There are no political parties, no elections, no independent legislature, no trades unions, no Bar Association, no independent judiciary, no independent human rights organisations. Anyone living in Saudi Arabia who criticizes the system is harshly punished. After arrest, political and religious opponents of the government are detained indefinitely without trial or are imprisoned after grossly unfair trials.
Torture is endemic.
Foreign workers are always at risk. They are employed in many kinds of skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled jobs, in industry, teaching, medicine and domestic work. The government policy is to replace as many foreign workers as possible in the country with its own citizens. In recent years thousands of illegal workers have been arrested and deported.