JEDDAH, 27 January 2003 — A five-member team from Human Rights Watch, the independent New York-based organization which campaigns on human rights around the world, yesterday met with Interior Minister Prince Naif to discuss human rights issues in the Kingdom during its first visit here.
Human Rights Watch has been critical of Saudi Arabia in the past. However, according to Steve Crawshaw, a former journalist with The Independent who now heads the organization’s London office, the decision to admit the team now is a sign of change in the Kingdom. The organization had been knocking on Saudi Arabia’s door for many years, he said. The fact they had finally been invited was encouraging.
“It is a clear sign that change is taking place,” he told Arab News.
From the organization’s point of view, the aim of the visit was to assess the general situation and establish a “bridgehead”.
The organization was extremely pleased with the reception they had been given, Crawshaw added, saying that none of the interviews they requested had been refused and that everyone they had so far spoken to had been “extremely frank” with them. “We hope that this will be the beginning of a relationship” between HRW and Saudi Arabia, he continued.
The team, led by the organization’s Middle East and North Africa director, Hanny Megally, has also met with Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Justice Minister Abdullah Al-Sheikh, Education Minister Muhammad Al-Rasheed, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari as well as with director of the investigation and prosecution bureau and the head of the prison service.
The visit is being seen in some quarters as linked to the charter for political, economic and social reform throughout the Arab world, including increased political participation, drawn up by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and unveiled earlier this month.
However two years ago, Prince Naif specifically called on human rights organizations to visit the country and discover how proposed reforms would fit in with international standards.
Last October, Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy was the first UN human rights official to visit the country and at the end of his weeklong visit described Saudi ministers and officials as having been “extremely cooperative” regarding the Saudi judicial system.
His report on the visit will be presented to the 59th session of the Geneva-based UN Commission on Human Rights meeting between March 17 and April 25.
Saudi Arabia has ratified UN conventions on racial discrimination, discrimination against women, against torture and children’s rights and is considering the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The government is also proposing the establishment of a national human rights institution. The legal system is meanwhile undergoing substantial changes both structurally and procedurally.
A new criminal procedure code has been issued, explicitly enumerating the rights of the accused, along with regulations as to its implementation. A new law on the legal profession has also been issued. The nationwide registration of lawyers is expected to be completed within five years.
