RIYADH, 15 October 2003 — The second day of the Human Rights in Peace and War Conference yesterday concentrated on international law and its compatibility with revealed religions, with a particular emphasis on Islam. While that was being debated, police took “all necessary security measures” to break up an unprecedented “illegal gathering” by hundreds of young Saudis on King Fahd St. in the capital’s Olaya District, an official statement said.
The statement said the “illegal gathering” took place in the evening, and added that it attracted a large number of onlookers.
“Police quickly intervened to bring the traffic situation back to normal,” it added.
Interior Minister Prince Naif had made clear on Monday that demonstrations in the Kingdom are illegal. “This is worthless barking and I don’t think anyone will respond, except ignorant people. This is illegal and we hope Saudi citizens will rise above it,” he told reporters when asked about plans by an overseas-based group to organize the “illegal gathering” that subsequently transpired in Riyadh.
Minister of State Mutlab Al-Nafeesa said at the conference that an existing human rights committee at the Shoura Council would coordinate with the two human rights organizations recently announced by the government. He said that the Council would also deal with the issues of women and children and work to safeguard their rights. The minister added that the Shoura Council’s Islamic affairs committee was planning to set up a supreme family council to work for the welfare of women and children, including issues such as the growing incidence of divorces and the rise in the number of unmarried women.
Abdulrahman Al-Zinidi spoke on human rights both from the Islamic and international perspectives, while Muhammad Youssef Olwan discussed international law on human rights and the challenges its implementation presents to the world community. The third session focused more comprehensively on the difficulties in the implementation of international human rights laws. The session was presided over by Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary general of the High Commission for Tourism and president of the Saudi Handicapped Society.
Prince Sultan said Saudi Arabia’s implementation of human rights was founded on Islamic law, adding that there was much to be learned from the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz, whose ethics helped unify the country. “His noble character and his peaceful ideology in dealing with others encouraged the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula and the people of neighboring countries to engage with him,” the prince said.
Muhammad Al-Tarawna, in a talk on international law, said just five years ago not a single Arab country had a national institution for human rights. Educational institutions at every level must include in their curricula the concepts of international human rights, he suggested.
Professor Paul Tavernier from France said that one of the difficulties facing the implementation of international humanitarian law was the lack of rules governing certain situations. Terms such as “prisoner of war”, for example, were left for governments and rights groups to debate.
