Saudi legal committee receives complaints of prisoners in the kingdom
Saudi Arabia, Politics, 6/10/2005

Officials in the national society for human rights in Saudi Arabia which was established by the beginning of 2004 said they had received 2000 complaints from prisoners in the kingdom's prisons.

Lubna al-Insari, the organization's executive director, said that most of the complaints were examined and most of them were resolved by informing officials or actions taken.

She explained that among 1300 cases the society received in al-Riyadh, 33% of them pertain to complains from prisoners or their relatives. But she added that these issues do not imply that this is the main problem concerning human rights in the kingdom.

The legal official gave no details over the sorts of complains the society received from prisoners. However, Amnesty International said in its report for 2005 that torture and brutality is a common conduct in the detention centers and jails in Saudi Arabia.

She added that the society is still trying to build its credibility at the time being. She expressed her conviction that she will receive more cases when the society become known in society. She considered the kinds of complaints the organization is receiving do not necessarily reflect on the kind of human rights problems in society. Among the reported cases in al-Riyadh was 20% of complains pertain to low salaries at the work place while other 17% pertain to other labor practices.

She also said that the society received from its office in Jeddah 800 complaints most of them were family related, constituting 10% of the cases in al-Riyadh. On the future plans, Lubna al-Insari said that the organization plans to form a hot line to report on the violations in the family domains according to enforced laws in other countries.

Saudi Arabia established the organization in March 2004 within the efforts of the kingdom to improve its reputation concerning honoring human rights. However, foreign diplomats say that there were foreign pressures behind the foundation of the organization.

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