Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue

[Gray Fox]

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers.

In a rare criticism of the kingdom's powerful "mutaween" police, the Saudi media has accused them of hindering attempts to save 15 girls who died in the fire on Monday.

About 800 pupils were inside the school in the holy city of Mecca when the tragedy occurred.

Saudi hospital staff carry a victim of the girl school fire to an ambulance in Mecca
15 girls died in the blaze and more than 50 others were injured
According to the al-Eqtisadiah daily, firemen confronted police after they tried to keep the girls inside because they were not wearing the headscarves and abayas (black robes) required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam.

One witness said he saw three policemen "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya".

The Saudi Gazette quoted witnesses as saying that the police - known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice - had stopped men who tried to help the girls and warned "it is a sinful to approach them".

The father of one of the dead girls said that the school watchman even refused to open the gates to let the girls out.

"Lives could have been saved had they not been stopped by members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," the newspaper concluded.

Relatives' anger

Families of the victims have been incensed over the deaths.

Most of the victims were crushed in a stampede as they tried to flee the blaze.

The school was locked at the time of the fire - a usual practice to ensure full segregation of the sexes.

The religious police are widely feared in Saudi Arabia. They roam the streets enforcing dress codes and sex segregation, and ensuring prayers are performed on time.

Those who refuse to obey their orders are often beaten and sometimes put in jail.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1874471.stm

 

[Tyguy]

disgusting

 

[Wanted Bob]

^ What he said.

 

[MiccyNarc]

Should have worn the right clothes.

 

[Ren.182]

:|

 

[Pulse]

Absolutely horrendous.

I mean, who goes out on the town without their abayas?

 

[Adabiviak]

Seriously? I thought they were kidding when they said, "God works in mysterious ways". Was the term 'incensed' meant to be a pun?

 

[kirovman]

Although I dislike the Saudi regime, and how we turn a blind eye to their offences, this article is dated 2002.

 

[Gray Fox]

I get my news from the haus, and it was only recently posted there so my bad.

 

[Krynn72]

Looks like now they wont get ahead in life!


Oh wait, there were no decapitations.

But seriously... this is ****ing sick. I think im beginning to hate the human race. There is so much sick perverted and disgusting shit happening all the time, and its all for no god damned reason.

 

[JNightshade]

I would have so much fun with those "policemen", several railroad spikes, and a straight razor.

 

[Absinthe]

Could have sworn this was posted years ago.

EDIT: Ah, yeap. Kirov caught it.

Still, it's pretty horrifying.

 

[Bad^Hat]

And this just before the spring line-up of flameproof abayas was unvieled. Tsk tsk.

 

[Jintor]

Damn.

People are douches.

 

[Tyguy]

And this just before the spring line-up of flameproof abayas was unvieled. Tsk tsk.

hahaha, legend.

 

[CptStern]

horrible, the people involved should be strung up

isnt this the sort of criticism that people level at the taliban? I mean people go on and on on how religious extremism allows women to be treated as animals by the taliban but no mention is ever made about our own allies ..is it to much to ask for the US to "liberate" saudi arabia? or at the very least stop being so ****ing hypocritical when condemning the enemy for the very same thing your allies do

 

[Gunner]

horrible, the people involved should be strung up

isnt this the sort of criticism that people level at the taliban? I mean people go on and on on how religious extremism allows women to be treated as animals by the taliban but no mention is ever made about our own allies ..is it to much to ask for the US to "liberate" saudi arabia? or at the very least stop being so ****ing hypocritical when condemning the enemy for the very same thing your allies do

Afghanistan is not a major oil producer. Saudi Arabia is. Besides the Taliban are way more extreme than the Saudi's virtue police.

 

[CptStern]

saudi arabia still performs female circumcision, saudi arabia has a huge list of human rights abuses, saudi arabia routinely tortures political prisoners, saudi arabia has no concern for international law or justice for that matter

The execution of these four migrants, who had been badly beaten and locked up for years without access to lawyers, is a travesty of justice. International law only allows states to use the death penalty for the most serious crimes and in the most stringent of circumstances ? and neither condition was met in this case.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/02/21/saudia15377.htm
http://hrw.org/doc?t=mideast&c=saudia



..in fact they are far more brutal than the Taliban mostly because they rule the land unlike the taliban who've been reduced to controlling small areas of afghanistan

 

[Tyguy]

Having religion govern their politics is like having Ted Bundy watch your children....

 

[The Monkey]

Saudi Arabia seems like one of the worst contries in the world.

Disgusting.

 

[Dinkleberry]

Thing is, (and personally I still think what they did was unbelievebly horrid), if a religion is based on getting into heaven by following a set of rules, then those rules were followed, so anyone following that religion shouldn't mind so much - they might even be envious - the girls got into heaven at a young age, and if there's any kind of sin-related penance (ala purgatory), they wouldn't have that much to deal with.

Just a hypothetical point.

 

[Adrien C]

Religions kill people.

 

[Beerdude26]

But seriously... this is ****ing sick. I think im beginning to hate the human race. There is so much sick perverted and disgusting shit happening all the time, and its all for no god damned reason.

You just answered your own question there