Saudi Arabia rights attitude improving, but abuses persist: HRW News
Saudi Arabia rights attitude improving, but abuses persist: HRW

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said Saturday in a new report on Saudi Arabia [JURIST news archive] that respect for human rights in the Kingdom seemed to be improving but violations and abuses persisted. The report [text] detailed the existence of unfair trial, the detention of children and the habitual oppression of women and foreign laborers within the Middle Eastern kingdom. HRW was invited to Saudi Arabia in December to conduct a four week mission on the country's progress in the area of human and civil rights.

Although the 13 person group operated under 24-hour surveillance and was denied access to certain jails and judicial proceedings, HRW executive leader Kenneth Roth noted the Saudi government seemed to share a more open view on the value of human rights. However, the government's unwillingness to allow unfettered access to the prisons and trials does give the appeareance the Saudi government "still has much to hide," according to Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW director for the Middle East and North Africa. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.