all of the ministers of the government. They in turn appoint subordinate officials with cabinet concurrence. This means the ordinary citizen have no voice at all in how their Government is run.In theory, any male citizen or foreign national may express an opinion or air a grievance to the Consultative Council. However, this rarely occurs as the Government has a high intolerance of any oppositional group. For example, The Committee for Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR) was established in 1993. The Government acted almost immediately to repress it. Women play no formal role in government and politics and are actively discouraged from doing so.The government severely limits the freedom of speech and press. They do not allow any criticism of Islam, the ruling family or the government. If criticism does occur even implications through editorial comments and cartoons, the party/s involved are subject to arrest and detention until they confess to a crime and or sign a statement to cease criticism. Strict censors remove, blacken or glue pages containing any offending articles referring to any religion other than Islam, or criticism from the foreign press. The citizens are therefore unable express or encounter any views other than those approved by the Government of Saudi Arabia. Civil liberties are not respected.Religious StructureFreedom of religion does not exist. Islam is the official religion and all citizens must be Muslims. The Government prohibits the public practice of other religions No non-Muslim religious material is allowed such as a traveler wearing a crucifix necklace and no peaceful assembly of a non-Muslim church permitted. Every part of Saudi Arabian life is guided by its religion. It is one of the more conservative countries of the Muslim faith. There is substantial prejudice based on ethnic or national origin. Although the Quran did give women a clear legal status as independent human beings who are allowed to control thei...
