation-related content in civil society submissions, yet no recommendations to Saudi Arabia from other States or any other mentions of SOGI. However, in Saudi Arabia’s October 2013 review (2nd cycle UPR), there were no civil society inputs on SOGI, no recommendations and no mentions by the State on SOGI-related issues. At the United Nations, Saudi Arabia has continually refused to accept that the human rights framework includes SOGI issues. Although Saudi Arabia does not have a codified criminal code, there is a morality law enforcement agency called the ‘Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice’, that arrests and detains people who violate the traditional teachings of Wahhabism, including same-sex sexual behaviour and diverse gender expression. They operate in-person and online, and are known to be particularly vicious regarding LGBT people. There are no LGBT groups or organisations operating in Saudi Arabia that are known in the region, and opportunities for people to meet have been severely restricted. According to the Council of Ministers Resolution in 2001, “[a]ll internet users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall refrain from publishing or accessing data containing some of the following: 1. Anything contravening a fundamental principle or legislation, or infringing the sanctity of Islam and its benevolent Shari’ah, or breaching public decency”. Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested several people on “suspicion of homosexuality” in raids on two parties in the city of Jeddah in June 2015. In March 2016, it is reported that a doctor in Jeddah was arrested by the Committee for Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice for flying the rainbow flag, although he had been unaware of its meaning. Also in March 2016, from Jeddah, ominous attention has been bought to online communications amongst sexual and gender minorities. However, in May 2016, regarding the death penalty for same sex sexual relations, a leading cleric noted, “[b]y condemning homosexuals to death they are committing a graver sin than homosexuality itself”. In October 2016, the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child observed a worry that, inter alia, LGBT children are subject to persistent discrimination in Saudi Arabia. As such it was recommended that the State adopt “a proactive and comprehensive strategy to eliminate de jure and de facto discrimination”. The Saudi authorities raided a resort south of Saudi capital, Riyadh in February 2017, and detained 35 Pakistani citizens, describing them as “ faggots”, and releasing photographs of some of the individuals who were cross-dressing. Corroboration of the event has not been obtained, but it is reported that two members of the group were brutally killed by the authorities, a claim that the State denies.

Sources
  1. Schmitt, Arno and Sofer, Jehoeda, Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies (Binghamton: Harrington Park Press, 1992) at 141.