JEDDAH, 27 September 2005 — The National Society for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia yesterday said it would investigate allegations of cruelty to inmates and violation of their dignity by staff of Shihar Hospital, a mental institution in Taif. Al-Watan newspaper reported yesterday that the staff of Shihar Hospital used hoses attached to water tankers in order to wash groups of naked patients without respect for their privacy or modesty.

Muflih Al-Qahtani, head of the Committee for Monitoring and Follow-Up of the National Society for Human Rights, demanded that the staff involved in such cruel and inhuman behavior be taken to court and punished if found guilty. “We will request the Ministry of Health to provide the mentally disabled patients with more care and protection so that such a thing doesn’t happen again,” Al-Qahtani told Arab News.

Al-Watan published pictures of groups of naked men in showers being washed with a big hose. In the accompanying report, the newspaper said the cleaners who care for the grounds and clean the building were the ones responsible for washing the patients. Some 600 patients are herded to the showers and the cleaners then turn the hoses on them. Helpless, the victims cover their eyes with their hands in order to lessen the pressure of the water on them. “Sometimes polluted water is used and many patients have become infected with diseases,” reported Al-Watan.

Al-Qahtani said the victims were called “those who lack qualifications and are undeserving.” He said that the victims’ guardians should file lawsuits against the hospital.

Dr. Yousuf Shawoosh, deputy head of the hospital, told Al-Watan that there might be some violations but that if anyone who violated the rules were caught, he would be punished. “We deal humanely with the patients and we respect their dignity,” Al-Shawoosh was quoted as saying by the paper.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Hamed, head of the psychiatric department at Bakhsh Hospital in Jeddah, told Arab News that many inhumane things could happen in a mental hospital because of a lack of proper training. “There are only a few trained nurses in Saudi Arabia who have specialized in dealing with mental patients,” said Dr. Al-Hamed, “There is a huge demand for more mental hospitals. Some hospitals are 100 percent full,” he said, stressing that there was a lack of trained administrative supervision in existing mental hospitals.

Al-Hamed blamed the ministry for not giving mental patients and mental wards proper attention. “The ministry cares about other hospitals and completely ignores the mental departments.”

He said staff dealing with mentally ill patients believed the patients had no feelings. “That’s haram; a patient has feelings and he suffers emotionally when ignored or hurt; he suffers even more when he is in pain or when he is treated badly by the staff,” the doctor said.

Sheikh Abdul Mohsin Al-Obaikan, member of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars, condemned the acts and demanded that officials provide more supervision of such hospitals and protect the rights of the patients, especially those who need psychiatric help. “It is forbidden in Islamic law to see a man’s private parts, even when he is dead,” said Sheikh Al-Obaikan.