Saudi Arabia strips religious police of arresting power - Polidicks

[quote] New cabinet decision orders religious officers to report violators to police or drug squad unit. Prior to the new regulations, officers were allowed to arrest people using alcohol or drugs and committing certain other offences [EPA] [/quote] [t]http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2016/3/25/fb9a19e0e667412cb938544b7f7ac735_18.jpg[/t] [quote] Saudi Arabia has stripped its religious forces of their powers to arrest, urging them to act "kindly and gently" in enforcing Islamic rules. Under changes approved by the Saudi cabinet on Wednesday, religious officers will no longer be allowed to detain people and instead must report violators to police or drug squad officers, the official Saudi Press Agency said. Officers of the Haia force, also known as the Mutawaa, must "carry out the duties of encouraging virtue and forbidding vice by advising kindly and gently" under the new rules, it reported. "Neither the heads nor members of the Haia are to stop or arrest or chase people or ask for their IDs or follow them - that is considered the jurisdiction of the police or the drug unit," the regulations say. Saudi Arabia's religious police enforce the country's interpretation of Islamic law including segregation of the sexes, ensuring that women cover themselves from head-to-toe when in public. Formally known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, its members also patrol shops to make sure they are shuttered during time prayers. Prior to the new regulations, officers were allowed to arrest people using alcohol or drugs and committing certain other offences including witchcraft. [/quote] Sources: [url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/saudi-arabia-strips-religious-police-arresting-power-160413141418824.html[/url] [url]http://gdnonline.com/Details/80212/Saudi-Arabia-strips-religious-police-of-arresting-power[/url] [url]https://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ncl=dzWS4WpK-CXzufM8i01esmtVWVbHM&authuser=0&ned=uk&topic=w[/url]

Wow. Is this a start of reforms? Only time will tell.

Holy shit, that sounds like pretty big news. Removing power from these guys is definitely a good move.

Good, it's a start. [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Mecca_girls'_school_fire"]These are the same assholes who once forced a bunch of schoolgirls to stay inside a burning building rather than leave without a guardian.[/URL]

Good. If this kind of stuff turns into a trend, maybe there's some hope for Saudi after all. Maybe, just maybe, 2014 me's predictions will turn out to be correct.

It's only removing their ability to arrest independently of other forces. Not repealing the existing laws which make being an atheist a crime, among other ridiculous laws in the same vein.

One small step for man, one giant leap for Saudi Arabia

[QUOTE=smurfy;50127623]One small step for man, one giant leap for Saudi Arabia[/QUOTE] As long as that man is Muslim that is, because this will just make them more likely to target individuals instead of being Islamic meter maids. Taking away their ability to arrest is still good, but I'm willing to bet they will start tracking and building cases against people more than anything

I can't stop thinking after reading the bit where they have to report infractions to police, that they basically just became the security guards of Islam in Saudi Arabia.

oh boy. Saudi Civil War due to radical wahhabis going batshit in 3...2....1....

Apparently these guys are really stupid too from what I heard. My friend's cousin got stopped by one of these in (I think) Jordan and he asked him for his ID. He heavily suspects the religious police officer was illiterate because the whole time he was looking at the ID, he had it upside down and he had this look on his face like he was just staring at the card itself

[QUOTE=pointyface;50132414]Apparently these guys are really stupid too from what I heard. My friend's cousin got stopped by one of these in (I think) Jordan and he asked him for his ID. He heavily suspects the religious police officer was illiterate because the whole time he was looking at the ID, he had it upside down and he had this look on his face like he was just staring at the card itself[/QUOTE] And these guys are giving a position of power ? I know they where bad but didn't know they where dumb

[QUOTE=pointyface;50132414]Apparently these guys are really stupid too from what I heard. My friend's cousin got stopped by one of these in (I think) Jordan and he asked him for his ID. He heavily suspects the religious police officer was illiterate because the whole time he was looking at the ID, he had it upside down and he had this look on his face like he was just staring at the card itself[/QUOTE] Are you insinuating that it's a corrupt crony group of guys that go around harassing people? Le gasp!

[QUOTE=pointyface;50132414]Apparently these guys are really stupid too from what I heard. My friend's cousin got stopped by one of these in (I think) Jordan and he asked him for his ID. He heavily suspects the religious police officer was illiterate because the whole time he was looking at the ID, he had it upside down and he had this look on his face like he was just staring at the card itself[/QUOTE] That is hilarious. Not saying this is a bad thing, but what is the point of having a police force that can't make arrests or punish wrongdoing? Just get rid of it.

[QUOTE=meek;50133353]That is hilarious. Not saying this is a bad thing, but what is the point of having a police force that can't make arrests or punish wrongdoing? Just get rid of it.[/QUOTE] Well the religious police was pretty much the physical manifestation of what we already do here in western society. Only here when someone acts out of line with our cultural norms, they get shunned, bullied, talked shit about, but over there you'd get arrested or fined if you're lucky.

Oh, Dear that's never good. That may anger the mussys.