IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 864 
Condemning Saudi Arabia for sentencing a gang-rape victim to 200 lashes 
and 6 months in prison and calling for King Abdullah to overturn 
the verdict. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 11, 2007 
Ms. CASTOR (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, and Mrs. LOWEY) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning Saudi Arabia for sentencing a gang-rape victim 
to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison and calling for 
King Abdullah to overturn the verdict. 
Whereas in 2006, a teenage woman known as the ‘‘Girl from 
Qatif’’ and her male friend were abducted and she was 
later gang raped by 7 men in Saudi Arabia; 
Whereas in November 2006, after she had suffered this ter-
rible violence against her, she was sentenced to 90 lashes 
by the General Court of Qatif because, immediately prior 
to becoming victim of this violent assault, she was alone 
with a man not related to her; 
Whereas in November 2007, after a review of the verdict by 
the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, Saudi Arabia’s 
highest court, the Qatif Court increased her sentence to 
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•HRES 864 IH 
200 lashes and 6 months in prison for publicly speaking 
out against the verdict; 
Whereas the victim remains under house arrest until her sen-
tence is enforced; 
Whereas the sentence has prompted international outrage; 
Whereas rape is a barbaric act and an attempt to exert 
power, it is a human rights violation and in any culture 
women should be afforded the basic right to be in society 
without the threat of violence; 
Whereas these actions on the part of Saudi Arabia will pre-
vent victims of rape in Saudi Arabia from reporting these 
crimes and shield the perpetrators of such acts from 
prosecution; 
Whereas United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
Rights, Louise Arbour, said in a statement ahead of the 
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against 
Women ‘‘A woman will not report rape if we continue to 
stigmatize the victims of violence rather than the per-
petrators’’; 
Whereas many human rights groups have called on Saudi 
Arabia’s King Abdullah to invalidate the verdict and have 
all charges dropped against the victim; and 
Whereas Saudi King Abdullah decreed in October 2007 for 
judicial reforms including establishing a Supreme Court: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the United States House of Rep-
resentatives— 
(1) condemns rape as a barbaric and inhumane 
act; 
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•HRES 864 IH 
(2) supports rape victims’ rights to seek legal 
action against their attackers; 
(3) strongly supports rape victims and their 
right to be free from violence and certainly prosecu-
tion after violence has been done against them; 
(4) calls on Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to 
overturn the verdict against the ‘‘Girl from Qatif’’ 
and set the victim free; and 
(5) calls on Saudi Arabia to take immediate 
steps to undertake promised judicial reforms. 
Æ 
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