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In an addendum to the panel's official report, Saperstein wrote "while the Saudi government's treatment of religious exercise fails to meet international human rights standards, this willingness to engage on this issue ought to be acknowledged, encouraged, and factored into our government's policies and discussions with the Saudi government."

Saperstein said Saudi officials argue that their school of Islam mandates that they deny other religions the right to function openly on the Arabian Peninsula. The commission, he said, must continue to study and develop a fuller position regarding the "claim that one party's religious doctrine provides a justification for oppression of another party's religious freedom."

Kazemzadeh explained that clerical officials he met in Saudi Arabia claim that a tradition going back to the prophet Muhammad asserts that there can be only one religion in Saudi Arabia. "My scholarly friends who have studied Islam in detail say that they were not aware of any such tradition," Kazemzadeh maintained.

According to Muhammad and the Koran, "in religion there must be no compulsion," he pointed out. "But these people make their claims," Kazemzadeh said. "They say that that's the way they understand it, and what are you going to do about it? So you try to bring some international pressure on them to enlighten them. It's going to be a long time before there is any substantive change in Saudi Arabia."

The United Churches spokesperson said the pattern for arrested church leaders follows that they are released after a few weeks or months and then deported. He thinks Isaac, who has worked in Saudi Arabia for 17 years, will eventually be let go and deported, "but it appears that they will have extracted all the information they need."

Copyright © 2001 Newsroom

Previous Christianity Today articles on religious persecution in Saudi Arabia include:

Four Christians Released By Saudi Authorities | One detained Filipino still waiting for employer's guarantee. (March 6, 2000)

Saudi Arabia Keeps Four Christians Under Arrest | Wives and children released after two weeks (Jan. 31, 2000)

Riyadh Police Raid Christian Worship Service | Ten adults, five children arrested; engineer still detained from previous arrest. (Jan. 10, 2000)

Christian Engineer Arrested in Saudi Arabia | Charges Against Filipino Termed "Religious-Related." (Dec. 27, 1999)

Arrested Christians Face Deportation | Popular Christians meetings lead to house-church raids. (Dec. 6, 1999)

Filipino Christians Released By Saudi Authorities | Local Employees Ordered to Fire and Deport Imprisoned Worshipers" (Nov. 3, 1999)

Two Filipino Christians Beheaded (Sept. 1, 1997)

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July (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45