Saudi Arabia: some improvement in human rights but abuse continues
Saudi Arabia, Politics, 3/6/2007

Saudi Arabia's government "signaled a new willingness to discuss domestic human rights by inviting Human Rights Watch to the kingdom, but authorities also blocked access to trials and places of detention," Human Rights Watch said last months.

The organizations said "During Human Rights Watch's four-week, fact-finding mission to Saudi Arabia in December, researchers focused on a range of human rights concerns, including unfair trials, children's detention, restrictions on women's legal identity, and abuses against foreign domestic workers."

It added "The governmental Saudi Human Rights Commission arranged access to a wide range of high-level officials, including the assistant minister of interior, the minister of foreign affairs, the country's chief judge, the chairman of the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, and the ministers of labor, education and social affairs. Several ministers expressed their desire to invite Human Rights Watch back to Saudi Arabia to discuss our findings in detail."

The organization said "Saudi authorities placed Human Rights Watch researchers under 24-hour surveillance, but researchers did not have government escorts when traveling freely in Riyadh, Jeddah, Najran and the Eastern Province. In addition to meeting Saudi officials, researchers met with more than 300 individuals to collect information on human rights violations. A significant number of interlocutors expressed fear of government retaliation."

"The Saudi government's invitation to Human Rights Watch reflects a newfound openness toward discussing domestic human rights issues," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "By restricting our access to prisons and withholding general permission to observe trials, however, the Saudi government gave the appearance that it still has much to hide."

The organization said: The government has not yet put into practice laws passed in 2000-2002 to protect the rights of criminal defendants. For example, criminal defendants are not informed of the possibility of appointing legal counsel. Lawyers have difficulty obtaining official documents to prepare a defense, although Saudi law stipulates that "government agencies... enable (the lawyer) to attend any interrogation and peruse any relevant documents." Saudi courts and judicial procedures remain largely closed to the public. Judges in Jeddah in Najran refused a Human Rights Watch researcher access to attend criminal trials in session, notwithstanding article 155 of the 2002 Saudi Code of Criminal Procedure that provides that "Court hearings shall be public."

The organization added "Former defendants frequently allege that judges in criminal trials pronounce guilty verdicts based on little evidence or testimony. Judges did not issue a written verdict in some cases, such as those related to political trials of an alleged uprising in Najran in 2000. During Human Rights Watch's visit to al-Ha'ir prison south of Riyadh, prisoners reported that they had suffered physical abuse, had remained imprisoned beyond the expiry of their sentences (particularly in the case of foreign prisoners), and had endured unexplained and lengthy delays before or during their trials. Foreign embassies reported delays of weeks or months before being notified of their nationals' arrest."

Human Rights Watch continued " The secret police (mabahith) holds thousands of security detainees without trial, charge or access to counsel for months and years. These detainees include individuals suspected of involvement in the Iraqi insurgency, in addition to political dissidents. Article 114 of the Criminal Procedure Code requires that "the accused shall be directly transferred to the competent court, or be released" after 6 months of the initial arrest.

Human Rights Watch said "In interviews with roughly 100 Saudi women academics, educators and medical professionals, Human Rights Watch documented how male guardianship of adult women denies women the right to employment, education, health, and freedom of movement.

The organization said" Saudi authorities routinely detain children suspected of even minor offenses, including vague charges of transgressing "morals," and such children may face solitary confinement and corporal punishment. Detained children are at risk of abuse by other inmates in the Riyadh reformatories because staff do not adequately categorize, separate, and monitor children, especially in large, poorly supervised dormitories. While children are not tried in adult courts, they may face adult sentences if a judge determines they are considered "grown-ups" (baligh), and such children, even as young as 13, have been sentenced to death.

Human Rights Watch said "The opportunity for public discussion of human rights issues has gradually increased in Saudi Arabia, but nonetheless remains tightly controlled.

Previous Stories:
  Saudi's al-Qaida rejects renewed amnesty offer   (7/5/2006)
  Saudi Arabia limits role of religious police   (5/25/2006)
  Amnesty International on human rights abuse in the Arab states   (5/24/2006)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search