Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – The Shoura Council on Monday discussed a report, prepared by its committee for human rights and monitoring agencies, after reviewing the annual report of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for the last fiscal year. In the report, the committee urged HRC to monitor, follow up and document the human rights cases in the Kingdom, and to work on reviewing and updating the program for spreading the culture of human rights and draw up a plan for implementing it. Thurayya Obaid, chairperson of the committee, read the report at the session, chaired by Muhammad Al-Jafri, deputy president of the Council, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Yahya Al-Samaan, assistant president of the Council, said that the committee called upon HRC to amend its regulations so as to strengthen its financial and administrative independence. Taking part in deliberations over the report, several members criticized the commission with regard to performing its duties and responsibilities. One member said HRC is not fulfilling its responsibilities toward those who have been deprived of their human rights. Another member stressed that the commission must monitor the performance record of government agencies and departments in safeguarding the human rights of citizens. The commission was blamed by another member for its lack of coordination and vagueness in implementing reforms. It was also pointed out that the commission failed to address some 5,000 complaints out of total 12,000 complaints filed by the citizens. A woman member criticized the commission for not giving representation to women at HRC. She called for urgent measures to strengthen women's participation in the state-owned rights body.
