Saudi Arabia boosts prisoners’ rights
Alternative penalties, remote communication between inmates and families planned
Cairo: Saudi Arabia’s state-backed human rights watchdog has unveiled new steps to enhance rehabilitation of prisoners, including punishment alternatives, Saudi media reported Tuesday.
To this end, the Saudi Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has signed three memorandums of understanding with the National Committee for Prisoners, their Families and Ex-Convicts (Tarhum). The pacts include setting up a centre for enhancement of alternative penalties, another for remote visual communication between inmates and their families, and a third for awareness programmes, Okaz newspaper reported.
The envisaged awareness programmes will be based on studies aimed at rehabilitating prisoners and inmates of corrective centres, educating prisoners on their rights and helping prisoners’ integration into society after their release.
“The kingdom’s systems attach great importance to rights of prisoners and provide comprehensive care for them by socially rehabilitating them, consolidating their family values, motivating them to behave positively and providing care for their families,” SHRC head Awwad Bin Saleh said at the signing ceremony.