2002 Mecca girls' school fire

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On March 11, 2002 a fire at a girls' school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia killed at least fourteen students. The event was especially notable due to complaints that Saudi Arabia's "religious police" (aka the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice) stopped schoolgirls from leaving the burning building and hindered rescue workers because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress. As Hanny Megally, Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch put it: "Women and girls may have died unnecessarily because of extreme interpretations of the Islamic dress code. State authorities with direct and indirect responsibility for this tragedy must be held accountable."^[1]

Contents 1 Fire and controversy 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Fire and controversy

According to Saudi press reports the blaze at Makkah Intermediate School No. 31 started at about 8:00 in the morning. The blaze began in a room on the top floor, apparently caused by an unattended cigarette.

As a result of the fire and ensuing rush to escape, 14 young girls died, and more than 50 were injured. The majority of the deaths occurred when a staircase collapsed as the girls fled the building. The residential property upon which the school was built, being overcrowded with 800 students, was very unsuitable. In addition, the building may have lacked proper safety infrastructure and equipment, such as fire stairs and alarms.^[1]

According to at least two reports members of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), also known as Mutaween, would not allow the girls to escape or to be saved from the fire because they were 'not properly covered', and the mutaween did not want physical contact to take place between the girls and the civil defense forces for fear of sexual enticement, and variously that the girls were locked in by the police, or forced back into the building..^[1][2] Civil Defense stated that the fire had extinguished itself before they arrived on the scene. CPVPV officers did appear to object to Civil Defense workers going into the building, though at best their efforts slowed down the evacuation of the wounded. Human Rights Watch quoted a Civil Defense officer as saying,

"Whenever the girls got out through the main gate, these people forced them to return via another. Instead of extending a helping hand for the rescue work, they were using their hands to beat us."

The CPVPV denied the charges of beating or locking the gates but the incident and the accounts of witnesses were reported in Saudi newspapers such as the "Saudi Gazette" and "Al-Iqtisaddiyya". The result was a very rare public criticism of the group.^[2]

Also criticized was the General Presidency for Girls' Education (GPGE), "an autonomous government agency long controlled by conservative clerics", that administers girls schools in Saudi Arabia.^[1]

An inquiry into the causes of the fire resulted in the sacking of Muslim cleric Ali bin Murshid el-Murshid, the official in charge of Saudi girls' schools. However the inquiry "absolved" the CPVPV "of blame for making the death toll worse," and dismissed as 'untrue' the reports that religious police had prevented girls not wearing headscarves from fleeing the school. According to Interior Minister Prince Nayef, two members of the police force had gone to the scene of the fire to prevent "mistreatment" of the girls.^[3]

[edit] See also

• Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice
• Wahhabism
• Islam in Saudi Arabia

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Arab News. 12 March 2002, 14 girls die in Makkah School Stampede
• Arab News. 13 March 2002, Heads must roll say press
• Arab News. 13 March 2002, Shock turns to outrage over school fire tragedy
• Arab News. 14 March 2002, School Guard refutes allegations
• Arab News. 16 March 2002, Abdullah vows action to prevent repeat of Makkah School Tragedy
• Arab News. 18 March 2002, Naif denies commission men prevented rescuers
• Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia: Religious Police Role in School Fire Criticized
• BBC News. 15 March, 2002, Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue
• BBC News. 25 March, 2002, Cleric sacked over Saudi school fire