Saudi Arabia came under renewed pressure Wednesday to ease its ban on demonstrations, as Facebook activists called for a “Day of Rage” and a “Saudi revolution” later this week.

Protesters chant slogans during a protest in Qatif March 9, 2011. Saudi Shi’ites staged another small protest in the kingdom’s eastern province on Wednesday, defying a ban on demonstrations. More than 100 mostly young men gathered in the main Shi’ite city of Qatif on the Gulf coast to demand the release of prisoners they say are held without trial, witnesses said. Banner reads: “16-year Enough”. REUTERS/Stringer

With the tightly controlled kingdom’s security forces poised to crack down on any unauthorized demonstrations, U.S.-based lobby group Human Rights Watch added its voice to demands for a relaxation of the protest ban.

“Saudi Arabia should rescind its categorical ban on peaceful demonstrations,” it said in a statement.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch director of the Middle East region, added: “By banning all protests Saudi rulers are telling their countrymen and women that for all political purposes they are not citizens and have no right to participate in public affairs.”

The United States said Monday that the right to protest must be respected everywhere, including in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters however that the kingdom “completely rejects any intervention in its internal affairs.”

“Dialogue is the best way for citizens to gain their rights,” he said.

The interior ministry issued a stern reminder Saturday that any demonstration was illegal and warned activists that the security forces had been authorized to crack down on protests.

Cyber activists have called for a “Day of Rage” after prayers this Friday, on a Facebook page that had amassed over 31,000 “likes” by Wednesday. Another page calls for a “Saudi revolution” to begin on March 20.

The activists on both pages are calling for political and economic reforms, jobs, freedom and women’s rights.

Several hundred Shi’a protested last Friday in the Eastern Province calling for the release of an arrested Shi’a cleric, Sheikh Tawfiq al-Aamer, and other detainees, witnesses said.

Twenty-six people were arrested and later freed, according to a rights activist who described their release as “a very positive step.” Aamer was released late Sunday, the activist said.

Amnesty International deputy regional director Philip Luther said Tuesday the Saudi authorities were “obliged under international law to allow peaceful protests to take place.”

“They must act immediately to end this outrageous restriction on the right to legitimate protest,” he said.

Political parties are banned in Saudi Arabia, which controls a quarter of the world’s oil reserves.

Unemployment among the youth stands at 10 percent and women are largely kept out of the workforce.

MEI