Upon the establishment of the National Human Rights Association, a statement made by its head in which he said the issue of Guantanamo detainees was one of the association’s priorities made me stop and think. This is very strange indeed.
People who have been following the problems of the Guantanamo detainees know very well that things are being handled by the concerned governments and also by the Americans themselves. There are about 150 Saudi detainees, and the Saudi government has been involved in negotiations for their release for a long time.
The question thus becomes: Will the new association claim credit at the last minute for the detainees’ release? Another group which has been waiting in vain for three weeks to meet the US ambassador in Riyadh is also ready to make a similar claim.
I have two major problems with that statement:
1. The association is meant to investigate matters that concern local citizens and follow the matters up. Our country has recently expanded in terms of population and this has produced a number of problems.
2. Putting the Guantanamo detainees at the top of the association’s priorities raises eyebrows. Should the association be dealing with foreign problems? They are not matters which the association should busy itself with. By doing so, rumors that it was only set up in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001 are strengthened, when in fact establishing such an association was on the cards before that date.
The local press has been addressing local problems and issues concerning citizens for a long time. It has also published numerous stories about the sluggish work in government departments and this was also the case before Sept. 11. In fact, our press has even published letters from Saudi leaders asking the civil service to improve government services, and this is an obvious admission of errors and flaws.
The National Human Rights Association is a private body. We all know that another such body run by the government will be established soon. We hope that the private association will attend to the welfare of citizens and their problems instead of getting involved in international politics.
What we dread more than anything is seeing the Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghanistan issues on the association’s agenda. It would be unfortunate if that were to happen as it is contrary to the association’s aim and what is expected from it.
