IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 244
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Government of Saudi 
Arabia’s lack of protection of internationally recognized human rights 
and the absence of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 15, 2003
Mr. ROHRABACHER (for himself and Mr. LANTOS) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Inter-
national Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Govern-
ment of Saudi Arabia’s lack of protection of internation-
ally recognized human rights and the absence of religious 
freedom in Saudi Arabia.
Whereas the Department of State has concluded that human 
rights conditions remain poor in the Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia and that religious freedom does not exist in that 
country; 
Whereas the Commission on International Religious Freedom 
concurs that religious freedom does not exist in Saudi 
Arabia and has concluded that the Government of Saudi 
Arabia forcefully limits the public practice or expression 
of religion to the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam;
•HCON 244 IH 
Whereas security forces of the Government of Saudi Arabia 
continue to abuse and torture detainees and prisoners, in-
cluding those individuals held on account of their reli-
gious beliefs or practices; 
Whereas the way religious law is interpreted and enforced in 
Saudi Arabia affects every aspect of the lives of Saudi 
and foreign women and results in serious violations of 
their human rights; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia severely limits the 
freedom of movement of women and discriminates 
against women in education, employment, access to 
healthcare, marriage, and inheritance, among other 
things; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia does not allow for 
freedom of association and strictly limits freedom of ex-
pression and freedom of the press; 
Whereas the Saudi religious police, otherwise known as the 
‘‘Mutawaa’’, arbitrarily raid private homes and exercise 
broadly defined, vague powers, including the ability to 
use physical force and detain individuals without due 
process; 
Whereas the Mutawaa intimidate, harass, abuse, and detain 
citizens and foreigners of both sexes; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia severely restricts 
non-Wahhabi places of worship and denies non-Wahhabi 
clerics entry into the country; 
Whereas, although the Government of Saudi Arabia has pub-
licly affirmed that all Saudi residents have the liberty to 
worship in private, for several years and as recently as 
May 2003, Shi’a clerics have been arrested, imprisoned, 
and tortured for expressing their religious views and
•HCON 244 IH 
some foreign workers have been arrested, detained, tor-
tured, and deported for worshipping in private; 
Whereas offensive and discriminatory language has been 
found in Saudi Government-sponsored school textbooks, 
sermons in mosques, and articles and commentary in the 
media about Jews, Christians, and other non-Muslims; 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia, which enjoys ac-
cess to the United States media, refuses to allow the 
transmission of Radio Sawa, which promotes values of 
democracy, tolerance, and respect for human rights in 
Saudi Arabia; and 
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia has made public 
statements pledging political, economic, and educational 
reforms and the improved treatment of foreign residents, 
yet no discernible improvements are evident: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress—
(1) calls on the Government Saudi Arabia—
(A) to uphold its international commit-
ments by respecting and protecting the human 
rights of citizens and foreigners of both sexes in 
Saudi Arabia; 
(B) to ratify and fully comply with inter-
national human rights instruments and cooper-
ate with United Nations human rights mecha-
nisms, and, in particular, to sign, ratify, and
•HCON 244 IH 
implement the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights; 
(C) to implement immediately promised ju-
dicial, political, economic, and educational re-
forms; 
(D) to permit the establishment of inde-
pendent nongovernmental organizations to ad-
vance human rights and to promote tolerance, 
and to take action to create an independent 
human rights commission for the same pur-
poses; 
(E) to safeguard the freedom of non-Mus-
lims, and of those Muslims who do not follow 
the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, to worship 
in private; 
(F) to permit non-Wahhabi places of wor-
ship, such as churches, to function openly in 
special compounds or zones for foreigners or in 
unadorned buildings designated for this pur-
pose; and 
(G) to permit the broadcasting of Radio 
Sawa throughout the country; and 
(2) urges the United States Government—
(A) in both public and private fora, to 
raise concerns at the highest levels with the
•HCON 244 IH 
Government of Saudi Arabia regarding its on-
going and repeated human rights violations; 
(B) to designate Saudi Arabia a ‘‘country 
of particular concern’’ under the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for its system-
atic, ongoing, and egregious violations of reli-
gious freedom; 
(C) to encourage the Government of Saudi 
Arabia to implement expeditiously its publicly 
stated plans for judicial, political, economic, 
and educational reform; 
(D) to develop and expand specific initia-
tives and programs in Saudi Arabia to advance 
human rights, including religious freedom, the 
rights of women, and the rule of law, through, 
for example, the Department of State’s Middle 
East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), Middle 
East Democracy Fund (MEDF), and Human 
Rights and Democracy Fund (HRDF), and 
through international broadcasting, and other 
public diplomacy programs; and 
(E) to report publicly to Congress on its 
efforts to raise concerns regarding human 
rights, including religious freedom, with the