Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH — The media frenzy targeting the Kingdom is on the wane. Earlier, its tempo had increased during the case of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi's murder in early October last year in Istanbul. However, the attempt to "politicize a criminal case" has ended in a total fiasco. Organizations hostile to the Kingdom are still hoping to "demonize the Kingdom" by intensifying claims of "human rights violations" and spreading a bunch of lies, as they believe that the strategy of "the engineer of Nazi propaganda" Joseph Goebbels — "Repeat a lie often enough, and it becomes the truth" — might make their futile attempts a success. All the reforms achieved by the Kingdom, whether concerning the performance of its organizations or its laws and regulations during the past two years, are clearly evident to all. However, political motives and "the Saudiphobia complex" that are dogging these organizations are preventing them from seeing and recognizing the "real human rights" situation in the Kingdom. Despite their claims of not being based on tangible evidence or real incidents, the international rights organizations are continuing their lies and false accusations against the Kingdom. They have made claims regarding the rights of detainees in Saudi prisons. Some of them have gone to the extent of fabricating some of the stories, which were rejected and denied earlier by the Kingdom through an official statement from the Ministry of Media. The official denial has not received any response from these organizations, which are still spreading lies and ignoring the official Saudi replies. In its statement, the Ministry of Media said that recent reports published by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are baseless and untrue. The ministry categorically and strongly denies all of these allegations. What increases the flimsiness of the "lies and claims" published by these organizations, which are well-known for their hostile stances toward the Kingdom, is that they attribute these claims to unidentified sources. This means that they are narrating "fabricated" stories. Their lies have been exposed to the extent that the families of the alleged detainees have denied some of the stories they published on detained persons. The Kingdom's regulations forbid torture of all kinds. Article Two of the Penal Procedures Regulation clearly stresses the ban on physically or morally harming any detainee. It also forbids torturing any detainee or subjecting him to any humiliating treatment, infringing on his honor. Article 36 of the regulation stipulates the necessity of treating a detained person in such a way that his dignity is protected. It is impermissible to harm him physically or morally. Article 102 of the regulation states: "The investigation should be in such an atmosphere that it does not affect the defendant's will to express himself. It is impermissible to force him to swear nor is it allowed to use any means of duress." Furthermore, Article 8 of Royal Decree No. 43 issued in 1958 states that it is punishable to use influence due to one's official post, abuse of power in criminal case procedures, violate human rights, or maltreat anyone or use force, like torture or cruelty, under the powers of one's post. Article 28 of the Imprisonment and Detention Regulation, issued in line with the Royal Order No. M/31 in 1978, stipulates that it is impermissible to subject prisoners or detainees to any form of assault. The article states that disciplinary measures should be taken against any military or civilian employee, who practices abuse against prisoners or detainees. While the Kingdom's laws and regulations are imposed on all sectors, such that human rights are protected, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) makes sure that all the government authorities implement the regulations and statutes as per the powers invested in them and as stipulated by Paragraph One of Article 5 of the law. The Kingdom's Human Rights Commission (HRC) has carried out many inspection tours to monitor work and detect any violations of the regulations and human rights. The HRC annual report for 2017 (1439H) shows that the Commission paid visits to 394 authorities. Of these, 108 were prisons belonging to the Directorate General for Prisons, five belonged to the Directorate General for Intelligence, 159 were detention facilities for Public Security police stations, 10 visits were to the Traffic Department, Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Border Guard, and detention facilities for implementation of rights verdicts, 37 visits were to social care homes and seven visits to all the institutions for girls' care. The HRC formed a team comprising members of the HRC Board of Directors and several of the Commission's staff, who paid visits to the Kingdom's regions. The forms for collecting data comprised spaces for many elements including preparing inmates, the facility's capacity, inmates' legal status, their general register, classification of inmates and places for their custody, the general condition of buildings, collective wards, single confinement, health isolation facilities, mothers' suites, facilities for people with special needs, personal hygiene, food, physical exercise and sports activities, healthcare, discipline and punishment, freedom restriction tools, providing inmates with information, right to complain, making phone calls to numbers outside the prison, practicing religious rites, safeguarding personal effects, notifying in cases of death, sickness, transfer, inmates' relocation, supervision and inspection, work, education, qualification and training, social care and subsequent care. The HRC prepares and sends reports and observations periodically to the higher authorities, in line with Paragraph Six of Article Five of the HRC regulation. The HRC also made some 245 inspection visits to some health facilities, like hospitals and primary healthcare centers. HRC personnel visited several social institutions, such as social protection centers, nurseries, charitable societies, comprehensive rehabilitation centers, institutes for the disabled, aside from some education authorities. The HRC attended 23 trial sessions involving 25 suspects in security-related cases. Two of the suspects were non-Saudis. The HRC attends court sessions in line with a Royal Order to follow trial procedures to ensure that defendants get their rights according to the regulations. Among the most critical requirements, is explaining to defendants that they have the full right to hire a lawyer or appoint a representative. If they cannot pay all the expenses, then the Ministry of Justice will bear these expenses. Translators can be provided for non-Arabic speaking defendants. The HRC makes sure that those in charge explain clearly to defendants that they have the right to object to verdicts, in line with penal procedures regulations. Also, the kinsfolk and relatives of the defendant, as well as the press, are allowed to attend the trial sessions. This is an implementation of the principle of open trials. The HRC has studied the draft regulations and suggested some necessary amendments to some of them. Despite its work being in the field to detect any possible violations, it seems that the HRC prefers to work away from the limelight and from "seeking publicity through the media." It appears that the march of reform and the developing of laws and regulations are continuing in the Kingdom in many sectors including the "criminal justice" sectors. As one of the supervisory measures to ensure implementation of rules and regulations, the Public Prosecution has installed (surveillance) cameras inside investigation offices. The objective is to provide quality investigations with suspects including the safety and soundness of procedures. The Public Prosecution has issued a circular stressing to its personnel that case papers must include acquainting the defendant with his rights. Furthermore, the charges leveled by the Public Prosecution against the defendant should conform to the concepts mentioned in the human rights agreements to which the Kingdom has become a signatory. Several years ago, the Directorate General for Prisons set up the Human Rights Administration. It also activated and enhanced the role of offices set up inside the prisons. These offices belonged to supervisory authorities, and their function is to receive prisoners' complaints. The security authorities have allowed all to read information on detainees being held for security offenses and have set up mechanisms for electronic communication with their families and kinsfolk to provide them with all that they request and looks into their complaints via the website "Nafidhat tawasul." Clear, evident accomplishments invisible to "politickers." The Kingdom has made tremendous accomplishments in the domain of "human rights." This conforms to the great keenness of the Kingdom's leadership to protect human rights. For example, a Royal Order solved an issue that had remained complicated and open for decades, after issuing directives to the government authorities not to make it compulsory for a woman to obtain her guardian's consent to avail of the services of these authorities. This gave the Saudi woman a big legal impetus enabling her to forge ahead on the road to empowerment and take an active role in building and development. This is at a time when Saudis are striving to increase the percentage of women's participation in the labor market from 22 to 30 percent. Apart from this, the Kingdom has been able to overcome many obstacles that were facing women. June 2018 witnessed a significant breakthrough, as Saudi Arabia lifted the ban on women driving. Saudi women have been appointed to major, leading positions. They even participate in major decision-making, as members of the Shoura Council and now have the right to nominate and vote in municipal council elections. This is at a time when the process of empowering Saudi women is forging ahead at a faster tempo. The Kingdom has succeeded in translating its keenness to introduce human rights into its laws and regulations in a process of updating and developing legislations which has continued for many years. This has resulted in the issuance of the "Juveniles Regulation", which was approved in July 2018. It contains essential articles, like Article 15, Paragraph One, which states: "If the juvenile has not reached the age of 15 at the time of committing a punishable act or acts, then he is penalized with nothing more than this measure or measures — he is reprimanded and warned. Then he is handed over to the person(s) he has been living with, whether it is his parents or some other guardian. He can be placed in a social or therapeutic institution for a period not exceeding his age, provided he has reached the age of 12 at the time when he committed the punishable act." Meanwhile, Paragraph Two stipulates: "If the juvenile has reached the age of 15 at the time of committing a punishable act or acts, then he should be punished with the penalties mentioned in the regulation, except imprisonment. He should be punished within the correction house for a period not exceeding half the maximum penalty." "However, if the crime is punishable by the death penalty, he shall be confined to the home for a period not exceeding 10 years," Paragraph Two adds. The Kingdom has also made huge strides and significant progress in a region where gender discrimination is rampant between citizens of the same country. In this connection, the insurance system against unemployment stresses in Paragraph One of Article Three that the law must be implemented without discrimination between genders. Aside from this, there are legislative initiatives in the Shoura Council to complete discussion of the law to pay equal wages to males and females. In this regard, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, pledged to launch the necessary initiatives for guaranteeing equal wages. This came during his famous interview on the American CBS TV Channel. Whoever wants to know the truth, away from "politicization" and spreading lies against the Kingdom will realize that the efforts of the Human Rights Commission are increasing year by year. Every fair person will discern these humanitarian and rights efforts. Undoubtedly, errors occur everywhere, even in advanced countries. But the setting up of an independent commission for human rights is one of the manifestations of the Kingdom's implementation of the principles of human rights mentioned in the Basic System of Governance. Furthermore, the Kingdom's leadership is working diligently toward issuing legislation and regulations aimed at protecting human rights, consolidating and inculcating them, as well as achieving justice and equality for all. Hence, this will be conducive to spreading the culture of human rights due to the belief in the lofty principles and values guaranteed by the Islamic Shariah. At the same time, they will protect legitimate rights and freedoms. The efforts of the Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC) are continuing. Most of the time, the HRC is working silently away from the limelight and publicity of the media, as it respects the privacy of those for whose sake it is working diligently at all levels.
