Saudi Arabia's authorities

As per global news reports, the Gulf states expressed concern about the encryption technology that is used in Blackberry devices. The technology used in mobile devices makes it difficult to monitor them.

The United Arab Emirates has banned cell phone users from availing the email, instant-messaging and web-browsing services, on their Blackberry mobile devices. This decision was taken in response to a long-running battle, over security issues, with the maker of Blackberry devices, the Research in Motion (RIM).

In June 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council reviewed the human rights record of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government was asked to put an end to the legal guardianship system, which it duly accepted. However, it did not do anything to put it into effect as promised. 

It is a regrettable fact that there is no panel code in Saudi Arabia cataloguing actions that should be deemed criminal activities. Judges have the freedom to treat any action they find improper as a criminal activity. At their own discretion they punish the perpetrators the way they see suitable. This is especially true in case of women who are suffering from the cruel discriminatory system of guardianship widespread in the country.