Rights body to visit Saudi prisons

The Saudi National Commission for Human Rights said it will start a series of visits to Saudi prisons from Wednesday to meet prisoners and review their condition. The tour will begin with a visit to Al Hair Prison outside Riyadh, the largest in the Kingdom.

Dr. Bandar bin Mohammad Al Hajjar, the commission deputy chairman and its official spokesman, told Gulf News the committee, which is a private body, will visit prisons in Jeddah, Makkah and Taif next month.

The visits are pre-planned and not of a surprise nature, he explained.

He said the objective is not just inspecting conditions of the buildings and the services provided to prisoners but to meet and talk to prisoners, review their cases and see whether the prison sentence is proportionate to the nature of the crime committed.

He said the committee would seek to ensure that the penalty matches the crime and that the crime itself has in fact been committed. A comprehensive report on the findings will be presented to the authorities.

Al Hajjar denied the commission has received complaints from prisoners or their families.

"We don't wait for complaints, but take the initiative to visit prisoners and inquire about their conditions, the kind of treatment they are receiving, the way they are being interrogated and the progress of their trials.

"This is to determine whether the prisoners rights have been guaranteed under the Kingdom's laws."

He said they want to ensure that relevant laws, including the penal code and the recently-introduced Lawyers' Act as well as other judiciary regulations, are enforced.

"In the end, all we seek is to ensure that the relevant laws are being implemented," he said, adding the commission will report to the Ministry of Interior if any irregularities have been found.

He said the commission is free to visit any prison and that it has in the past visited political prisoners.

The commission will prepare an annual report on its activities and the obstacles it faces, which will be available to the public.

Meanwhile, Al Jawhara Bint Mohammad Al Anqari, member of the commission's executive council, said the visit, comprising male and female members of the commission, to Riyadh prison is the first of its kind, and is intended to gather information on the prison conditions to ensure these comply with human rights.

She called for specifying the sentences left to the discretion of the judge, what is known in the Islamic law as 'ta'zeer', saying the substantial variation in sentences issued by judges calls for these to be specified.

"This calls on us to demand that these kinds of sentences be defined and not be left vague. Judges are human and leaving sentences open may result in denying people their rights or lead to injustices," she said.

The commission will assign experts the task of preparing studies on its findings.

She and another member, Dr. Bahiya Izzi, would visit to female prisoners.